9/3 Weekly + Labor Day + Discipline Reminders
Hi all,
I have a few new updates and reminders, in the following order this week.
Labor Day
Sales Tax Meeting
Veterans Day Parade
Kecia Goudie Retirement
Updated Events Page
City Council Proclamation
Photo Contest Voting
Final Ice Cream Social Schedules
Discipline Reminders
1. Labor Day: This coming Monday, September 7th, is the Labor Day Holiday. As usual, don’t come to work if you’re not scheduled.
Thank you to all of the City staff who work this holiday - I hope you can take an alternate day off soon or at least get a treat if you opt for the overtime payout.
Besides being the unofficial date that marks the end of summer (at least in states where the weather starts cooling down significantly in September…), Labor Day is a celebration of American labor, and not a holiday that should be trivialized. I’ve done writeups on the history of Labor Day and have commented on the additional significance of International Labor Day (May 1st) in the past, but wanted to briefly chat today about the power of collectives and why celebrations of Labor matter in the present.
As a general rule, the average worker lacks power and influence. This can vary from job to job and from state to state, but it’s accurate to say that one person lacks the same leverage that a group has. One person can be intimidated, misled, or otherwise manipulated into accepting abysmal working conditions, and fired, without cause, if they refuse to cooperate. It’s much harder to intimidate, mislead, or manipulate an entire group of workers, and genuine power comes from the unity of a collective who unite to confront unfair treatment. Collective action also tends to inspire additional people to join and act - as this Ted Talk amusingly illustrates, prolonged action can convert radical ideas held by a few into just general social expectations. 40 hour work weeks were once deemed radical in a time when 80 hour work weeks were common - now they’re the standard, through both law and worker expectations. The idea that parents could take extended leave from work without losing their job was once deemed radical, but has now been the status quo since the passage of the FMLA Act of 1993. Even the idea of companies being required to allow employee bathroom breaks was radical until the late 1990’s - OSHA required that companies provide bathroom facilities to workers for many years, but did not require that companies allow employees to use them until 1998. Collective action is thus what helps level the playing field in workplaces. Even in the public sector, where there’s no business owners or shareholders, there’s still value in worker advocacy - residents and citizens sometimes have unreasonable expectations of what municipal workers should be paid or what their working conditions should be, and it is up to unified actors to push for parity.
I also think it’s equally important to stress that unions are important and that they can’t solve everything. Unions and worker associations work to address the power imbalances of working conditions, and while that can intersect with other aspects of society, their talents and knowledge are largely applicable to workplaces themselves, not society at large. That said, the same principles that apply to changing workplaces apply to communities as well. One person generally does not have the power to influence the world around them in the same way that a unified group does, whether due to their available time, resources, or even persuasive capabilities. That’s not to say that one person can’t change the world, merely that change is easier when there is unity and consensus across a collective. Working with other people to improve your country, region, state, city, community, or even local organizations is the key to success, not individual action, and though your odds of success will never be 100%, they’re far greater when you have friends and allies on your side.
I say all of this to once again stress how incredible it is that we have a holiday for organized labor and how important it is that we celebrate it. Organized labor has a history that is dominated by muckrakers and malcontents, people upset with the status quo and driven by a burning desire to do something about it. These are people who were frequently unpopular in their time and vindicated by the advancements that came later in their lives or long after their passing. The fact we now champion their accomplishments is a recognition of the importance of their work and the level of their foresight, and it is wonderful that we dedicate one of only 11 US national holidays to the legacies they leave behind. Please try to do something special to commemorate this occasion, both this year and every year moving forward - people give esteem to the things we treat with importance, and Labor Day is a celebration that certainly deserves such honors.
Happy Labor Day, everyone.
2. Sales Tax Meeting: Tempe will be doing a presentation on the November Sales Tax Ballot Measure on September 10th, from 12-1PM. All staff are invited to attend this meeting. If you can’t make that session, there is additional information on Tempe’s webpage, as well as details about additional opportunities to learn more at in-person or virtual sessions in the next few weeks.
3. Veteran Day Parade: UAEA is tentatively interested in marching in this year’s Tempe Veteran’s Day Parade. Before we formally commit to anything, we would like a better idea of whether any members (veterans or otherwise) would be interested in participating. Please fill out the attached form by Thursday, September 17th if you are interested and would like to come by yourself or with family members.
