CUPE Ontario president to continue to 'fight side by side' with union members amid calls to resign

CUPE Ontario president Fred Hahn says he fully rejects 'the charge of antisemitism,' and said he will 'continue to fight side by side' with his union members despite calls for his resignation by the national executive board.

CUPE Ontario president Fred Hahn says he fully rejects "the charge of antisemitism," and said he will "continue to fight side by side" with his union members despite calls for his resignation by the national executive board.

On Tuesday, the Canadian Union of Public Employees' (CUPE) National Executive Board passed a motion expressing its lost confidence in the national union's general vice-president following a recent Facebook post he shared.

Earlier this month, Hahn shared a video of an Olympic diver with a prominent Star of David on their arm jumping off a diving board before turning into a bomb that falls on civilians. The narrator in the video calls the diver an "Olympic champion."

Days later, Hahn said he took the video down and said his intention in posting it was to shine a light on the "double standard" that the Russian Federation was barred from participating at this year's Olympic Games.

Premier Doug Ford commented on Hahn's post during an unrelated news conference, not only calling the post "bigoted" but also calling the trade unionist a "disgusting human being."

In a letter to Ontario union members Thursday, Hahn expressed the provincial union's long-standing history of solidarity with Palestinians.

"As has happened to our union in the past, those who spoke up against the actions of the state of Israel last fall were quickly labeled anti-Semitic and vilified, especially online. I was one of those people. This smear was nothing new to those of us who advocate for the cause of Palestine. But the charge became part of our union's national convention, with some members of CUPE's National Executive Board suggesting that I resign," Hahn said.