Two local chapters have disavowed Hahn’s stance since October 7
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In the past week, two local branches of the Canadian Union for Public Employees have called out Ontario union boss Fred Hahn over his statements about the Israel-Hamas war.
Hahn also found himself in a tense confrontation with Ontario’s labour minister, Dave Piccini.
On Aug. 11, Hahn reposted a video to his Facebook feed that shows an Olympic diver, apparently with a Star of David on his arm, leaping from a diving board. The diver turns into a bomb and, instead of a splash, the video shows the aftermath of an air strike.
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On Tuesday, the local executive of CUPE 2977, which represents workers in Vineland, Ont., said in a social media post that it “would like to acknowledge how harmful, hurtful and divisive” Hahn’s post was.
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,” the union wrote.
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That post came just days after CUPE Local 2974, which represents paramedics and other support staff in Windsor-Essex, also denounced the video Hahn had shared.
“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,” the union said.
“Enough is enough. @CupeMedics2974 denounces the words & actions of Fred since Oct7.”
Hahn has since removed the video and apologized.
“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,” Hahn wrote on Facebook. “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.”
It’s not the first time Hahn has courted controversy.
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On Oct. 7, the day Hamas attacked Israel, Hahn tweeted, “Palestine is rising, long live the resistance.” Some 80 Jewish members of CUPE have taken Hahn and CUPE Ontario to the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal, saying they feel “isolated, unwelcome, scared, silenced, discriminated against, threatened and harassed” by the way their union has responded since the October 7 attack.
Hamas terrorists killed about 1,200 people in Israel, most of them civilians, and scores were taken hostage. The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry says the subsequent war in Gaza has killed some 40,000 Palestinians. The tally does not differentiate between Hamas fighters and civilians.
Carrie Silverberg, one of the people who signed on to the human-rights challenge against CUPE, called the video “blatantly anti-Semitic” and said in a statement posted by lawyer Kathryn Marshall that she did not accept Hahn’s apology.
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“It is disingenuous and forced,” Silverberg’s statement said.
She called on Hahn to resign or be forced from office. In May, Hahn was re-elected as CUPE Ontario’s president to two more years in office. Hahn is also the executive vice-president of the Ontario Federation of Labour and a general vice-president for CUPE National.
On Tuesday, Piccini posted a 45-second video clip to X, in which he confronts Hahn at an event and tells him he needs to represent his members.
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“What you have said about Jews is antisemitic,” Piccini says.
“I need you to know, I am representing my members,” Hahn retorts. “I’m not talking about Jews. I am talking about the State of Israel.”
In the video, Piccini tells Hahn “you’re an antisemite,” and “you have to stop hating on Jews.”
“You’re a labour leader,” says Piccini, “and your members deserve better, they deserve better than you.”
Neither Piccini nor Hahn responded to National Post’s requests for comment before deadline.
National Post, with additional reporting from John Ivison
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