City union local that was rocked by scandal gets a new president

Casey Barnett earned a law degree while working in the city’s facilities management division before being elected CUPE Local 79 chief steward and then president.

Thestar.com
June 9, 2022
David Rider

The new president of the union local representing 20,000 City of Toronto workers says she looks forward to moving the unit past a scandal that triggered the resignation of her predecessor.

“It’s been rocky but at the end of the day the local is strong and has remained so ... I don’t think people are giving the local enough credit” for continuing to provide services to members through the upheaval, said Casey Barnett.

Barnett, who earned a law degree while working at the city’s facilities management division and became CUPE Local 79’s chief steward, beat three rivals in a byelection Tuesday to lead the local until the end of 2023.

However, one of those rivals is alleging impropriety and vowing to fight the result.

Tim Maguire, a former Local 79 president attempting a comeback, said he “will be giving CUPE National an opportunity to investigate some irregularities ... in the election before proceeding with other options such as, but not limited to, the Ontario Labour Relations Board.” He declined to elaborate on the allegation.

Barnett said “that’s his prerogative -- he can certainly do that but I think the members made the right decision,” in electing her.

Local 79, representing city workers, has in recent years made big strides with favourable contracts for different units “including new diversity and inclusion language,” said Barnett.

“We’re just remaining positive and we’re doing the work,” she said.

Barnett replaces Dave Mitchell, who quit as Local 79 president in March at the urging of CUPE National. He faced allegations he received payments from his second-in-command after helping him, as part of union duties, get a $46,000-a-year seat on the board of a public sector pension plan.

Mitchell told the Star then that “I have acknowledged a misstep that I made during my tenure as president, and immediately resigned to preserve the integrity of our union and its important work.”

Jason Chan, Local 79’s first vice-president, refused CUPE National’s request that he also resign and is facing an internal “trial” that, if it ends in a misconduct finding, could see him banned from elected union office.

Chan has told the Star he did nothing wrong and that Mitchell pressured him for payments that came out of his pocket, not the annual retainer he received for sitting on the OMERS “Sponsors Corporation” board.