City of Vaughan Attacks Free Speech: Paramedic Fired for Palestine Solidarity and Citing Documented Israeli War Crimes
Politicians Crossed the Line in Firing of York Region Paramedic
CUPE Ontario is calling out City of Vaughan politicians for overreach in the firing of a long-serving York Region paramedic and for subjecting a dedicated employee to trial by social media.
Katherine Grzejszczak, a member of CUPE 4900, was fired last week for a comment she made on Facebook in support of an anti-war rally. CUPE Ontario was one of more than a dozen sponsors of the rally and Grzejszczak is an elected member of CUPE Ontario’s executive board.
In her own Facebook post, City of Vaughan councillor Gila Martow appears to take credit for the firing of Katherine Grzejszczak. Martow posted that on June 20, Vaughan Mayor Steven Del Duca contacted York Region Chair Eric Jolliffe. That same day, Grzejszczak was dismissed. Two days later, noted anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian media figure Dahlia Kurtz boasted “We did it” in a post celebrating Grzejszczak’s dismissal.
“This is a personnel issue; no elected official is ever supposed to intervene in personnel issues,” said Hahn. “Further, it’s ridiculous to characterize comments as hateful when they are about documented atrocities and oppose genocide and war.”
“This sequence of political and social media maneuvering is disturbing and a gross violation of workplace fairness and due process.”
He observed that while municipal politicians are usually “quick to say that bargaining matters do not fall within their purview, here they are weighing in on an individual’s employment.”
“Let us be perfectly clear,” Hahn continued. “No politician has the right to decide the employment fate of a municipal worker. That line appears to have been crossed in this instance. This should be a matter of deep concern to the residents of York Region.”
Krista Laing, chair of CUPE Ontario’s municipal workers’ committee, supported Hahn’s view, saying, “CUPE Ontario will always stand up against attempts to scapegoat or silence workers to score political points. As workers, we don’t hand over our conscience and free- speech rights at the door to our workplaces. Being in a union means we stand up for each other, not just at the bargaining table, but everywhere, whether it’s for Palestinians in Gaza, for Indigenous land defenders, or workers speaking truth to power. Our movement has always been rooted in justice.” •
End the Repression in Canada’s Health Sector:
Protect the Right to Free Expression in Support of Palestinian Rights
Dear Colleagues and Ally Organizations,
State repression against Palestine solidarity speech and activism has brought us to what the BC Civil Liberties Association has called a watershed moment of peril for civil liberties in Canada. Health workers Alliance for Palestine (HAP) has prepared this statement calling on health sector institutions to protect the right to free expression in support of Palestinian rights, to reject the IHRA definition of antisemitism, hold accountable members who commit – or have committed – acts of anti-Palestinian racism, and end interference by pro-Israel lobby groups in institutional decision making.
We invite individuals and organizations in health, law, policy, education and/or advocacy whose mandates include defense of Palestinian right to self determination and/or are reliant on the respect of the right to free expression to sign on to this statement.
The statement will be shared widely on social and conventional media and emailed to academic institutions, health faculties, healthcare associations, and other related organizations. Please share this statement widely with your networks and we hope it will be useful in your work in support of Palestine and/or in defence of academic freedom and freedom of expression. •
Thank you,
Health workers Alliance for Palestine
Tell York Paramedics to Reinstate Katherine Grzejszczak Now!
On June 20, York Region Paramedics fired Katherine Grzejszczak for expressing solidarity with Palestine.
Katherine has been a frontline paramedic with York Regional Municipality since 2010. She was the president of her CUPE local for 6 years and is currently a member of CUPE Ontario’s executive board.
Days prior, Katherine had posted on Facebook criticizing Israel’s mass slaughter of children and civilians, including paramedics, and called for workers to join an anti-war rally. Zionists saw the post and encouraged followers to contact York Paramedics and complain.
The management of York Region Paramedic Services bowed to pressure and immediately fired Katherine for the post.
Send a direct email to York Paramedic managers now!
CUPE Ontario has unanimously condemned the discriminatory firing and promised to fight it, calling it an “affront to every worker who believes in the right to speak out for peace and justice, or on any matter of conscience.”
“Katherine is a strong, brave and principled CUPE member who was elected democratically by fellow CUPE Ontario members to be a leader in our union. She is also someone whose life’s work is saving others from harm, and yet she’s being punished for using her voice to oppose the mass harm of others,” said CUPE Ontario President Fred Hahn.
“No employer should be able to silence any worker for challenging injustice.”
This is not the first time Katherine has been attacked for her support for Palestine. In April 2024, Zionists tried to get CUPE to remove her as local president for wearing a keffiyeh and having a sticker of a Palestinian flag on her laptop. CUPE stood by its member and ignored them. But now, targeting the employer, Zionists have declared victory.
