7/17 Weekly Email + July 4th Writeup
Hi All,
I have a couple updates this week and then a discussion about Independence Day. Yes, I am aware it’s July 17th - I promise there’s a reason for the delay.
Member Meeting Minutes: Here is a copy of our minutes from today’s member meeting. The content is similar to this email but there are a few additional details about some new City policies.
Holiday Leave: HR is finalizing the implementation of the Floating Holiday Leave (FHL) time with IT so everything shows up correctly in Peoplesoft. I have received a few questions from members about this and want to be clear - you may see a deduction on your paystub soon that shows the 6 hours being sent to UAEA. This is a donation of hours only, not any money. This is also the only time we will be deducting time from members this year. UAEA took 6 hours on July 1st and has no plans to take additional leave from our members this year unless you would like to donate additional time through our form. If you express interest in that, the next donation will occur on October 1st. (I see that several members have filled out the form with a donation of 6 hours - I’m going to presume that was due to a misunderstanding about how/when the 6 hours would be deducted and I will not be taking that time. If that was intentional, feel free to reach out).
On that note, I have been pleasantly surprised by the interest non-members have shown in donating hours to support us. If we can keep those levels up, we may be able to reduce the time needed from members moving forward.
Job Descriptions: New post-Segal job descriptions will be out by the end of August or early September. They are being delayed by a combination of HR, managers, directors, and union boards reviewing the proposed changes and making recommendations. I want to make it clear that these job descriptions will not fundamentally change the vast majority of UAEA roles - for the few that have significantly changed responsibilities, UAEA is currently working to dispute certain aspects (and you’ve been alerted if that’s the case). The new job descriptions are condensed versions of the old job descriptions that get at the heart at the responsibilities of each role. Most jobs have been condensed to 6-8 bullet points and the content of those came from the information provided on JDQ’s. I think this may be beneficial for UAEA in the long term - while you can still be assigned similar duties, these condensed descriptions may make it easier to determine if people are working out-of-class or need temporary duty (TD) pay.
UAEA and TSA have the opportunity to review job descriptions and provide feedback on changes. I have reviewed maybe 100 roles at this point and have provided comments on maybe 50% of them. I have had very few concerns about job descriptions and more about changes in job requirements - many roles that used to allow “equivalent experience” in lieu of a degree now require a degree. I have been told those changes were due to the JDQ feedback - if a majority of employees in a role said a degree was needed, Segal made the degree mandatory. I can understand that perspective but have concerns about how that will impact opportunities for internal promotion and external hiring in the future - my preference would be that “equivalent experience” still be allowed, even if degrees are preferred. I’ll be discussing the issue in the next 6-Sided Partnership meeting - if you have thoughts either way, please let me know by 5PM Friday, July 18th (tomorrow evening). Let me be clear since I see how this could cause concerns - if you are working in a role right now and the minimum education requirements have been raised, that will not impact you. Changes to required education or experience will only impact future applicants to the position.
Heat Stress: The City of Tempe recently debuted a new series of outdoor heat stress standards for city employees and city contractors. “Exhibit A” of the attached document goes into detail about the new standards, which include mandatory additional breaks if temperatures are above 100 degrees and access to shade, air-conditioning, and/or water. If the majority of your day is spent outside (landscaping, water repair, streets, inspections, rearload solid waste pickup, etc), there’s a good chance these impact you or your peers. Workgroups should be sharing details with their teams in the next two weeks - they will have slight tweaks based on the type of work people do. Some aspects will take effect within 30 days, while others, like new training, will take effect on September 1st. My understanding is that this will cause some major changes to some workgroups and minor changes to others - in some instances it may just codify practices that were not formal policies before. If you’re interested in Heat Safety I’ve also attached a presentation from Risk about staying safe in heat - given that overexposure to heat can permanently damage your ability to thermo-regulate, it’s worth reviewing this information every few months.
The decision to implement these standards came from Tempe City Council but I know former UAEA President Billy Vickers initially discussed the need for similar changes in early 2024 after multiple Attorneys General petitioned OSHA for better worker protections in extreme heat scenarios. I think this is a good illustration of the time scales UAEA operates at - while we can’t always get immediate results we are frequently able to start a conversation that leads to changes down the road.
If you’re interested in hearing more about these changes (and why they happened), Tempe put out a promotional video with the Mayor, several City Council members, and Arizona Representative Greg Stanton. There's also a writeup. UAEA Member Adrian Martinez (a member of the Solid Waste division) also had the opportunity to talk briefly about the importance of these changes - we’re happy to see representation of City employees and a UAEA member at that!
