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What does the Association do for me?
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Because of your membership in the association along with many others over
35 years we have been able to obtain most of the benefits that we enjoy
today. Some of the benefits came from state and national laws but were
brought to the negotiations table for discussion and implementation into
policy. Without your membership in the association now and in the future and
the encouragement of other employees to become members we would not be
capable of improving or maintaining our benefits.
Some of the benefits we have now were obtained by the effort of other
members in the past and that have since retired. We need the support and
involvement of all the classified employees in the districts.
The Association and it’s membership have worked hard to get the
following:
1. Your Voice for Rights
We fight for fair treatment of classified employees. We know employment
laws and district policies because we deal with them every day. If our
members have a question about their rights, a call to the USEA is all
it takes.
2. Your Voice in Negotiations
Employee salaries and benefits don't just appear- they are negotiated.
USEA leaders work together with research and presentations of ideas to
improve the working conditions of all classified employees. We have won
these types of benefits for classified employees: Salary Increases,
Insurance Coverage, Vacation Benefits, Sick Leave, Personal Leave,
Bereavement Leave, Sick Leave Banks, Early Retirement Programs,
Certification Pay, Retirement Benefits.
3. Your Voice In Due Process
Classified Employees are included under the protections of Utah's
Orderly Termination Act. This law grants career classified employees due
process when faced with a reduction in pay, work hours or even termination.
Due process includes the right to know and rebut allegations and evidence
against you, the right to present your case, and the right to a fair
hearing. The Association members faced with discipline meetings or a hearing
can call on a Association Leader Representative or USEA Staff Attorney to
stand by them to assist and represent them through the process.
4. Your Work-related Legal
Voice
The Association provides all members with free job-related legal
services. For school employees, legal problems can arise whether you're
doing your job right or wrong. Sometimes, employers overstep their legal
bounds in dealing with their employees. In either case, the association will
be there to help represent your interests at no cost to you - not school
district interests, not teacher interests, not student interests, but yours!
5. Your Voice for
Positive Problem Solving
Many workers are faced with situations they just need help with such as
job appeals, insurance issues, workers' compensation claims, or ordinary
workplace conflicts. The association has trained representatives to work
with these issues; and because they work for you and not your school
district or teachers, they can often say the difficult things you cannot.
6. Your Voice on Capitol Hill
USEA is the only organization on Utah's capitol
hill lobbying exclusively for Classified Professionals with the Utah
Legislature and local school boards. USEA has won inclusion for classified
employees in Utah's Orderly Termination Law which protects against
unreasonable dismissal. USEA speaks out against all forms of privatization
in public schools. USEA also successfully lobbied for a law which requires
that Classified Professionals (including part-time workers) receive a larger
compensation increase than their higher paid teaching and administrative
counterparts in education. In 1999, USEA negotiated on average about .25%
additional increase for classified employees because of this law.
7. Your Voice for Member
Control
The driving force behind the Association is the member. Members manage
and run our State organization and do it for less than other organizations
providing similar services. These people
donate thousands of hours each year to make our organization work. They
provide guidance and direction to assure
that dues money is spent in the best interest of members.
8. Your Voice For Local
Control
USEA has a full-time staff serve as resources for your
locally elected officers; usually a President, Vice President and several
Executive Board members. USEA is also independent. Although our national
affiliation is with the National Education Association, it remains
completely independent. No one will ever come to your local officers and
tell them that USEA requires members to participate in any activity which
local members do not agree with.
9. Your Voice For
Professional Development
Each year USEA conducts training workshops for its members and officers.
Topics range from negotiating methods and tactics to helping members handle
grievances. These training sessions also give our local officers a chance to
learn from their counterparts from other districts. Training sessions often
involve USEA's Executive Board, Labor Relations Representatives and the USEA
attorney.
10. Your National Connection
USEA Delegates approved a national affiliation with the Education
Support Professionals of the National Education Association (NEA) at the
2004 Delegate Conference. The affiliation with NEA provides members with
access to the buying power and lobbying power of over 2.7 million members
throughout the country. This means USEA members have access to group
rates on insurance plans and buying discounts. The affiliation also means
that USEA members have a voice in the largest professional employees
organization in the country.
11. Your Source For Information
The USEA Newsletter and Web Site are primary ways to get information out
to our concerned members. The quarterly newsletter keeps members informed
about current events and USEA activities. The state organization also
maintains a website and helps locals in publishing and mailing their own
newsletters. USEA conducts an annual salary survey used in negotiations
which ranks benchmark positions in school districts throughout Utah. USEA
also maintains an annual Benefits Analysis and reference information which
include OSHA regulations, wage and hour regulations, district financial
records, labor arbitration cases and legal materials involving labor issues
and several law research libraries.
12. Your Opportunity for
Leadership
USEA is always searching for Classified Employees who take pride in
their work and want to make the lives of their coworkers better. People with
ideas and commitment are needed. Our association leaders and committee
people are the keystones of our organization. They are the eyes and ears of
state leaders who are constantly on the alert for new ways to offer benefits
and services to our members. The Association operates on democratic
principles of participation and fairness. Its state and local officers are
elected by the people they represent and serve. If you want to make a
difference in your workplace - if you want to be able to vote for the people
who speak for you - if you want a voice in your own future - you need to
join USEA.
13. Your Source for
Current Benefits
Our Association USEA began representing Classified Professionals in
Utah 35 years ago. If you enjoy any of the following benefits, chances are
that association members and resources were instrumental in winning them:
Sick Leave, Vacation Pay, Retirement Programs, Personal Leave, Bereavement
Leave, Health Insurance, Short-term Disability, Long-term Disability,
Payroll Deductions, Sick Leave Bank, Unlimited Sick Leave, Early Retirement, Cashout of Unused Sick Leave.
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