From: ANTHONY MARCO President, Hamilton and District Labour Council

Date: Tue, Sep 9, 2025 at 9:38 AM
Subject: Justice for Katherine Grzejszczak

To: <jeremy.watts@york.ca>, <chris.spearen@york.ca>, <lisa.gonsalves@york.ca>, <erin.mahoney@york.ca>, <eric.jolliffe@york.ca>, <tmrakas@aurora.ca>, <jtaylor@newmarket.ca>, <vhackson@eastgwillimbury.ca>, <david.west@richmondhill.ca>, <mquirk@georgina.ca>, <spellegrini@king.ca>, <mayorscarpitti@markham.ca>, <mayor@townofws.ca>, <mayor@vaughan.ca>

Attention: York Region EMS senior management and regional Mayors

The Hamilton and District Labour Council, with its 50,000 affiliate members, stands in unwavering solidarity with our sister, paramedic and CUPE 4900 Union Local President Katherine Grzejszczak. We are absolutely appalled that she was fired for what she posted on her personal social media account. The comments, which condemned the violence against Palestinians, were an expression of her conscience, not a violation of her professional duty.

The employer’s decision to terminate Katherine for her statement is a direct and unacceptable attack on her freedom of expression. To fire a worker for criticizing what she perceives as a genocide is a profound overreach and makes your disciplinary actions akin to those of dictators and fascists. It is a frightening precedent that tells every public servant in this country that they must remain silent on human rights issues or risk their livelihood. We must be clear: a paramedic’s job is to save lives, and their personal views on international conflict do not affect their ability to provide compassionate, non-discriminatory care. The act of condemning mass violence is not a partisan attack; it is a moral stance.

The firing of Katherine Grzejszczak is also a direct assault on the fundamental rights of a union leader. Her comment, “Any union or other organization that doesn’t fight this is choosing to stay silent during genocide,” is not merely a private opinion. It is a call to action to the labour movement itself, which is a key part of a union leader’s role.

Punishing a union leader for expressing a position on a matter of human rights is an attempt to silence the entire labour movement and its long history of standing up for justice. This move is a betrayal of the very principles of democracy and freedom of expression that are one of the foundations of our country.

We demand the immediate reinstatement of Katherine Grzejszczak, full restitution of back pay, pension and benefits, and a public apology for this gross injustice. An injury to one is an injury to all, and the Hamilton and District Labour Council will call out injustice, just as Katherine did!

We call on York Region and York Region Paramedic Services to immediately reinstate Katherine Grzejszczak. We also call on York Region to investigate the unjust political interference that led to Katherine’s termination.

And finally, we hope that every single elected official who supported this termination is reported to the York Region Integrity Commissioner for investigation and possible censure or sanction.

Anthony Marco

President, Hamilton and District Labour Council on behalf of the Hamilton and District Labour Council