{"id":115277,"date":"2024-08-25T17:00:24","date_gmt":"2024-08-25T15:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=115277"},"modified":"2024-08-25T08:23:07","modified_gmt":"2024-08-25T06:23:07","slug":"28-00-98","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=115277","title":{"rendered":"VP of Canada\u2019s Largest Union Ignores Increased Demands to Resign After Being Accused of Antisemitism"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>VP of Canada\u2019s Largest Union Ignores Increased Demands to Resign After Being Accused of Antisemitism<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n

Shiryn Ghermezian<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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CUPE Ontario President Fred Hahn. Photo: YouTube screenshot<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

The general vice president of Canada\u2019s largest union said on Thursday that he will not resign despite demands from the union\u2019s national executive board and a growing number of members that he step down for posting a video on Facebook in early August that has been\u00a0widely viewed as antisemitic<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cBecause 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,\u201d Fred Hahn said in a lengthy\u00a0statement<\/a>\u00a0sent to members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), which has 750,000 members.<\/span><\/p>\n

In a motion passed on Tuesday, CUPE\u2019s national executive board said it \u201clost confidence\u201d in Hahn\u2019s ability to lead the union as general vice president after he shared a Facebook video on Aug. 11. The clip, which has since been deleted, showed a diver with a Star of David tattoo at the 2024 Olympic Games jumping off a diving board before turning into a bomb that exploded on civilians. The video ended with a message that said, \u201cThe athletes of the olympic team of Isreal [sic] has participated in the genocide of the Palestinians as they were a part of the IDF. Shame on them. Shame on the sports. Shame on the world.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The CUPE leader\u00a0apologized for his Facebook video<\/a>\u00a0on Aug. 18, but doubled down on his criticism of Israel and support for Palestinians in his statement on Thursday. He talked about being an \u201cadvocate for the cause of Palestine\u201d and pointed out that he has been repeatedly targeted, \u201clabeled antisemitic and vilified\u201d for \u201cexpressing the views of our members in support for Palestine and against genocide.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Hahn said although CUPE\u2019s board wants him to resign, \u201cbecause I respect the democracy of our union \u2026 the members should decide.\u201d He said demands for his resignation have made him \u201cso sad and so angry.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTrade unionists I have come to know and respect voted this week to overturn the democratic decisions of CUPE members,\u201d he noted. \u201cIt is unprecedented in our union\u2019s history and I\u2019m worried countless CUPE members who are active in the Palestinian solidarity movement could be left more vulnerable and exposed by the precedent as they face similar situations as work.\u201d He also rejected claims that he is antisemitic.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hahn \u2014 who is the first openly gay labour leader in Ontario, according to the CUPE website \u2014 has been vocal about his anti-Israel stance in the past. A day after the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre in Israel, he applauded \u201cthe power of resistance\u201d in a post on X\/Twitter. He also\u00a0retweeted<\/a>\u00a0a message that said, \u201cPalestine is rising, long live the\u00a0<\/span>resistance.\u201d Hahn, who has been a member of CUPE since 1991, has also\u00a0supported<\/a>\u00a0Palestinian efforts to stop Canada from aiding Israel during the ongoing Hamas war.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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CUPE\u2019s National President Mark Hancock told the\u00a0Toronto Star\u00a0<\/em><\/a>that because Hahn was elected to the national vice president position, the board cannot simply fire him.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cI have a [CUPE] constitution to live by and firing is \u2026 it\u2019s not a job, per se, so it\u2019s different,\u201d Hancock explained. He said he thinks this is the first time the union has felt the need to push for the resignation of a senior leader. Hancock added that if Hahn will not resign on his own, \u201cthat\u2019ll be new ground again for CUPE and me as a national president. I will review options available to me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Throughout the week, Hahn, who is also president of CUPE Ontario, has faced increased pressure to resign from a growing number of members of his union. The sector of CUPE that represents 10,000 Air Canada flight attendants\u00a0called for his resignation<\/a>\u00a0as well as\u00a0a local branch<\/a>\u00a0in Ontario that represents paramedics, EMS logistics and support staff members in the community of Windsor-Essex. A different CUPE Ontario branch representing more than 4,000 city of Hamilton employees\u00a0said he also needs to step down<\/a>\u00a0as president of CUPE Ontario, a position he\u2019s held since 2009.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBeing part of our union is about being part of a team, and Fred stopped being a team player a long time ago,\u201d said CUPE\u2019s Air Canda Component President Wesley Lesosky in a statement on Thursday. \u201cHis reckless comments last October put our 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\u2019t 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.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is about whether we think it\u2019s okay for our elected leaders to be sharing harmful views that violate CUPE\u2019s Equality Statement online and repeatedly getting a pass for it,\u201d Lesosky added. \u201cThe responsible thing for Fred to do was resign in October after his insensitive remarks that put his fellow CUPE members in harm\u2019s way. The next best thing is for him to resign today.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

An increasing number of Canada-based Jewish groups are also calling on Hahn to resign, including the Center for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA). The advocacy organization said in a\u00a0statement<\/a>\u00a0on Thursday that CUPE needs to take action and \u201cremove Fred Hahn from his position.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt is appalling but not surprising to see Fred Hahn once again put himself ahead of union members,\u201d CIJA added. \u201cSince Oct. 7, Hahn\u2019s antisemitism and anti-Israel obsession has been made clear. His insincere apologies won\u2019t cut it anymore. Jewish members, CUPE locals, and CUPE National have all called for his immediate resignation. Rather than cling to power, he should do the right thing.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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In November, the union\u2019s Jewish members filed a complaint against CUPE at the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal for alleged discrimination and promotion of antisemitism, according to the\u00a0Toronto Star<\/em>. Kathryn Marshall, a lawyer representing CUPE workers in the complaint, told the publication that more union members have expressed interest in joining the case since Hahn posted the antisemitic Facebook video on Aug. 11.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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VP of Canada\u2019s Largest Union Ignores Increased Demands to Resign After Being Accused of Antisemitism Shiryn Ghermezian CUPE Ontario President Fred Hahn. Photo: YouTube screenshot The general vice president of Canada\u2019s largest union said on Thursday that he will not resign despite demands from the union\u2019s national executive board and a growing number of members […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[26,24],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115277"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=115277"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115277\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":115300,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115277\/revisions\/115300"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=115277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=115277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=115277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}