Justin Matchett talks priorities after he was re-elected last week for a third and final term as president of Nunavut Teachers’ Association president. (Photo courtesy of Justin Matchett)
Newly re-elected teachers union head sees contract, staff retention as priorities
Justin Matchett wins third term as Nunavut Teachers’ Association president; current collective agreement expires in June
Updated Feb. 10 at 10:55 a.m. ET
Fresh off a third-term win as president of the Nunavut Teachers’ Association, Justin Matchett says keeping teachers working in the territory and getting them an improved contract are priorities for the next two years.
“Retention is going to be a big issue. We’re seeing a large number of teachers resigning from Nunavut and going elsewhere,” he said Feb. 6 in an interview.
“Teachers are in very high demand, so we need to really focus on retention and keeping the teachers that we have in Nunavut.”
The election for union president ran from Feb. 3 to Feb. 5.
Matchett garnered 253 votes while his opponent, Iqaluit teacher Jennie Dawson, got 190 votes. Nine votes weren’t counted because they were spoiled or the member had abstained. In total the union has 886 members, 452 of whom voted.
The association represents close to 900 teachers. Its current four-year collective agreement with the Government of Nunavut expires June 30.
“Our members aren’t feeling supported and they aren’t feeling valued, and we need to see that represented, especially now that we’re in a bargaining year,” Matchett said.
“Let our teachers know that they’re valued and they can do that by providing teachers with a contract that they deserve.”
The majority of Government of Nunavut employees received a nine per cent salary increase in May 2024. Teachers, however, were not included.
“Our members are going to expect something similar to what the other groups got,” Matchett said.
“That’s just something that we’re going to have to really work hard for when it comes to bargaining.”
He said as the racial diversity of teachers in Nunavut has broadened, more are reporting incidents of racism directed toward them.
Incidents of students bullying teachers have been on the rise in recent years. It’s a problem Matchett points out isn’t unique to Nunavut, but nonetheless needs to be addressed by the GN.
“I want to see the government implement some policies that are going to protect our teachers,” he said. “And our teachers are facing a lot of violence, and that could be one of the reasons that we have so many teachers leaving.”
Matchett, who was a teacher and vice-principal before becoming president, said he’s proud of the work he’s done over the past four years. The union executive created a diversity, equity and inclusion committee which he hopes can work with the GN to address the increasing issue of racism.
They also created an administrators’ council composed of principals and vice-principals. Matchett said staff turnover was “high in general” at Nunavut schools, but among administrators it’s about 50 per cent per year.
“I strongly feel that our administrators are overworked and too many expectations are put on them,” he said. “We’re really hopeful that this council is going to provide us with some direction of what our administrators need, what kind of training they need, what kind of supports they need.”
The Nunavut Teachers’ Association has a three-term limit for presidents, meaning this will be Matchett’s final term.
“I appreciate this opportunity,” he said. “It’s an absolute career highlight. I’m really honoured [and] I really appreciate the trust and support from the members that put me in this position.”
Note: This story was updated to clarify the membership of the union’s administrators’ council
Start by letting teachers get their own housing units if you want to retain them.
Where do they live now?
Most of the teachers live with other teachers as roommates, and many of them have never met each other.
Lets hope the millions spent on teaching actually gets our kids educated. when a VP writes to the DEA saying the kids are below average and needs help…says alot. if they are not educating our children, what are they doing?
Education is a full time trait, it must include both the school and the home. Parents must be involved in the Education process, if not, really doesn’t matter what a teacher does. Home life is crucial to education.
And therein lies the problem
Parents are totally responsible for their children’s education not the teachers.
Kids not sent to school because “they dont tisten”
You parents complain but do nothing but that
Blame someone else without looking in the mirror
Get that kids ass in bed at night and up in the morning
Walking him to school in the. Morning
They even have breakfast and lunch programs for them
If not, give up your own addictions of cigarettes. Weed, booze etc and feed your kid
That is what a responsible parent does.
No more whining. because you think it’s someone else fault
It’s YOUR fault if the kids are not getting an education.
NO EXCUSES.
Many would have the same questions about many parents. Education starts at home and is the primary responsibility of the family/parents/guardians. You can have the best school and teachers in the country, but if the kids don’t come to school and the parents send the message that schooling isn’t important, then it is a challenge.
Conversely, students can excel in weak schools when they have strong and engaged caregivers.
I have previously worked as a teacher for several years in Arviat. The main problem is cost. Teachers need a big pay raise and/or a flight in and out once a year.
– teachers only get base pay of $175.00/day – that is almost the same rate as minimum hourly wage of $19.00; they are our teachers of our children/grandchildren and 23.33/per hour X 7.5 hour day – doesn’t cut it anymore; no wonder they are leaving the teaching force or moving elsewhere; we need to support our teachers
So you are suggesting that the base salary is only $ 34,915.00?? ( $ 175 X 195 days).
I am sure that any Nunavut teacher with a degree and B.Ed earns much more than that.
Or are you suggesting that the larger share of the salary is Northern Allowance?
Quick Google searches suggest that the salary range is 66K to 120 k
So your math is quite curious
The NTA does nothing for Inuit educators. They get 2% of revenue to teachers salaries. It has been operated the same way for years. I would like to see professional development geared to trauma informed education, children with special needs training, along with Inuktitut and English as a second language training. I would like to see results of how many teachers go south to “see how other schools operate, visits to museums and how many teachers take parka, mitt sewing. While this is valuable our students need more. It should benefit the student and not the teacher.
QEC employees pay 75% less rent than teachers. My neighbour has the same size and layout unit. We pay $1800, they pay $450. WTF??? All this lip service about how Nunavut values its teachers and NEU staff is BS. And why is there not increase in Northern Allowance? The cost of living is through the roof. Duty travel per diems go up which is great for the senior high-ups who get to travel for work but northern allowance hasn’t moved in decades. This is bs. To all the new teachers, save your paychecks and don’t spend more than a couple years here.