Fred Hahn, President of the Ontario Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), speaks at a press conference at Queen's Park in Toronto on July 16, 2018.MARK BLINCH/The Canadian Press
Union leader Fred Hahn is rebuffing calls to step down after a social-media post sparked accusations of antisemitism and prompted his national executive to ask for his resignation.
In a lengthy statement to Ontario members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees on Thursday, Mr. Hahn said he rejects the charge of antisemitism and says he is sad and angry that he has been asked to resign after being democratically elected.
“I have always had faith in the members of CUPE Ontario and been proud of the faith they placed in me by repeatedly, and democratically, electing me at both the provincial and national level,” Mr. Hahn said.
“There is much work to be done – and because I respect the democracy of our union, the choice of our members, I will be here to continue to fight side by side with all of you.”
The executive board of CUPE, the country’s largest public-sector union, this week called on Mr. Hahn to step down from his role as general vice-president for Ontario. He also serves as the president of CUPE Ontario, which has made no comments about Mr. Hahn’s leadership.
Opinion: Why does this union leader tweet so much about Gaza, and so little about wages?
The national executive passed a motion this week that said it “lost confidence” in Mr. Hahn’s ability to represent the union, pointing to a video Mr. Hahn posted on Facebook on Aug. 11.
The video shows an Olympic diver with a Star of David tattoo jumping into the water and later appearing to turn into a bomb. The scene then shows a street of destruction and crying children.
Mr. Hahn deleted the video, noting in an Aug. 18 Facebook post that he understood it “caused pain for some who viewed it.”
A spokeswoman for CUPE national did not immediately comment on Mr. Hahn’s statement, and CUPE Ontario directed all requests to the national branch.
Mr. Hahn, who last year also faced calls to resign after celebrating the “power of resistance” when Hamas militants killed Israeli civilians on Oct. 7, has also stirred political backlash from Premier Doug Ford and his Labour Minister David Piccini.
This week, Mr. Ford called Mr. Hahn “disgusting” and said he made “bigoted comments” that are unacceptable in Ontario and called on him to step aside. Mr. Piccini also posted a social-media video of himself confronting Mr. Hahn at a recent conference.
The wing of CUPE representing 10,000 Air Canada flight attendants also said Thursday it supported the call for Mr. Hahn to resign.
Air Canada Component president Wesley Lesosky said in a statement on Facebook that Mr. Hahn’s “reckless comments” in October put its members who have to travel to the Middle East as part of their flight duties “in the crosshairs and he has never apologized for his role in jeopardizing their safety.”
“Earlier this month he proved he hadn’t learned a thing when he reposted a racist and antisemitic video online. That is not leadership, and that is not what we expect of leaders in our union,” he said.
In his statement Thursday, Mr. Hahn said the union has a “long history of solidarity with the people of Palestine,” and those who spoke up against the actions of the state of Israel last fall “were quickly labelled antisemitic and vilified,” including him.
He said he utterly rejects the charge of antisemitism, adding “anyone who knows and works with me knows it to be a lie. It remains my strongly held view that it is a terrible mistake, and antisemitic, to conflate abhorrent actions by the state of Israel with Jewish humanity or identity.”
Mr. Hahn said the Premier and his cabinet ministers have been using the situation to attack him “viciously and publicly.”
On Thursday, national officers at CUPE who represent different regions of the country, released a statement distancing themselves from Mr. Ford and the Labour Minister, saying they do not take advice “from a union-hating, public service-gutting Premier trying to distract from his own scandals and track record.”
The statement said the executive board made the “difficult decision” to ask for Mr. Hahn’s resignation “because he reposted a deeply problematic video that was a clear violation of our union’s equality statement.”
“Nothing about this decision negates Fred’s lifelong commitment to CUPE members and union activism,” the statement said.
It also reiterated CUPE’s position on “the bombardment of Gaza by Israel.” It called for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, the release of all hostages from Gaza, an end to the blockade of Gaza and the restoration of humanitarian aid. The union also called on the federal government to suspend the sale of arms and military equipment to Israel.
CUPE Local 5167, which represents 4,000 members in Hamilton, said in a post on the social-media platform X on Thursday that its executive is also calling for Mr. Hahn to resign as president of CUPE Ontario. In a letter posted to social media, the union local said Mr. Hahn’s “personal viewpoint on the Palestine and Israel conflict does not represent the scope of our union.”
Mr. Hahn and CUPE Ontario are also facing a human-rights complaint from about 80 Jewish members of CUPE, alleging discrimination and antisemitism.
There are roughly 750,000 CUPE members across the country, including about 300,000 in Ontario.
The Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center, an organization dedicated to Holocaust education and antisemitism programs, backed CUPE’s request that Mr. Hahn step down and pressed the labour leader to leave the Ontario branch as well.