4. Kecia Goudie Retirement: Longtime City of Tempe Employee (and UAEA Member) Kecia Goudie is retiring this week and I received some information about her life and career that I wanted to share before her departure.
Kecia worked for Tempe KidZone for 31 years and served in a variety of roles performing a wide range of essential tasks. These included managing the Kidzone business office needs, helping develop and set up essential apps like the payment and Human Services systems, working as the KidZone Building Manager, becoming the field trip and bussing guru for the program, creating new programs like DiamondBacks Game Days and Herberger Camp Days, teaching career classes to high school students, participating in interview panels for major new hires, and developing an intimate knowledge of internal operations that made her the go-to resource for an employees who needed guidance or assistance. I interacted with Kecia and her peers a number of times over the past few years and was always impressed by her knowledge and commitment to the Kidzone Program - her peers always spoke glowingly of her work, and she was definitely seen as a subject matter expert for the area.
Outside of work Kecia lived an exciting and varied lifestyle. Prior to her time with Tempe she worked at Disneyland for 2 years, became Valedictorian of Anheuser-Busch beer school and then a bartender for Ak-Chin Pavilion concerts, was a window model for Benneton, and taught at local community colleges. She also played softball for 16 years and a variety of other sports (soccer, rowing, flag football, surfing, etc) for a few years each, won several sprint triathlons, did 2 half-marathons, participated in bike and swim meets (winning several events), danced for local tv shows, and helped raise $64,000 for breast cancer research.
Kecia has had a long career with Tempe and has helped shape the Kidzone Program into the nationally recognized program that it is today. I think her tenure illustrates the importance of maintaining staff over extended periods of time - institutional knowledge is vital to shaping and improving upon the existing services that we offer our community, and that can only be crafted through retention of exemplary and committed staff. She will be missed, but we hope she has a happy retirement.
I know there are many longtime members of our group who are retiring soon, and I would love to highlight them as well. If you would personally like to be highlighted or know of something who deserves a highlight, feel free to reach out and we may include them in a future weekly email or newsletter.
5. Updated Events Page: The UAEA Events webpage has been updated with office hours and the tentative dates of our upcoming monthly virtual meetings and Adopt-a-Path events. You can check it out here.
6. City Council Proclamation: Tempe Mayor Corey Woods wrote and delivered a proclamation for UAEA at Monday’s Council meeting. It proclaimed the value of UAEA (as well as our success at maintaining a membership far higher than the public sector average), and declared August 19th, 2026, as “UAEA Day” in the City of Tempe. Several board members were able to attend this meeting and we were honored to be joined by UAEA’s first President, Jackie Awosika. Thank you again to everyone who has joined and supported us over the last 15 years - we simply could not do this without you.
7. Photo Contest Voting: The 2026 Photo Contest wrapped up last week and the UAEA Board was pleasantly surprised by the number of entries. Given the quantity, we’ve opened up voting on the winners to all UAEA members. All contest submissions can be viewed on this page of our website. Most pictures have been reduced in size to fit on the page - you can view the originals by right clicking any image and selecting “Open Image in New Tab.”
Voting can be done at this link until Thursday, September 17th. Voting is done by photo name, so make sure you get those from the submission page. Winners will be announced in our Q4 Newsletter in early October.
8. Ice Cream Social Schedules: The following will be the last ice cream social event we’ll be hosting this year.
9/3 - South Water Treatment Plant, 1st Floor Conference Room, 12-1PM
9. Avoiding Discipline: Similar to the social media policy reminder in my email from 8/13, I want to provide a reminder about a few things employees should do to avoid discipline. I first sent out a version of this email in October of 2024 and have condensed it/added a few new items in this email - if you want to read the original writeup, you can find it on our blog.
UAEA is more than happy to represent our members in the disciplinary process but we want to make sure you are actively minimizing your possibility of facing discipline. Our goal is always getting members the best possible outcome in the disciplinary process but we can’t work miracles. One extreme example: if you’re credibly accused of drinking on the job while operating a commercial vehicle and you crash into a home, the likelihood is very low that our intervention will be able to help you avoid termination.
