Vol. XXV, No. 13 / Jerry Sirois, President / April 28, 2004.

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IN THIS FLASH:

SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS

MORE CHANCES TO WIN CASH IN 25/25 COPA CLUB EXTENTION

VOLUNTARY EARLY RETIREMENT UPDATE

2004/2005 SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS ARE. . .

We are pleased to announce that there were 38 applicants for the four $1500.00 Scholarships the Minneapolis Area Local, APWU will award for the upcoming scholastic year! The four winners were drawn at our April 26, 2004, General Membership Meeting and they are:

1. Keith Yanes Son of Ron Yanes Eden Prairie Clerk
2. Richard Furseth Son of Peter Furseth Mpls VMF MVS
3. Denise Wagner Daughter of Beverlyn Wagner Normandale Station Clerk
4. Philip Lau Son of Helen Lau Mpls P&DC Clerk

The first alternate is Julie Moran, Daughter of Steve Moran who is a custodian at our Columbia Heights Station! Congratulations to all!! Please look forward to your September 2004 edition of the Northern Light for more information regarding the scholarship recipients we are so proud of! Scholarship winners should refer to our scholarship rules as published in the February and March Northern Lights for further instructions.

The Minneapolis Area Local Announces:

25/25 and President’s COPA Club is Extended!

The Minneapolis Area Local COPA (Committee on Political Action) year was scheduled to end on April 30, 2004! In an effort to bring our COPA donation year in line with the National APWU COPA year, the Minneapolis Area Local has extended our 25/25 COPA Club year until December 31, 2004! Each successive COPA year will then be concurrent with our National’s efforts and thus run from calendar year to calendar year!

Minneapolis has collected approximately $16,000 since enacting our 25/25 contest in July 2003! Because of this we have helped turn up the heat on those who propose to dismantle America’s Postal Service and erode the pay and benefits we have built through over 30 years of collective bargaining!

We are extremely proud of our efforts thus far, but we aren’t done yet and need to continue setting the foundation for constant political vigilance. This new extension gives us more time to reach our goal of $25,000 and even more opportunities for existing and new contributors to win $250 or more!

Each time the local has reached $2,500 in donations we have drawn from our current list of contributors of $10 or more for a cash prize of $250. We have awarded $250 prizes at $2,500, $5,000, $7,500, $10,000, $12,500, and $15,000 when reaching those COPA temperatures! We still have the $17,500, $20,000, $22,500, and $25,000 temperatures to hit and each time we do another winner will be picked at random from our 25/25 COPA data base!

Winners will and have been announced in our Northern Light and/or Flash Bulletins! Additionally, those who contribute $100 or more by December 31, 2004, will belong to the ’President’s Club” and also be eligible for a grand prize drawing of $500 should we reach our COPA Year goal of $25,000!

Postal Employees and Retirees alike can search many investment opportunities and fail to come up with any better bang for their buck than to give $10 or more to the APWU COPA fund each and every year! Not only does that money help protect your jobs and benefits; it also helps protect future and current retirement benefits that are constantly being eyed by the rich and greedy! You can’t buy any better insurance than that! To top it all off, you get multiple chances to win big cash prizes!

Don’t leave your future up to others! Participate today and talk to your friends about turning up the heat! Our future depends on it! Make your check out to: APWU COPA today!

VOLUNTARY EARLY RETIREMENT (VER) UPDATE!

We are aware that some eligible employees have not received their Voluntary Early Retirement Statement of Interest packages which were due to be mailed out on April 16th 2004. Any employee who believes they are eligible to participate in the VER and did not receive their package should immediately complete the following form and fax it to APWU headquarters: 1-202-371-1121.

Please call Jerry or Peggy at 612 623-0677 with any questions.