The Canadian Postmasters and Assistants Association was founded in 1902 in Stonewall, Manitoba as a grass roots organization dedicated to improving the working conditions of Postmasters in rural Manitoba. CPAA grew from a local organization to a national association that is the second largest bargaining unit representing employees of Canada Post Corporation.
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The documents submitted by CPAA, CUPW and the Canadian Industrial Relations Board, pertaining to the bargaining unit review requested by CUPW are available in both official languages and have been posted on the Association web site in their integral version. Unfortunately, some documents submitted by other parties might only be available in one or the other of the two official languages. These documents will only be posted on the English or French web page according to that language in which they are written.

After giving us barely 24 hours' notice, your Association got a hand-delivered document today from CUPW. That union will ask the Canada Industrial Relations Board to say that you, the members of CPAA, should lose your right to belong to the Association.

Rest assured, we will fight CUPW's blatant attempt to beef up its sagging membership by raiding another union.

In 2005, only 5 years ago, CUPW recognized, in writing, that CPAA had a right to exist, guaranteeing that its members could vote to stay in a separate, independent union, dedicated to the working lives and interests of workers in rural Canada. Since the introduction of the Modern Post, they are losing members and dues. Now, they want to fold the CPAA bargaining unit and all of the Association's members into the CUPW bargaining unit.

CUPW has done this while we are in the middle of a critical stage in bargaining, thinking it would take advantage of the Association and its members while our attention was elsewhere. They have underestimated you and they have underestimated the Association.

We will all have to work to make sure this "hostile takeover" is stopped. Over the coming weeks and months, we will keep you posted as this unfolds.

You will have all watched with horror the images of the devastation caused by Tuesday's earthquake in Haiti. Emergency relief to aid the victims is essential and I know the Canadian labour movement will respond with the same generosity and solidarity as in previous disasters of this type. As in the past. the CLC will coordinate labour's response to the disaster.

International relief efforts are now underway through a number of well-established organizations including the Canadian Red Cross, Oxfam-Canada, Doctors Without Borders and others.

The federal government has committed to matching donations made by individual Canadians to eligible registered Canadian charitable organizations who are earmarking donations to respond to the Haitian earthquake. for the period between January 12 to February 12, 2010.

The Canadian Labour Congress is working with the Canadian Red Cross (one of the approved organizations) to set up a special donation portal on the Red Cross web site. where individual union members can contribute if they wish and receive tax receipts. This would help maximize the individual contributions that qualify for matching federal funds. This will also help us to track the amounts that union members are contributing. We will provide you with further information as this component is finalized shortly, so you can communicate this to your members.

We would request that organizational donations be channelled through the CLC also for tracking purposes. An appropriate portion of the funds received would be distributed to disaster relief provided to affected Haitian unions through the Trade Union Confederation of the Americas (TUCA) as well as to the Oxfam coalition of agencies and the Canadian Red Cross. The CLC will ensure that you receive timely and appropriate reports on the disbursement of these funds.

In solidarity.

Internal EAP web site

CPAA received an invitation from Dr. Ted Harvey, {(Senior Consultant, SPR Associate) for the HR Council} a national survey assessing interest in mid- to late career transitions from the public sector or private sector or retirement, to paid employment in the non-profit sector. Attached is a copy of this invitation and as a member of CPAA, you are welcome to participate in this survey should you wish to do so.

You are invited to complete this survey if you are potentially interested in a late-career change or post-retirement paid employment.  Completing this survey will be of interest to you and will also assist the non-profit sector.

To provide valuable information to Canadian workers and retirees, the HR Council for the Voluntary and Non-profit Sector, a national non-profit organization, is conducting a survey of public and private sector Canadian workers, aged 45+, and retired persons to assess their potential interest in transitioning to full-time or part-time paid employment in the non-profit sector, either in late-career or post-retirement years.

We are interested in obtaining your views on these matters.  This survey is strictly voluntary, confidential and anonymous and Sshould not take more than 10-15 minutes to complete.

The survey reflects the non-profit sector’s interest in union members who can bring experience from other sectors to late-career or post-retirement paid work in the non-profit sector.  This survey also reflects recent research showing that transitioning to the non-profit sector is highly desirable for individuals who wish to find a new job which combines income with personal meaning and social impact.  This survey is one of many studies underway in Canada today aimed at enhancing the match of labour force skills to jobs in all sectors.

The non-profit sector includes thousands of national, provincial and community based organizations and charities across Canada such as the Canadian Cancer Society, the United Way, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Boys and Girls Clubs, Oxfam Canada, Habitat for Humanity, YM/YWCA, and the David Suzuki Foundation.  For purposes of this survey, the public sector includes publicly-funded, not-for-profit bodies such as hospitals, universities, schools, etc.

This completely confidential study will be of interest to workers aged 45+ who are not currently working in the non-profit sector.  Full confidentiality is guaranteed by SPR Associates who have been contracted by the HR Council to collect the survey data.  (If you have any questions about the survey or if you would like more information about SPR's 25 year+ track record of guarding confidentiality, feel free to call me, toll-free, at 1-800-363-0832, Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. ET.)  The final study report will contain findings in aggregate form only – no individual information will be revealed.  In addition, no personal identification is requested in the survey, therefore, no answers can be traced back to individuals.

The survey asks about your perceptions of the non-profit sector, awareness of jobs and careers in the sector, and factors that would influence a decision to work in the sector.  A summary of the study findings will be made available to all survey participants in late 2009 and additional information on the non-profit sector is provided at the end of the survey.

Please click on the web-link below to complete the survey:
https://www.surveycentral.ca/npvs/survey.htm
Thank you for your participation.

Please feel free to forward this invitation on to others.

Dr. Ted Harvey
Project Director, for the HR Council

On Friday, October 2, a meeting was held between representatives from CPAA, Leslie A. Schous National President and Sue Verhelst, Director of Saskatchewan Branch and Christopher Hilton, Senior Advisor to Minister Merrifield.

The meeting was held to discuss the impact of the CPC Strategic Review and the CPC Service Charter on rural Post Offices.

Mr. Hilton assured CPAA that the Government does do not intend to close rural Post Offices, that the Government supports the federally operated Post Offices, and that the Service Charter should bring comfort to rural Canadians, not fear.

Mr Hilton went on to identify that the CPC Service Charter ensures that CPC is meeting their mandate to provide postal services to all Canadians.

A further meeting with Minister Merrifield has been set up for October 27. Representatives from the National Office will be meeting with Minister Rob Merrifield at that time.