Independence Day: I sent out a survey two weeks ago asking for feedback about the content of my emails and received one response that was frustrated that I hadn’t done a writeup for the history of July 4th. I understand that perspective but have to admit I didn’t have a lot to say - I feel most people have a pretty comprehensive understanding of the holiday and the history of our early nation. I also try to tie my history writeups to organized labor - while I’m more than happy to recognize events like Washington’s Birthday, the 4th of July, Veteran’s Day, Christmas, or New Year’s, it’s pretty hard to directly tie in anecdotes about past unions or workers (outside maybe a strike or two that coincided with the holidays). That’s not to say that the holidays aren’t important, just that I don’t see an obvious connection - if anyone has any insights on how to bridge that gap for some of the holidays listed above, I’m more than happy to take that into consideration.
But after mulling it over a little I do think it’s important to talk a little more about Independence Day and our Declaration of Independence.
The Declaration of Independence, a document establishing that the United States of America was now “independent” from England, was signed by several of our nation’s founders in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on July 4th, 1776. There is an argument to be made that we should actually celebrate our nation’s independence every July 2nd - that’s when the Continental Congress actually approved a resolution stating “That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved.” The Declaration essentially served as publicity for a vote that had already taken place - it was written to help explain to the public why the nation’s leaders had voted for independence. While July 2nd would make more sense, it seems that everyone involved forgot about the anniversary of the date until July 3rd, 1777 (in fairness, they were still in the middle of fighting the Revolutionary War). At that point they agreed to celebrate the anniversary the following day on July 4th, and the rest is history.
(Side note here - while there were many local and state recognitions of Independence Day in America throughout the 17th and 18th century, the federal government did not officially recognize the day as a holiday until 1870, when President Grant signed the first bill that gave federal workers paid time off on holidays. Those holidays were New Year’s Day, Independence Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.)
In terms of historical importance, It’s easy to forget in retrospect that the Declaration of Independence is kind of a shocking historical document - outside of the Magna Carta, there had been very few formal documents outlining the concept of fundamental human rights. The Declaration states both that humans are endowed with fundamental rights to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” but also that governments are established to help people and that if they fail in that goal the public has the right to “alter or abolish it.” This came at a point in history where much of Europe was still ruled by aristocracy and America itself was subject to the whims of the colonial governors appointed by England’s King George the Third. The idea that citizens of a country could have a say in the governance of their nation was fairly new and this was one of the first times the concept had been committed to paper. Yes, early America did not always embody the values of equality and freedom that were stated in the Declaration and (later) Constitution, but this was still a huge step forward in terms of the concept of human rights. I think it’s equally important to recognize the importance of the first Constitution and the Bill of Rights, but since those didn’t come until over a decade later and the anniversary of the signing is December 15th (right between Thanksgiving and Christmas), I think it’s easier to just commemorate the occasion on July 4th, the date this first important document was signed.
As a little bit of fun context, ideas about the purpose of government and the fundamental rights of human beings did not emerge from a vacuum - America’s founders were heavily influenced by French and English writers who spent decades throughout the 17th and 18th centuries writing and debating the structure of societies, the concept of morality, and the role of governments. Historians David Graeber and David Wengrow argue in their 2020 book The Dawn of Everything that these ideas may have themselves emerged from Native American culture - they note that European intellectuals first began debating the structure of their cities and governments after initial European contact with Native tribes in the new world, groups that showed alternative (and successful) forms of structuring societies. This is a relatively new theory and is still being debated but I find the idea fascinating - we already know that Native Americans like Tisquantum (often known as “Squanto”) and the Wampanoag people helped the Pilgrims survive their first winter in America and it would be fascinating if there were additional ways in which native peoples helped turn this country into the nation it is today.
Given all this background, I think there are two ties to labor unions.
First, unions and worker rights can’t exist without there being some base level of human rights - people can’t argue for fair pay or fair treatment in the workplace if workers don’t even have the right to freedom. Beyond having that right on paper, there also has to be some shared knowledge and acceptance of that right by the people in an area - if workers don’t have that, there’s no chance they’d be able to do things like collectively bargain.To that end, it’s important that July 4th be recognized and discussed each year - rights can’t be easily eroded if the public has the knowledge and understanding of their existence and importance. The format of the Declaration of Independence is also one that can be easily copied to assert the need for systemic change - one such example is the 1936 Declaration of Independence written by United Steel Workers fighting for a better contract.
Second, America’s Independence Day is due to a group of people who felt compelled to fight (in a very literal sense) the status quo. Our nation only exists because people questioned the assumptions at the core of their society and fought to present a viable alternative. Anyone who feels uncomfortable rocking the boat in their workgroup or department should consider this - the very concept of American identity is directly linked to disruption. I want to be clear - as a general rule you should probably obey the law (in this case, following City of Tempe policy) - but patriotism does not have to mean compliance. There will always be forces saying you or your fellow workers don’t deserve certain things or that certain changes are impossible but don’t ever feel like you don’t deserve something or that it’s not worth fighting tough battles - only through tough fights and firm commitments did we create the nation we live in today.
Happy belated Independence Day, everyone.