It is very possible that you or members of your workgroup have been doing any of the following over the last few years because some of these things may be tolerated in your area. In all honesty, UAEA does not believe that department management or IT or HR is actively looking for ways to punish employees. That said, if they ever become aware of this behavior they are compelled to investigate, and that can lead to major repercussions. It’s also worth noting that if the City is investigating you for any other reason and they become aware of these additional infractions, they can seriously affect the severity of your discipline - it’s thus very important to avoid these behaviors entirely, even if they’ve been tolerated to-date.
Lunch and Breaks
Section 307:C of the City Personnel Rules deals with lunches and breaks.
UAEA employees receive either a 30 minute or 1 hour lunch break depending on the role. Non-exempt employees may also receive 2x15 minute breaks if they work more than 8 hours in a normal shift. Breaks cannot be combined with the lunch to make it longer, cannot be combined together into 1x30 minute break, and cannot be banked like comp time. Certain areas have additional restrictions on when breaks can be taken - please check with your supervisor if you have questions.
UAEA employees who drive City vehicles may use the vehicle to travel no more than one mile from where they stopped work (a work site or part of a route) if they wish to visit a restaurant or take their lunch at a park. The lunch time starts when someone leaves their work site, not when they arrive at their preferred location. We’re not endorsing this behavior and want to make it clear that an employee could still be punished for this behavior, but UAEA has never seen an employee disciplined for accidentally taking a minute or two longer on their lunch break than they were scheduled for. We believe most supervisors understand that accidents or poor planning may occasionally happen. What we have seen before is employees written up for a consistent practice of taking long lunches or otherwise consistently violating lunch and break policy.
This is unrelated to discipline, but please note that non-exempt employees should be “relieved of all job duties” during their lunch breaks (if they are not paid for lunches). Please let us know if that is not the case in your work area and we will address your concerns in an LMC meeting.
Drug use
Section 404:C of the City Personnel Rules deals with drug and alcohol use while at work. The very short summary is that you should not use drugs or alcohol at work or show up to work impaired. There are minor exceptions, such as if you need opioids while recovering from an injury, but these require specific authorization. Use of any prescribed substance which may cause impairment should be reported to your supervisor. Please keep in mind that the City of Tempe has both a clear interest in keeping the public safe and an obligation to follow federal and state law. UAEA is not opposed to either of these things and expects our members to follow these policies to the letter.
If you are taken to get drug tested and receive what you believe is a false positive test (a report of positive drug use when you do not use drugs/alcohol), you should immediately request the opportunity to get the sample retested. This is something both of the City’s drug testing labs offer. The sample can be sent to any qualified clinic of your choice (including the other one of the City’s providers), but this must be done on your own dime initially - if the test comes back with a negative result, the City will reimburse you.
Please also note that if you are charged under a criminal drug or alcohol statute while off work (such as being arrested and charged with drunk driving), you must inform HR within 5 days. Not informing HR of this, even if everything happened completely outside of work hours, is still possible grounds for termination.
Some members have asked and it is worth noting that the City maintains a list of roles that are “Safety Sensitive,” meaning that employees in those roles may never use marijuana or THC, whether for medical or recreational purposes. Only employees in non-safety sensitive roles may use recreational or medical marijuana during their personal time. This DOES NOT mean that use of other drugs is allowed or that any of the above policies do not apply.
Outside Employment
The City Personnel Rules Section 401:D covers outside employment. The short version is that employees may have second jobs but not if they interfere with your Tempe role or if they require doing tasks while scheduled for your Tempe role. Employees need to obtain permission from their supervisor and department director prior to starting new secondary roles (401:D-1). Secondary employment can be denied on a variety of grounds, such as if the role looks like a conflict of interest or if the ending hours of the second position seem very close to the starting hours of your Tempe position.
Tempe resources such as office supplies, a work phone, or the internet should never be used for outside employment. Please note that you do not need to be formally working for an outside company to be considered “employed” - selling personal items on Craigslist or doing work for a family member could still be a violation of this policy.
