Union recognizing growing role, higher demand for substitute teachers

Substitute teachers, who are in increasingly high demand in Manitoba’s public schools, are getting more of a say within their union. 

The Manitoba Teachers’ Society — one of the province’s largest public-sector unions — is launching a committee in the fall to better represent the minority of its membership that covers sick calls, short-term absences and other casual postings. 

The union, which represents 16,600 public school teachers across the province, has long been led by educators who have experience in permanent and term positions. 

While that remains the case, president Lillian Klausen said there’s a newfound awareness among leadership about their substitute colleagues’ unique and changing needs. 

Klausen cited the COVID-19 pandemic and the related changes to the demographic of people who are subbing. 

Historically, substitute pools were made up of retirees who were longtime members of MTS, she said. 

“Now, we’re seeing that our substitute teachers are coming from all over the place,” she said, noting there’s a range of early and mid-career professionals who are prioritizing flexible work schedules. 

The union is hosting its fifth “substitute seminar” at its Portage Avenue office at the end of the summer. The networking event is designed to mimic the orientation and team-building exercises organized for staff teams in kindergarten-to-Grade 12 schools. 

Isolation in the workplace is a huge challenge for substitutes, said Audrey Siemens, who has been picking up shifts in Winnipeg classrooms since she retired from the teaching profession in 2018. 

School officials could do a better job of welcoming them as guests and giving them a heads-up about upcoming events, said Siemens, founding chair of the substitute teacher concerns committee for the Retired Teachers Association of Manitoba. 

“If administration takes the time to meet and greet the substitute, pop in a couple of times in the school day, a lot of (issues related to isolation and students’ disrespectful behaviour) would be rectified,” she said. 

Citing feedback from fellow retirees, she said the inability for substitutes to seek compensation if they are injured on the job is a major deterrent to continuing to work part time in the K-12 system. 

Siemens said she’s optimistic working conditions will improve as a result of the growing influence of substitutes in MTS. 

At its annual general meeting in the spring, the union’s membership passed a resolution to create an internal committee “to explore supports provided by the society to substitute members.” 

A total of $6,300 was earmarked for the committee’s operations. 

“Substitute teachers have always been in demand across the province, but never more than now,” wrote the unnamed teacher who submitted the resolution in their explanatory note. 

“The society has a responsibility to support all members, including substitutes. More can be done.” 

The author argued that better support could assist in recruiting and retaining substitutes. 

A recent survey of 237 retired subs found just over 50 per cent of them plan to quit within four years. Five in 10 of all respondents indicated they were unsure when they would leave teaching permanently. 

An analysis of the data suggests these figures are likely to exacerbate the sub shortage in many divisions. 

This story was originally published in The Free Press. It is republished under a Creative Commons license as part of the Local Journalism Initiative.