• Local 79's Inaugural Golf Tournament - Sept 29^th

• Fall BBQ and Dance - Oct. 14^th

• NOTICE OF ARBITRATION AWARD – ENTITLEMENTS FLOWING FROM ADJUSTMENTS TO SENIORITY AND/OR SERVICE RESULTING FROM THE SENIORITY AND SERVICE REVIEW FOR MEMBERS IN THE FULL-TIME AND THE RECREATION WORKERS’ COLLECTIVE AGREEMENT

• Investigation Line - City of Toronto, TCHC, Bridgepoint Hospital
• Information for Members who were on Vacation during the 2009 Strike
• KEEP OUR SKI HILLS AFFORDABLE AND ACCESSIBLE
• President's Report
• FAQs and Information about SPP or IIP for Full-Time members, Long Term Care Homes and Services Part-Time members, and members Grand-Parented on predecessor STD Plans
• Collective Agreement Summary highlights
• General Membership Meetings
• Steward's Meetings

CUPE Local 79 wins fight to keep ski hills public
 

Toronto’s municipally owned and operated ski hills will remain open for another season, the city’s executive committee has decided.

CUPE Local 79, which represents ski and snowboard instructors, blew the whistle last March on budget decisions that were being made behind closed doors. Those decisions included selling or leasing assets such as the city’s two ski hills at Earl Bales Park and Centennial Park.

The city did approach private operators to take over the ski hills, but there was no interest. The executive committee voted unanimously to keep the hills open for at least another year because, said Councillor Janet Davis, skiing and snowboarding are accessible to everyone, not just “rich kids.” The city’s welcome policy means low-income families pay less to use the facilities.

In a deputation to the committee, CUPE Local 79 President Ann Dembinski said the city must do some serious marketing of the facilities and not just rely on employees to spread the word.

“These centres could be sustainable and profitable even if they were given a minimal amount of promotion,” she said.

The executive committee vote must be confirmed when city council meets on August 25 and 26.

Source: CUPE National via www.cupe.ca

August 17, 2010

LOCAL 79 FIGHTING TO KEEP CITY SKI HILLS OPEN AND OPERATED BY CITY WORKERS

Local 79 and all of our members working at Earl Bales and Centennial Park ski hills are one step closer to keeping the ski hills open and operated by City workers, not private contractors. All the work behind the scenes of lobbying Councillors, making deputations to the Budget and Executive Committees will have paid off if City Council agrees to restore funding to operate the hills at its final meeting on August 25^th and 26^th, 2010.

Ceaseless lobbying efforts by Local 79 paid off at City Hall on August 16^th when the Executive Committee voted to turn around the original Budget decision to contract out the operation of the ski hills. The City had also been threatening to close the hills down altogether this year because no private operator bid on the ski hill operation.

One of the most compelling reasons to keep the hills directly operated by the City is the accessible, affordable services they provide. Local 79’s deputation to the Executive Committee meeting highlighted these services: “these ski hills provide much needed services for all the City’s youth – including underprivileged youth, Welcome Policy participants and school boards. They also offer special needs, pre-school/holiday and March break programming. These are affordable and accessible facilities for families and individuals to enjoy a healthy, outdoor activity that otherwise might be out of reach for many.”

Local 79 intends to fight the drive to privatize and contract out City services and we will continue to monitor the City’s proposals and decisions about the delivery of public services.

Ann Dembinski
President

Investigation Line – City of Toronto, TCHC, Bridgepoint Hospital

Local 79 has instituted a dedicated investigation meetings line. All requests for investigation meetings should be directed to the Local 79 investigation meetings line at 416-977-1629 ext. 500.

The line can be accessed as follows:

Members
If you are asked to attend an investigation meeting, please contact Local 79 immediately at 416-977-1629 ext. 500. Please listen carefully to the message and provide the information requested. Local 79 attempts to ensure that every member called to an investigation meeting is provided with an experienced Local 79 Steward.

