Leadership issues dominate opening session of teachers’ union AGM

Manitoba teachers want answers about how their top union officials plan to bring about stability at their Portage Avenue headquarters after “a rough year.”

More than 330 delegates are registered to take part in the 106th annual general meeting of the Manitoba Teachers’ Society this week.

Formal proceedings kicked off Thursday morning with an impromptu debate related to the organization being without a permanent executive director to oversee the day-to-day operations of supporting 16,600 members.

Three different people have served in that role over the last 18 months, a period during which MTS has grappled with infighting and low morale among support staff, as well as multiple workplace investigations.

“It’s time that we have a properly appointed leader of this organization,” Cale Dunbar of the Brandon Teachers Association told hundreds of colleagues packed into a conference room in downtown Winnipeg.

“This room is the highest authority — in all of our bylaws, we are the body that controls the future of MTS — and I think everybody in this room has a right to know what’s happened and what’s going to happen to make sure that we have an executive director quickly, moving forward.”

Dunbar requested the multi-day meeting agenda be amended to include an in-camera session to discuss leadership matters on the final morning of the four-day event. The AGM runs Wednesday through Saturday at the RBC Convention Centre.

Speaking in support of his motion, the Brandon-based teacher said it had been “a rough year” for the union and its reputation due to “staff turmoil” and media coverage of it.

The union’s newly-appointed chief financial officer, Dan McGregor, resigned on Friday, mid-AGM – days after he took on the role. His departure is among a handful of high-profile exits over the last six months.

MTS hired a third party at the start of the school year to conduct a workplace audit to respond to complaints about office culture, harassment and morale issues.

A summary of Richter Consulting’s findings and recommendations have been shared with administrative staff who are represented by Teamsters Local 979.

“The process is moving in the right direction…. We look forward to continuing to work with MTS leadership after the AGM to build a healthier work environment,” Teamsters Canada spokesman Christopher Monette said in a statement.

Monette said turnover in management has helped ease tensions. Executive director Danielle Fullan Kolton announced her resignation in December after a 13-month leave, around the same time as the chief financial officer and another high-ranking manager.

MTS president Nathan Martindale also revealed he would not be seeking re-election during the winter break.

Teamsters said seven of 13 grievances it has filed since 2023 have been resolved through arbitration. “Additionally, members who filed individual grievances will be receiving a formal apology letter from the organization,” Monette said.

Dunbar told the AGM that teachers have questions about internal operations and allowing them to ask them in private is most appropriate. Members know little other than a search committee to find a new executive director was formed, he noted.

His motion passed with overwhelming support, but not without Dunbar being questioned about his intentions and the point of holding such a session.

There have been two different temporary executive directors since Fullan Kolton went on leave in November 2023. Glen Anderson, the latest interim leader, declined to comment on the ongoing search to replace him, saying the matter is with the provincial executive, better known as PX.

PX is made up of a president, vice-president and members-at-large who are elected by the membership. Teacher-delegates will cap off their 2025 annual general meeting with elections Saturday to replace seven departing PX members.

The union’s outgoing president is returning to the front lines of his profession to teach elementary schoolers in Winnipeg in the fall.

Martindale said in an interview that it is “an exciting time” for the union because a leadership shakeup is on the horizon. “It’s a sign of an engaged membership that we have multiple people running for all the different spots,” he said.

The union leader said he could not disclose any details about hiring or the results of a recent third-party probe into labour concerns raised by MTS employees, many of whom field teacher complaints about their workplaces and advocate for them.

Martindale said those matters have been discussed by PX in private.

An internal workforce survey, which was conducted by Teamsters in 2023, found most of its members who run day-to-day operations at MTS felt their office was not a psychologically safe place and was being run by incompetent managers.

Sixty per cent of respondents disclosed they feared sanctions from their bosses. Eight in 10 of them said they considered the then-executive team to be “inept in conflict resolution.”

After those results made headlines, a group of local union executives penned an unusual letter to PX on March 7, 2024 to urge it undertake an inquiry to expose whistleblowers.

Multiple signatories — Jonathan Waite, Jamie Shuhyta and Mervat Yehia — are currently mounting campaigns for PX.

Waite, who is the president of the Seine River Teachers’ Association, is running for the MTS presidency. He is up against Garden Valley teacher Joel Swaan and Lillian Klausen, who was previously at the helm of the teachers’ society’s francophone counterpart.

All of the three nominees are experienced union representatives.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca