3/26 Weekly Email + Women’s History Month
Hi all,
I have a few updates this week, and then some reminders of upcoming events and ongoing surveys.
Women Farmworkers Day: This coming Tuesday, March 31st, is a City Holiday (the one replacing Cesar Chavez Day). Please note that this is happening mid-week and not on a Monday like many other holidays - make sure to come to work on Monday if you’re scheduled.
As I mentioned last week, this year’s title is a temporary measure. Tempe employee groups will be meeting on April 6th to discuss possible titles for a future holiday moving forward. UAEA’s hope is that we can create a new holiday that has Hispanic recognition and occurs around the same date every year, but it may not be on March 31st moving forward. If you have suggestions for a future holiday or even want to weigh in on which day of the week it should be celebrated (I know some people like Mondays off, I know some people like Fridays), feel free to send me an email. Thank you to everyone who has already sent me ideas.
March Meeting Minutes: I’ve attached a copy of the meeting minutes from last week’s meeting at Kiwanis. Many thanks to Heather Armstrong from Employee Development for her presentation on available training and resources.
Updated Member Meeting Schedule: I have attached an updated calendar that has the schedule of member meetings for the rest of 2026. This schedule reflects the main member meetings each month and does not include additional meetings we may schedule, such as town halls for the upcoming elections or ice cream socials. This will be printed and updated on bulletin boards in the next 2 weeks.
Valley Metro: April is Bike Month and Valley Metro is offering a variety of prizes for people who bike and log their trips on the SharetheRide app. You can check out the competition here. As a reminder, the SharetheRide app offers a variety of discounts and incentives for people who log clean-air commutes (biking, taking the bus or lightrail, walking, carpooling, using an electric vehicle, etc) and Tempe offers giftcards each month to employees who do the same. I did a little writeup on Valley Metro’s incentives in my 8/14/25 email - I’ve included the same information below:
SharetheRide Perks include:
Discounts at Tempe restaurants like Delhi Plaza, 414 Pizza, Garcia’s Mexican Restaurant, Mijana Lebanese, D-Lite Food, Squarz Bakery, the Vine Tavern, and others. Additional discounts at many other Valley restaurants.
Significant discounts on dental work at a variety of Valley dentists
Significant discounts on massages or spa treatments at a variety of Valley spas
10-30% off tickets at multiple Valley movie theaters
Significant discounts on family packages at Valley entertainment centers like ChuckECheese, Legoland Discovery, the Phoenix Zoo, and Makuta’s Island
Significant discounts on auto services and repairs (windshield replacement, oil changes, tire rotations, etc) at a variety of Valley mechanics.
April Blood Drive: The next employee blood drive will be held on Wednesday, April 1, from 8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at the North Tempe Multi-Generational Center. You can sign up here. Giving blood is always a good thing in itself, especially if you are a universal donor, but there are also perks for doing so. As a reminder, you can give blood during your normal workday and will be paid as normal by the City for the time the process takes. You also get entered into various raffles hosted by Vitalant and accrue points that can be exchanged for giftcards and merch.
Women’s History Month: March is Women’s History Month and I didn’t want it to end without providing a few more writeups about influential women leaders from US Labor History. I already covered some of the major labor leaders (Mary “Mother” Jones, Lucy Parsons, Francis Perkins, Jessie Lopez de La Cruz, and Dolores Huerta) in my Women’s History Month email from last year - if interested, you can read it on our blog.
Kate Mullany (1845-1906): Kate was a daughter of Irish immigrants who worked in a collar factory in Troy, New York in the 1860s. Collar production was incredibly dangerous work, requiring use of boiling water and dangerous chemicals to produce the starched and finished product. Linens were pressed with giant heated iron presses that filled rooms with steam - while there are a few competing origins, some say these uncomfortable heated rooms were where the term “sweatshop” originated. Workers frequently experienced heat and chemical burns from the machinery and chemicals, workdays usually were 12-14 hours (with 6-day work-weeks), and if workers accidentally damaged a piece of clothing, they were required to pay for it out of pocket. After several years of terrible working conditions, Kate founded the Collar Laundry Union with coworkers Esther Keegan and Sarah McQuillan - this group is often considered to be the first wholly female labor union in the United States. The group grew to represent 300 women across the City of Troy, and after a 6-day strike they won a 25% increase in wages. Her work with this group led to her being appointed Assistant Secretary of the National Labor Union (NLU, a precursor to the Knights of Labor), which made her the first woman to sit on a national US Labor Board. Interestingly, Kate was originally appointed to the NLU as one of several regional Vice Presidents, but chose to step down when she realized another was from New York - it is believed she did so to guarantee greater representation from across the US. I couldn’t find a lot of information about Kate’s later life but did find some information about her work promoting worker co-ops, which she saw as an opportunity for workers to keep the full value of their earnings.
