Manitoba Teachers’ Society troubled by ‘toxic work environment,’ external investigation and staff on leave | CBC News

The Manitoba Teachers’ Society is being dogged by allegations of a “toxic work environment” that’s led to an independent investigation and a number of employees taking a leave from the workplace. 

Teamsters Local Union 979, which represents 70 support and administrative workers at MTS, is taking specific grievances involving some members to arbitration, “which include allegations related to violations of our collective agreement and a toxic work environment,” the union wrote in an email to CBC News. 

The turmoil reported at MTS has resulted in some employees taking medical leave from their work, others being burned out and schoolteachers — who pay dues to MTS — not getting adequate service because of insufficient staffing levels, according to a number of people with knowledge of the situation who spoke to CBC News on the condition they not be named, as they feared repercussion. 

They say some senior leaders at the union would confront staff who raised complaints, making them feel intimidated, according to various people who weren’t authorized to speak publicly. 

Teamsters, which represents these MTS workers, declined to elaborate on the concerns of its members, after “careful consultation with our legal team and given the sensitive nature of the ongoing proceedings,” a spokesperson said in an email.

MTS seeks to find solutions

MTS president Nathan Martindale and interim executive director Roland Stankevicius said in a prepared statement it takes the concerns of its workers seriously.

“Our leadership team remains committed to better understanding any concerns our employees may have and to creating solutions that will enable us to move forward together,” the email said.

Martindale and Stankevicius wouldn’t answer how many employees are on leave, but people who spoke to CBC News said at least 10 people have been off work.

Last year, Teamsters surveyed its members to “gain a deeper understanding of the workplace climate and culture concerns that had been informally communicated by staff members over the past year,” according to a letter sent to administrative and support staff at MTS.

At the time, more than 57 per cent of survey respondents said they considered their workplace psychologically unsafe.

When respondents were asked to rate the psychological health and safety climate of their workplace, “toxic” was the most frequently chosen descriptor.

Nearly 32 per cent of employees picked that word, followed by “poor” and “not so good,” each receiving 12.8 per cent of the selections, according to the memo and a list of all survey responses, both of which were obtained by CBC News.

Some survey respondents blamed senior management. Nearly six in 10 people reported they feared negative consequences from the senior management team.

The union memo, signed by Teamsters Local Union 979 president and business manager Paul Frias, stated there’s a “high degree of confidence” the findings are representative of the workplace at large because most staff responded.

Forty-seven people answered the survey, which equals a response rate of 65 per cent, MTS said in a statement.

Frias’s letter is undated, but references the survey results being distributed to members in spring 2023 and a meeting to discuss the results held last September. 

It also says Teamsters tried to schedule meetings with an MTS executive about the results on several occasions, but “these meeting requests were declined, and it appeared that emails were left unanswered.” 

After the survey and complaints were filed, MTS brought on Michelle McHale as its human resources director last September, according to an email to MTS staff at the time.

Independent investigation called

Under her tenure, an external human resources firm, People First, was brought in to conduct an independent investigation. MTS says the results of the investigation was shared with Teamsters, “as is the standard process.” 

McHale is no longer with the organization and said she is unable to comment.

Earlier this month, an Instagram account under the name “teacherunioncorruption” was created that alleged various complaints. The account was deleted after MTS’s lawyers threatened legal action, according to a since-deleted post.

Manitoba Workplace Safety and Health said it received tips in January that harassment concerns at MTS weren’t properly investigated.

The province said improvement orders were issued for the development and implementation of a harassment prevention policy and for the policy to be posted. The government said those orders have since been complied with.

MTS represents 16,000 public school teachers in the province.