Internet use
The City Personnel Rules Section 405:A covers internet, cellphone and technology usage. The short version is that you should not do any non-City work on a City-owned device. There is a full page of the Personnel Rules that deals with what constitutes a violation of this policy - I strongly suggest that you review those details.
The City has issued cellphones to many of our members for City business. Do not use the phones to chat with friends and family, send text messages to non-City employees or contractors, take it on vacation to snap photos with, or otherwise use it during non work-hours. Keep in mind that the City has the ability to pull phone records/text message records, and internet search history from both your work computer and cellphone. Please note that deleting your history might not prevent IT from finding out what you were accessing. A lot of information is preserved on the City network even if deleted from your computer. Even if they are unable to recover the information you deleted, you may receive additional penalties for “interfering with an investigation.”
There is a very clear exception to this policy and that is employees may use City equipment for personal use during breaks or during non-work hours if they receive supervisor approval and are doing so on a limited basis. UAEA has not heard of any instance where reasonable requests to do so were denied - let us know if you run into difficulties. We understand that not every employee has a computer at home and that you may need to use City resources to check benefits or schedule appointments - we encourage this as long as you have permission to do so and are not doing so during scheduled work hours. If you receive permission from a supervisor to use your work computer in this manner, please try to get this documented, such as through a text message or email.
Discrimination/Talking About Fellow Employees
The City Personnel Rules Section 402:A covers what constitutes discrimination. The short version is that discriminating against employees can lead to termination and this covers rude conversations with or about them. There are certain classes of individuals who are protected from discrimination under federal law but UAEA’s expectation is that our members treat everyone with respect regardless of whether or not they fall into one of those categories. Please note that disrespectful behavior can also be punished under Section 406:C - being abusive towards fellow employees or not maintaining basic civility in interpersonal communication may be grounds for disciplinary action, up to and including termination. It may also lead to the termination of your UAEA membership - our bylaws specify that members have “the responsibility to treat all city employees and members fairly,” and that we may terminate your membership if a member “commits acts that are harmful or contrary to the interests of UAEA.”
Please also note that employees who constantly talk about their peers in a demeaning or judgemental way may be perceived poorly by admin. Even if everything you say is true and verifiable, this may still impact your opportunity to promote internally. UAEA expects that supervisors treat their subordinates with respect and we would not be opposed to admin making a decision to not promote someone based upon a history of insults or otherwise making an uncomfortable work environment.
Investigations
Tempe employees (and public sector employees) have a legal obligation to comply with internal investigations. This includes following investigation policy, which requires that staff tell the truth in inquiries and not share details of an investigation with anyone other than a spouse, legal representative, UAEA board member, or religious/spiritual advisor. Staff who are found to be lying during investigations can face penalties up to and including termination, regardless of the extent of the lie, whether it implicates them in any activity, or whether it actually interfered with the investigation.
September UAEA Meeting: Our next physical meeting will be at the Tempe Historical Museum’s front room (809 E Southern Ave, Tempe AZ, 85282) from 12-1PM on September 17th. You can rsvp here (please make sure you request UB time if you need UB time to attend). We will also be hosting our first completely virtual meeting the following week, from 12-1PM on September 24th. The same information will be discussed at both meetings, but we imagine there will be different questions/comments from staff. We are figuring out the logistics, but the intention is to record the virtual meeting and provide a link of the recording to members. You can rsvp for the virtual meeting here.
Adopt a Path Signup: UAEA is currently planning to do our next Adopt a Path Cleanup on Saturday, September 26th, from 7-9AM. We meet in the Tempe Parking Lot on the southeast Corner of Curry and Miller (approximate address is 1325 E Curry Road, Tempe AZ 85281, see attached photo), then walk north up our path to Mckellips Rd. Breakfast, drinks, safety gloves, trash pickers, and trash bags will be provided. Please bring a hat, sun block, and/or sunglasses. This event normally takes 1.5 hours to complete, is eligible for community wellness points, and is a great opportunity to meet members of the board and your fellow union members. If you’d like to attend, please sign up here by Thursday, September 24th, at 5pm.
College Webinar: If there are any highschool seniors in your family or friend circle, please let them know about an upcoming webinar from 6-7:30PM on Wednesday, September 9th. This webinar, hosted by College Connect, will walk students through the timeline for applying to colleges as well as guidance for applying to in-state Arizona schools. You can find a link to signup here.
