Over 2000 Delegates at the National Convention for the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) have passed a resolution calling for CUPE National to “demand the Canadian government call for an immediate ceasefire in Israel-Palestine.” Additionally, the resolution calls for the end of arms sales to Israel, diplomatic immunity for the state of Israel, and an end to the Israeli blockade of Gaza.

This resolution comes after nearly three weeks of ongoing conflict between the Israeli Defense Forces and Hamas, a political and military organization which has governed the Gaza strip since 2007 and is considered a terrorist group by the Government of Canada.

Additionally, this resolution recognizes Palestinian Trade Unionist’s requests for organized labour to put pressure on governments to stop arming Israel.

The conflict has seen activists, politicians, and labour leaders, including CUPE National General Vice-President, Fred Hahn, face intense blowback for their initial statements on the conflict. 

Hahn released an apology to CUPE members on October 21st noting that CUPE calls for an immediate ceasefire alongside a recognition of the ways in which his words “affected CUPE as an organization and caused pain among our membership.”

“For too many CUPE members, this pain has compounded the stress and uncertainty they already feel for their friends and family members in both Israel and Palestine,” the statement continued.

CUPE Local 3908, which represents student academic workers and contract faculty at Trent University, has not released an individual statement while other academic CUPE locals, such as CUPE 3906 at McMaster have had to issue apologies and clarifying statements following backlash to their initial responses to the conflict.

At the University of Toronto, CUPE 3902 has released a statement which “condemns the genocidal violence taking place in the Palestinian territories” before proceeding to “call for the state of Israel to abide by international law and the United Nations Security Council and General Assembly resolutions.”

Both locals’ statements pre-empt the National resolution passed on October 24 in calling for a ceasefire and an end to arms sales.

Sarah Jama, an NDP MPP for Hamilton-Centre was recently removed from her party’s caucus by Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles after she refused to remove and apologize for her statements on social media. 

This action by the NDP, in light of the recently passed resolution, has caused delegates attending the CUPE National Convention to call for the union to re-think their support of the party, which is currently enshrined in the CUPE Strategic Direction document for 2021-23. 

Specifically, CUPE seeks to continue its “affiliation with the NDP” by supporting NDP candidates and campaigns, participating in the governance of the party at provincial and federal levels, and working to educate members on the importance of the NDP as a “partner in the class struggle.”   

Ontario’s Conservative Government voted on October 23rd to censure Jama meaning she will no longer be able to speak within the Ontario legislature until she apologizes and deletes her comments. 

“The Ford government has nothing meaningful to say about these atrocities, and has not targeted me to distract from its own scandals,” Jama wrote on X (formerly Twitter) on October 23rd. “Governments and institutions in Canada are trying to use their weight to silence us, to silence workers, students, educators, and peace-loving people who dare to support Palestine”

Last week, Ontario’s Minister of Colleges and Universities, Jill Dunlop called the actions of students at the University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM) and York University “appalling” and took the time to read individual students’ names, as well as those of Professors, into the public record.  

Three student unions at York University are currently under review by the university which could see them lose recognition on campus should they not retract their statements. The university administration is also requesting that the executives of the York Federation of Students, York University Graduate Student Association, and the Glendon College Student Union resign due to their joint statement.

On October 24th, a class action lawsuit was filed against both York University and the York federation of students for $15M. The action represents students, recent alumni, and “attendees from 1998-2021” who “have been made to feel unsafe on campus, silenced, forced to hide their Jewish identity, been harassed, and even threatened with physical violence.

York University, on the other hand, is alleged to have shown negligence in addressing anti-semitism on campus which the plaintiffs contend violates York University’s non-discrimination policies.

None of the existing student associations at Trent have released a statement concerning the ongoing conflict or affirming support for fellow students who are currently being threatened with removal from office for their views.

In May of 2021, the Trent Durham Student Association (TDSA) published a “Statement in Solidarity with Palestine” which affirms that the TDSA ”takes a stance against the actions of the Israeli Government in its ongoing actions to violently colonize and harm Palestinians.”

The Trent Central Student Association’s (TCSA) resolution book makes no mention of Israel or Palestine, and seems not to have had an official stance on the issue since 2015 when its Board voted to rescind a 2013 policy which labelled Israel an apartheid state and placed a boycott on Israeli exports and cultural exchanges.