CUPE Leader Hahn Refuses to Step Down After Board Asks for Resignation

CUPE leader Fred Hahn is refusing to step down after the union’s board asked him to leave his post due to his social media comments sparking anti-Semitism concerns.
The national arm of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) voted in favour of a motion earlier this week asking Hahn, the CUPE Ontario president and national vice-president, to resign.
It came after Hahn posted a video showing an Olympic diver with a Star of David on his arm diving off a board, according to media reports. As the diver headed toward the water, he turned into a bomb and exploded, hurting civilians. The video posted by Hahn has since been deleted.
Hahn has said he will not step down because he believes the decision should rest with the members who democratically re-elected him earlier this year.
“Because I respect the democracy of our union I maintained then as I do now that the members should decide. I trust delegates who represent our members to make the best decisions,” he said in a message to union members late Aug. 22.
He added that posting the video had nothing to do with “Jewish humanity or identity,” but about the “abhorrent actions by the state of Israel.”
The latest incident also drew comments by the provincial government, including Ontario Labour Minister David Piccini and Premier Doug Ford, who said CUPE members have told him Hahn’s comments “have been disgusting.”
“He says these bigoted comments. It’s unacceptable here in Ontario,” Ford said on Aug. 21.
He also posted an image on Instagram with the text “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”—a phrase associated with the desire for the destruction of Israel.
He said he condemned the Hamas attack on Israel as well as “the disproportionate retribution” by the state of Israel against the Palestinian people.