Velma Hopkins (1909-1996): Velma was originally an employee at the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company in North Carolina, but she organized a walkout of employees and later a month-long strike after one of her peers died from the terrible working conditions of the local factory. She helped found Local 22, which negotiated better working conditions and pay for the employees - they addressed employee concerns like the sweltering production floors, the segregated work environment, and the high amounts of dust that employees were exposed to on a daily basis. The union went on strike several times throughout the 1940’s to address employee concerns - despite support from influential national celebrities like Woody Guthrie and Paul Robeson, the tobacco company fought back, and the union was ultimately decertified in 1950. Despite this, Velma went on to address other community issues, and spent the rest of her life registering voters, starting programs to address child hunger, and integrating local schools. As a result of her lifetime of service, many activists across North Carolina credit her as their inspiration for becoming involved in local politics or union activity.
Florence Reece (1900-1986): Florence was the daughter of Kentucky coal miners and is most famously known for writing the song “Which Side Are You On,” a union ballad which has been covered by or adapted by labor groups in various efforts for over a century. Florence claimed she originally wrote a version of the song at the age of 12 when her father was on strike, then updated it in 1931 during the Harlan County War, a near-decades-long conflict between coal mine owners and workers that led to dozens of deaths. Singer and songwriter Pete Seeger (best known for his covers of songs like “We Shall Overcome”) collected and covered union protest songs across America throughout the 1930’s, and released a cover of “Which Side Are You On,” in 1940. Dozens of song-writers released their own covers with subtle variations over the next 80 years, with major union events like the Delano Grape Strike each getting their own version.
I don’t want to ignore Florence’s role in all of this - though the song overshadows much of her successes, she was involved in union activity for most of her life and though I could only find limited information about this, I believe she spent many years trying to raise awareness about “Black Lung,” a lung condition caused by inhaling too much coal dust. She also made an appearance and sang her song in the 1976 documentary “Harlan County, USA,” which covers another coal strike in the area throughout 1973.
UAEA College Scholarship: The 2026 Jackie Awosika Scholarship Competition is now open. This annual competition is an opportunity for UAEA members and their families to win some funds for college or trade school - all they need to do is fill out a quick application with some background information, copies of their transcripts, and answers to a few essay questions. Members, their children, and direct relatives who are entering college or already in college may apply from now through April 30th - $2500 in scholarship awards are distributed to those who have the strongest applications. Winners will also be recognized at the June 4th, 2026, Tempe City Council Meeting. Members can find the full list of rules at this link, and apply to the contest here.
Tempe Care Fair: Community Health and Human Services is hosting their annual “Care Fair” event on Saturday, March 28th, from 9-12pm at the Tempe Library Complex (3500 S Rural). This event is an opportunity to learn about and sign up for dozens of free community resources - 80+ community non-profits and Tempe programs will be represented, there will be a job fair at the Pyle Center, and there will be free giveaways and activities for children. Even if you do not personally need resources, it is very likely that someone in your life may need some - please share this with friends or family who may be dealing with tough times. More information is available on the website.
UAEA Affiliation Survey: The UAEA Board is interested in learning more about ways we can recognize members, connect members with other members in their workgroups, and give members an opportunity to show off their UAEA affiliation. If you have strong feelings about any of those things, please fill out this survey, which has several questions about how you would like us to protect your membership status and what forms of UAEA giveaways you would be interested in. This information will help us develop new communication strategies in 2026 and beyond.
Work Scheduling Survey: Do you think your work week is too long? Would you be interested in working a 4x10 schedule or remotely if the options were available? Please fill out this survey if that is the case - UAEA would like to know which areas are still working on a 5x8 or 9x80 schedule and which members would like to see compressed work weeks. Please note we cannot guarantee that member interest is enough to change schedules - some departments may require 5-day work weeks to ensure some level of access to the public or for other coverage reasons - but UAEA is interested in following up on member interest if the opportunity arises. If applicable, please fill out the attached survey in the next few weeks - I’ll probably keep it open indefinitely, but would like to start looking at the data and having conversations within the month.
Art Contest: UAEA is hosting its first-ever union art contest, from now until March 26th (tonight). We are looking for your interpretations of what union work looks like in the 21st century and would love to see as many entries as possible, regardless of your skill level. We are also accepting entries from both members and their families, and have some great prizes for the eventual winners (who we’re aiming to announce in our Q2 Newsletter). You can use the QR codes or the attached links to submit entries or review the full rule list.
CARE7 Prom: I was asked by one of our members in CARE7 to plug their ongoing donation event, Prom Without Borders. Some students in the Tempe community are unable to go to prom because they cannot afford fancy clothing or cosmetic supplies - this clothing drive is collecting clothing from City of Tempe and Tempe HS staff to reduce barriers and make the option of attending prom even easier.
If you have gently used professional attire or beauty supplies for either men or women, please reach out to CARE7 Supervisor Maria Gonzalez (maria_gonzalez@tempe.gov), who can coordinate pickup. A full list of accepted items is below. Donations will be accepted through April 6th.