Tempe Family Day: Tempe is hosting a Family Day again this year on Wednesday, October 7th. Parents can bring their children in from 8-4:30PM to participate in a wide range of activities and learn more about the City. Click on the link for more information and to signup.
Employee Development Day: Tempe’s Employee Development Day is coming up on Wednesday, September 16th, from 12-4:30PM at Tempe Center for the Arts. This event will include keynote Speaker Jess Pettitt discussing how to implement change in your workplace, a series of breakout sessions covering financial wellness, internal leadership, and ethical AI, free professional headshots (book in advance), and a Fair with Tempe’s various Educational Partnership partners. For more information, check out the Bridge Page. If you’d like to attend, make sure you ask your supervisor soon to ensure they can find proper coverage.
Group Chat: If you are interested in being a part of a UAEA group chat, please fill out this form. Please make sure you have reviewed our rules and policies concerning conduct and content. Signups will be open indefinitely and we will put out some resource guides showing how people can download, install, and use the app once we have a better idea of how many want to participate.
Flu shots: Tempe is once again offering free flu shots from September 2nd to September 24th. If you are on the City’s health insurance you can schedule an appointment at this link. You can also usually get free flu shots at your local drug store, but this method does it on City time, during your work day, not your personal time.
UAEA Member Retirements: UAEA’s Board would like to start recognizing the retirements of UAEA members. If you’re planning to retire, please feel free to shoot us an email or fill out this form and we’ll send you some nice thoughts to close out your time at the City. If you’d like, we’d also appreciate if you could fill out our exit survey before you go - there’s an option to indicate interest in that in the survey as well.
Free/Discounted Summer Activities: If you’re looking for free or discounted things to do with friends or family this summer, this webpage has a list of activities in and around Phoenix.
Besides free days at certain museums, don’t forget about the Culture Passes offered by Maricopa County libraries. These offer free entry for up to 2 people at places like the Desert Botanical Garden, the Arizona Heritage Center, Reid Park Zoo, and the Phoenix Art Museum. Passes are first-come, first-served, for library patrons, but I just learned that their websites can tell you which are available at every branch.
Community Resources: UAEA is aware of rising fuel prices and how this is impacting members. We are having some internal city discussions about possible workplace changes, but also wanted to post some resources for members who may be struggling to make ends meet. This is a similar list to what we posted in November with a few new additions. Please feel to reach out if you have additional recommendations about local resources.
AZ Food Bank Network: This link contains information about dozens of food banks and assistance sites across Arizona. You can search by the directory and the zipcodes they provide services for to find food banks in your areas.
AZ Medical and Nutrition Assistance: This is an Arizona-State run program that can help connect people with Arizona State programs that provide assistance for people who need medical coverage, WIC support, or additional access to nutrition. I do not know all that the program entails.
Maricopa County Utility Support: This is a Maricopa County program that can help people receive assistance paying for utilities. Some cities have unique offerings while others are covered under one umbrella program.
AZ 211: This is a Arizona-State run help line that can help people connect with a variety of resources and support they may be unaware of in their area.
Tempe Employee Relief Fund: This is a Tempe-run program (paid for by employee donations) that can provide support of up to $1,200 to assist Tempe employees with unplanned emergency bills (housing, mortgage, utilities, etc).
Employee Assistance Program: If you have insurance through the City of Tempe, you can take advantage of the EAP, a group of resources which can provide free therapy, legal consultations, or classes on stress management.
Cheap Recipe Guides: These are two free cookbooks designed for cooking high-nutrition and easy meals on a budget. Even if you’re not a fan of the recipes, there are some good tips on stocking a kitchen with affordable and long-lasting staples.
Free Transit Pass: This contains information on how to obtain your free bus, streetcar, and lightrail pass as a Tempe employee.
Sun Bucks: This program offers direct payments in the summer to families whose children receive free or reduced cost school lunches
Discount Grocery Stores: This link provides a few examples of discount/salvage grocery stores around Phoenix that resell food that supermarket chains don’t want (everything is still good, usually stores get rid of items that are out of season or past their best-by date, even if still viable).
Thanks for a great week, everyone!