History of NLTA Branches

Branches, or locals, were a fairly late development for the Newfoundland and Labrador Teachers’ Association. In the early years and right up to the mid-thirties, the teachers who paid a membership fee were relatively discrete units who could and did attend the infrequent Convention. Between such Conventions, a small Executive kept the NLTA fires burning.

The 1936 Convention sponsored branch activity. A resolution was adopted “to authorize branches to be formed in the various districts and that branches so formed may send a representative to the Executive Council”. Branches were formed at Avondale, Burin, Trinity, Grand Falls, Carbonear, Bonavista, and Harbour Grace. These branches had a relatively low profile for some years. The first mention of them in the publication, the NLTA Journal, appeared in the January 1939 edition. It listed six new and nine older branches.

The number of branches fluctuated — they organized, became inactive, and reorganized. In 1939 there had been 15; in 1943 there were 11 in operation for the year; in 1944, of the 27 branches, 12 were active; in 1949 there were 17. By the 1960s the number had risen to well over 40 and in the early nineties, there were 57. Today, due to the amalgamation of 16 branches since 1995, the total number of NLTA branches stands at 47.

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