Liberal MPP map

Connect with Local 79

34 St Patrick St,
Toronto, ON M5T 1V1

Phone

416 977-1629

Fax

416 977-9546

Open in Google Maps

Contact us

Every summer, thousands of recreation workers fan out across Toronto’s pools, parks, and recreation centres to run the programming that makes this city move. This year, they’re heading into the season with a clear understanding of their health and safety rights on the job, including what to do when workplace conditions put them at risk. Because workers who know their rights are better equipped to protect themselves, their colleagues, and the communities they serve.

Local 79 has a stronger voice at @cupeontario after this week’s elections at convention. Brianna Plummer and Coline Babin both won seats on the CUPE Ontario board, bringing with them deep roots in frontline municipal work. We are also celebrating Will Walsh and Alejandro Vargas Samboy, whose campaigns embodied everything a labour election should be — respectful, principled, and grounded in solidarity. Onwards!

Local 79’s delegates are on the floor at CUPE Ontario Convention this week. At our April membership meeting, candidates running for the top Executive positions came to speak directly to members and then voted on who to endorse. Those votes are what our delegates are carrying into the convention today.

Our membership endorsed Yolanda McClean for President, Krista Laing for Secretary-Treasurer, Michael Hurley for 1st Vice-President, Juanita Forde for 3rd Vice-President, and Marty Larocque for 4th Vice-President.

This is how it should work: the members decide, and the delegates follow those wishes. Letting the membership hear directly from candidates and then binding delegates to the result is a straightforward way to make our local more democratic.

Members of CUPE Local 79’s Indigenous Committee joined the Moose Hide Campaign gathering at Queen’s Park today, alongside fellow members who came out in solidarity. The Moose Hide Campaign calls on men and boys to take a stand against gender-based violence.

In 2020, 1 in 4 Toronto residents said their household income wasn’t enough to get by. By 2024, that number had climbed to 2 in 5.

The nine-point jump between 2023 and 2024 alone is larger than the entire increase over the previous three years. More and more Torontonians are working, paying rent, raising families, and still coming up short at the end of the month.

This is the city Local 79 members show up for every single day — delivering the public services that fill the gaps when the cost of living outpaces people’s ability to keep up. We see this reality up close. We live it too.

On May 22nd and 23rd, workers from across the city are coming together at the Toronto Workers Summit to find solutions on how to address the affordability crisis.

Local 79 members were proud to join @cupelocal2 today for their picket sign party. These are the electricians, technicians, and linespersons whose work powers the TTC every single day, and they deserve a contract that reflects it. The @takethettc has had every opportunity to bargain fairly — Local 2 has been ready. We stand with them until they get what they’ve earned.

$Toronto’s community crisis response is working. In 2024, the Toronto Community Crisis Service handled 10,339 calls. 78% of them were resolved without any police involvement. By 2027, the city is targeting 16,000 calls annually — with 90% diverted from police response entirely. That’s an emergency service that is growing, succeeding, and saving money — built on the work of trained community crisis workers responding to people in their most vulnerable moments. Local 79’s Toronto Public Health Nurses are part of this ecosystem too. Through the Downtown CORE program, public health nurses are doing proactive street outreach — connecting people experiencing homelessness, mental health crises, and substance use challenges to care before they ever need to call 911. There are already calls to expand their role and reduce police involvement in that program, and we agree. But the entire community crisis system runs on a fraction of what Toronto spends on police — with zero support from the province or federal government. That has to change. On May 22nd and 23rd, workers from across the city are coming together at the Toronto Workers Summit to do just that.$

CUPE Local 79

Keeping Toronto at its best is what gets us up every morning. The work is worth it. And so are we.

Quick links

Home
News
Who we are
What we do

Home
News
Who we are
What we do

Connect with us

Facebook-f X-twitter Instagram Youtube