March 9, 2025 | Barry Weisleder
Hundreds rallied at OISE U of Toronto, and over a thousand marched to celebrate Toronto’s IWD on a sunny but brisk 1 degree Celsius afternoon. Demonstrators were led by Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 79 which reached a tentative collective agreement with the City of Toronto early on the morning of Saturday, March 8. The deal averted a strike by about 30,000 municipal employees over issues of wage disparity and under-staffing of city services, including in shelters, long-term-care homes and public health. Seven out of ten CUPE 79 members identify as women; 12,000 city workers made minimum wage last year.
Unions were prominent in the day’s events. They included OPSEU, Unifor, Steelworkers, PSAC, the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario, CUPE Ontario, and the Toronto and York Region Labour Council. Anti-Trump/anti-tariffs sentiment was widespread.
The Socialist Action display table was a busy hub of activity in the OISE lobby. Visitors purchased over $120 in books, booklets and buttons (the most popular bearing the slogans “For Socialism and Feminism” and “Queer Liberation, Not Rainbow Capitalism”). Members distributed hundreds of copies of SA leaflets. About thirty people signed up for more information about Socialist Action.