Managers, Supervisors, etc.
If you are holding an investigation meeting with a Local 79 member of your staff, please call the Local 79 investigation line at 416-977-1629 ext. 500 to arrange for a Steward to be present.

Please note that this line is for Investigation Meetings only, all other concerns should be directed to the Duty Officer at 416 977-1629 ext. 244 or press '0' to reach the reception desk.

2010 City of Toronto Operating Budget

Local 79 would like to congratulate the City for balancing the 2010 Operating Budget, without selling off assets, but we will not be lulled into thinking that services are not going to be affected by the decisions that have been made on staffing. Staffing cuts will, without a doubt, have an impact on programs for people with the greatest needs.

Our members can be found in every corner of this City providing professional support and services to communities, neighbourhoods and individuals. Public Health staff administer flu shots at the H1N1 clinics; our members can be seen on the streets, in the coldest of weather, helping the homeless and the disenfranchised to shelter; our members nurture thousands of children in municipal child care centres; bring comfort to the elderly; support new Canadians, to name a few. Local 79 members are the cogs and gears that make this great City tick.

On behalf of Local 79, I must register, once again, a protest about the budget process itself. There has been no consultation, no inclusion and no transparency. I would like to be able to know, definitively, what the next year has in store for the services and programs that the people of this City need. I would like to be able to know, exactly, what will be happening to the workforce that provides these services. 

To read whole deputation click here

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - March 1, 2010) - The City of Toronto is planning to rid itself of the city's two publicly-owned and operated ski hills along with other recreation facilities and programs, according to the union representing ski instructors and other workers.

"The public needs to know that decisions are being made in secret about which facilities and programs will continue as city services," said Ann Dembinski, president of CUPE Local 79. "Operations are going to be affected by the city's staffing cuts and the public won't know a thing until the decisions have been made, whether they're about ski hills or long-term care, public health or children's services."

While the city's budget presentation showed cuts in almost every department, the way those cuts will be achieved is not transparent, Dembinski said, noting that management wants to avoid informing staff about cuts until the decisions have been made.

"But that means the public is being denied an opportunity to have a say on which services should remain public," she said.

Possible candidates for shutdown, sale or leasing include the city's two ski hills at Earl Bales Park and Centennial Park as well as the Glen Rouge campground.

"These are affordable and accessible facilities for families and individuals to enjoy a healthy, outdoor activity that otherwise might be out of reach for many," Dembinski said. "Handing operations over to a private operator could take skiing back to its status as elite recreation."

Dembinski pointed to the example of Chicago, which leased out its parking meters in a move the city's Office of the Inspector-General called a "dubious financial deal" that was decided without time for city council to conduct a thorough analysis or for public comment.

"In addition, rates at most of the city's parking meters immediately quadrupled," she said. "Let's not repeat those mistakes in Toronto. Let's not give up programs that work for the public by making secret decisions behind closed doors."

Resounding Affirmation of Public Services

A study released in April, 2009 by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) strongly confirmed the benefits that Canadians derive from public services.

Here are some highlights from the report, entitled "Canada's Quiet Bargain: The Benefits of Public Spending".

• The majority of Canadian would be better off if their governments had invested in improving and expanding local public services instead of cutting taxes.
   
• 75% of Canadians would be better off if their provincial governments invested in public services instead of broad-based income tax cuts.
   
• Tax cuts are not free money. They cost us in vital public services that help make Canada the envy of many nations.
   
• Canadians are often sold tax cuts as though they're the best bargain a government can offer its citizens but the opposite is true.
   
• The tax cuts implemented by federal and provincial government over the past 15 years have reduced the living standards of the majority of Canadians.
   
• 80% of Canadians would be better off if the federal government had not cut the GST.
   
• 88% of Canadians would be better off without federal capital gains tax cuts.

Visit www.policyalternatives.ca or www.growinggap.ca to download the report and calculate the value of your family's public services.

Public Services