Fred Hahn, CUPE Ontario: 'Harmful, Hurtful, Divisive Antisemitism

"[We] would like to acknowledge how harmful, hurtful and divisive [president of CUPE Ontario, Fred Hahn's post has been]."

"[Hahn's] stance on the ongoing conflict in Israel and Palestine does not reflect the opinions of our local nor the spirit of our union."

Local executive of CUPE 1977

 

"Many locals haven't wanted to address this, as it's inherently toxic & doesn't advance the labour movement positively; leaving @FredHahnCUPE as the only voice for CUPE."

"Enough is enough. @CupeMedics 2974 denounces  the words & actions of Fred Since Oct7."

CUPE Local 2974 

"My intention in posting it was to call attention to the reality that, while the Russian Federation was barred from participating at the Paris Olympics, the state of Israel was permitted to participate -- which appeared clearly to me to be a double standard."

"My intent was never to associate Jewish people with the violence enacted by the state of Israel. It remains my strongly held view that it is a terrible mistake, and anti-Semitic, to conflate abhorrent actions by the state of Israel with Jewish humanity or identity."

Ontario union boss Fred Hahn

CUPE Ontario President Fred Hahn at a LGBTQ rights rally. Photo by Jack Boland/Postmedia/File

This was just the last post by labour leader Fred Hahn; many other postings that were clearly antisemitic predated the latest when he reposted a video to his Facebook account, showing an Olympic diver who happened to be Jewish, as a Star of David on his arm identified him, as he leaped from a diving board. Rather than a splash the video shows the diver transformed into a bomb, and what transpires is the aftermath scene of an airstrike.

These repeated and clear instances of antisemitism celebrating the man's hatred for all things Jewish and the State of Israel in particular, has garnered public attention and embarrassment for the largest public service union in Canada, has deeply offended its Jewish members, and given labour unions generally an aura of anti-Jewish sympathies which has insulted not only Jewish union members but many of their non-Jewish counterparts as well, who would much prefer their union to reflect union issues.

The very day that Hamas terrorists attacked Israel on October 7, Hahn lost no time tweeting: "Palestine is rising, long live the resistance." Which led 80 Jewish union members to take Hahn and CUPE     Ontario to the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal with the message that they feel "Isolated, unwelcome, scared, silenced, discriminated against, threatened and harassed" by their union's response to the October 7 attack.

Re-elected in May as CUPE Ontario president to two more years in office, Hahn is as well executive vice-president of the Ontario Federation of Labour and a general vice-president for CUPE National. Which has finally responded to the furor of this man's sentiments and obvious display of Jew-hatred, by informing him he is expected to resign his position.

 

Hahn's response is that the union needs him, and he has no intention of voluntarily resigning. Leaving ample room for the union's executive body to remove him involuntarily, a disgrace to labour and the  union movement, flagrantly displaying his personal animosity to a Canadian minority group, cloaking it in the flimsy garment of 'humanitarian support' for Palestinians in Gaza, where his personal sentiment has slopped over into a labour union meant to focus on worker support.

 

"I need you to know, I am representing my members. I'm not talking about Jews."

"I am talking about the State of Israel", he responded in a video that Ontario's Labour Minister Piccini posted through a 45-second video clip on X.

"With all the accusations online, attacks by Premier Doug Ford and media reports that the CUPE National Executive Board have asked me to resign from our National Board, I knew I needed to write you directly about the situation."

"I want to be clear – I utterly reject the charge of antisemitism; 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."

"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. 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."

Fred Hahn, discredited and defiant

"What you have said about Jews is antisemitic."

"You're an antisemite. You have to stop hating on Jews."

"You're a labour leader. And your members deserve better, they deserve better than you."

Ontario Labour Minister David Piccini