ASPA (Administrative and Supervisory Personnel Association)

The certification of CUPE local 1975 dates from the time the University of Saskatchewan Employee's Union was organized as a federal local of the Canadian Congress of Labor in 1945. The certification gave it the right to represent all of the University of Saskatchewan's non-teaching and administrative staff. In 1976, the local moved to amend and amalgamate the certification to include all employees except professors, those involved in teaching and more senior managers. The Labor Board complied and gave CUPE the right to represent previously excluded unorganized administrative and technical officers. Some 169 of the new members (in CUPE) objected to being under the local CUPE certification without a vote. The University applied to quash the board order. The court of Appeal denied the University's but, citing a dissenting opinion, the Supreme Court of Canada allowed the appeal. Subsequently, those employees, organized as the Administrative and Supervisory Personnel Association (ASPA), sought and were granted certification in 1978. The certification order states" ... all administrative and professional person and all technical officers employed by the University of Saskatchewan including but not so as to restrict the generality of the foregoing..."