Katherine Grzejszczak

Katherine started organizing in the early 2000s as a student. She joined the anti-war movement opposing the US invasion of Iraq. She’s been active in CUPE since 2012, shortly after coming on as a Paramedic with a GTA municipality. She was elected President of CUPE 905 in 2018.

During 6 years as president of a large municipal local Katherine gained experience in centering the demands of workers:

• participated in over a dozen bargaining tables

• organized 2 successful strikes - Bradford West Gwillimbury Public Library & Richmond Hill Municipal

• led multiple pressure campaigns - one which successfully rescinded an employer policy and a second that secured a 10-hour shift schedule

• represented dozens of members in grievances ranging from human rights to collective agreement to health & safety violations

Katherine ran for the CUPE Ontario Executive Board in 2024 and has served as a member at large. She’s a co-host of CUPE Cast, has pushed for stronger worker representation at OMERS, worked on Neethan Shan’s municipal by-election campaign, championed for international solidarity and extended support to striking locals.

In 2025 she was wrongfully terminated for supporting a CUPE Ontario Facebook post about an anti-war rally. She fought back publicly because workers cannot give up the right to organize against injustice. Employers buy our labour, not our conscience. Katherine’s grievance is going through the arbitration process and she looks forward to re-instatment as a front-line paramedic.

Katherine is running for 3rd Vice President because she wants a CUPE Ontario that will build solidarity for workplace issues, across bargaining units and sectors.

“We’re losing ground because we face an employer class that is united and organized, not just across Ontario but globally. Yet we treat every attack as an individual issue that only impacts directly affected workers, rather than an attack on the entire working class. To be effective CUPE Ontario must connect members in their workplaces across the entire province. When our members decide that the status quo is no longer working for workers, and we act with the power of 300,000 members, we will win every single demand.”