From the earliest period in Manitoba, school boards have exercised one continuing and key function: to employ teachers to deliver education to students. Starting in 2022, Manitoba’s Government changed this role by requesting that the association represent English school boards as employer agent at a single bargaining table. Previously, each school board bargained one on one with its teaching staff. “You can imagine what it took to merge thirty-seven distinct and separate collective agreements into one new document. At the end of the day, Manitoba’s teachers now stand head and shoulders above their national peers in terms of compensation, benefits, and work-life balance. When combined with our affordable cost of living, we are sending a clear message: come and teach in Manitoba,” stated Sandy Nemeth, president. A VISION FOR THE FUTURE In 2023, the association launched its very first multiyear strategic plan. Dedicated to the association’s three main pillars of leadership, advocacy and service, the plan seeks to achieve clear objectives and outcomes for the association and its members as it heads into the 2026 school board election cycle. 370 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 07, ISSUE 02
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