GREAT BAY--Members of the Workers Institute for Organized Labour Association, WIFOL, are moving ahead with an open search for a new union leader after longtime President Theophilus Emanuel Thompson failed to respond to repeated correspondence asking him to convene a membership meeting.
The latest step is being accompanied by an open call for persons interested in WIFOL leadership. Under the message “Be the Leader Our Membership Deserves,” the members are seeking a union leader with integrity, trust and the skills necessary to serve the membership. Expressions of interest can be submitted to wifol.leadership2026@gmail.com.
The move follows several months of formal efforts by concerned members to have WIFOL’s leadership convene a meeting and account to the membership.
On May 7, 2026, at least ten ordinary members formally wrote Thompson and the WIFOL board requesting that a Special General Meeting be called within two weeks. The members invoked Article 10 of WIFOL’s Articles of Incorporation. An addendum submitted on May 11 confirmed that the request carried ten signatures from WIFOL members employed at Iron Shore Management and Oyster Bay Resort.
According to the members, Thompson was asked by letter to convene the meeting, and the convocation was also formally delivered to him through a marshal. They said no response was received.
The requested meeting was intended to address the election of board members and a review of WIFOL’s operations, including its financial statements. The members maintain that no meeting was convened by Thompson or the board within the period they had requested.
The dispute has also reached the Public Prosecutor's Office. On May 21, WIFOL co-founder and lifetime honorary member René Richardson filed a criminal complaint against Thompson on behalf of concerned members and workers. The complaint alleges possible wrongdoing related to the association's management, finances, assets, governance and functioning. According to Richardson, the filing followed approximately one and a half to two years of efforts to have Thompson call meetings, respond to correspondence and account to members.
Among the concerns submitted with the complaint were the absence of documented general meetings since November 2013, the lack of financial reporting, questions concerning WIFOL's building and rental income, and the continued deduction of membership fees from workers without what the concerned members consider sufficient communication and accountability. The allegations have not been tested in court and no determination of criminal wrongdoing has been announced.
With attempts to secure a meeting from the existing leadership unsuccessful, the concerned members say they are now exercising the rights available to the membership under WIFOL's governing documents and moving toward an electoral process.
The open leadership search forms part of that effort, with the members stating through their recruitment notice that they are looking for leadership built around integrity, trust and skills, as they seek to restore regular membership participation, elections, financial reporting and accountability within WIFOL.
