MTS President Pat Isaak is available to answer members' questions.

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Q: I was wondering, with all the technology we have, why the MTS newspaper is still distributed in its physical form.  I think it would make much more environmental and economical sense for it to be distributed electronically rather than shipped in a box.
 
I find that the majority of teachers to whom I distribute the paper tend to drop it in the recycling bin and do not always take the time to read it.  I feel that it should be sent electronically so that it is not wasting paper or printing costs.
 
Is there any reason why it is still distributed in a print format?

A. We are very proud of The Manitoba Teacher. It is the best way for us to get information to all Manitoba teachers. Current MTS policy states that every member in good standing of The Manitoba Teachers’ Society is entitled to receive a copy of The Teacher. It is also available online at mbteach.org.

The Society continues to examine this issue in terms of our costs and the environmental impact while balancing our need to give all members information. Over the past several years in our annual member survey we have asked teachers if they would prefer to receive the Manitoba Teacher online or continue to receive a hard copy. This independent survey of teachers tells us that the majority of teachers still want to receive an actual copy of the paper. This is especially important for northern and rural teachers where internet connections are not as dependable as in the larger urban centres. In addition, there would be little cost saving printing fewer copies.

We will continue to monitor this as technology improves for all Manitoba teachers.

Q: I read in the November Provincial Executive minutes that a motion to make the Provincial Executive responsible to the Code of Professional Conduct was defeated. Aren’t Provincial Executive members teachers? Why can’t they be responsible to the Code of Conduct when I am? Are they not teachers and professionals when they are on Provincial Executive?

A: One of the difficulties with minutes is that they reflect only the end results of a discussion but not the context of that discussion.  That lack of context often leads to the kinds of questions that you’ve asked. 

You’re absolutely correct in your observation that the members of the Provincial Executive are all teachers and are subject to—and protected by—the MTS Code of Professional Conduct in their teaching role.

The motion in the minutes arose out of a discussion that had to do with issues that the Executive deals with from a governance perspective rather than a teaching perspective.  The Provincial Executive deals with many issues where there is a wide range of opinions and views among our members.  For example, the Executive discusses members who call meetings at lunch hour in violation of the duty-free lunch provision in their collective agreement.  Our discussion and our position, while completely within the responsibility of the Executive, could be taken as critical by some members. 

The Provincial Executive’s responsibility is to act in the collective interest of all members.  This includes discussing their actions.  It’s those instances that we felt did not fall within the jurisdiction of the Code.

Q: Our administrator’s group is wondering if MTS can define “duty-free” for us?

A: Article 5.3 of the Pembina Trails Collective Agreement states,

“An uninterrupted lunch period of sixty (60) consecutive minutes shall be provided to each teacher in the Division between the hours of 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.”

In practical terms, this means that the teacher has the right to take these sixty minutes and use this time to do whatever he or she wishes to use it for.  These sixty minutes are controlled exclusively by the individual teacher and the employer cannot impose any expectations on, or assign duties of any kind to the teacher during this time.