Jewish groups call for Fred Hahn’s resignation from CUPE

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Dozens of protesters staged a demonstration in front of a Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) office north of Toronto on Tuesday to demand the resignation of Fred Hahn over an antisemitic video the national vice president shared on social media.

The protesters chanted “Fire Fred” and “Fred Must Go” outside the union’s Ontario office in Thornhill. Some waved Israeli and Canadian flags and carried placards, one of which read, “Public employees deserve much more than a Jew hater.”

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Hahn, who has also led CUPE Ontario, a political branch of CUPE National, since 2010, shared a video on social media earlier this month that has been widely condemned by Jewish communities and government officials as antisemitic.

“It’s vile and shocking,” said Amir Epstein, an executive director of Tafsik, ahead of the rally. The grassroots organization dedicated to combating an alarming rise of antisemitism globally, organized the protest. “It’s unheard of that someone in such a powerful position in Canada can openly disrespect the Jewish community. He needs to resign.”

The rally, predominantly attended by members of the Jewish community, also drew support from various allied groups.

One of the speakers was Salman Sima, a former political prisoner from Iran. He said that there should be no room for hatred and antisemitism in Canada. “Unlike the useless, cowardly, corrupt, and incompetent politicians at all levels of government, when we say there is no room for hatred in Canada, when we say there is no room for hatred in Ontario, we walk the talk,” Sima said. “I’m not afraid to say that Fred must go.”

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Another protester, Charles Cooke, a government relations representative for the Canadian Antisemitism Education Foundation, who is also on the group’s board, learned about Tuesday’s rally through social media. He attended to condemn Hahn’s remarks. “He leads CUPE in Ontario, and it’s completely unacceptable that we have a union leader in Canada, in Ontario, spewing brazen hate toward any community. It wouldn’t be tolerated with any other group,” Cooke said. “That’s why we are here.”

The Center for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), a Toronto-based advocacy organization, also issued a statement on Tuesday calling for Hahn’s removal.

“His actions and statements, both online and offline, have repeatedly crossed the line from legitimate political discourse into hate speech, discrimination, and antisemitism. It’s why we’re collectively saying enough is enough, Hahn must go,” CIJA said.

“CUPE has strayed far from its core mission of representing all workers — becoming a platform for extremist ideologies that are fundamentally anti-democratic and contrary to Canadian values.”

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On Aug. 11, Hahn shared a video on his Facebook account showing an Olympic diver with a Star of David — an important symbol of Judaism — on his shoulder. As the diver flips in the air, he turns into a bomb.

Days later, Hahn removed the post and issued an apology.

“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,” Fred Hahn said in a statement posted to 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.”

The post sparked protest among CUPE members, leading to growing criticism both inside and outside the union. Last week, CUPE’s national executive board voted to request Hahn’s resignation as general vice president.

“CUPE’s national executive board made the difficult decision to ask for Fred Hahn’s resignation because he reposted a deeply problematic video that violated our union’s equality statement,” the board said in a statement.

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Hahn refused to step down, saying that he will “continue to fight side by side” with union members and that only the union members — not the CUPE board — should decide his fate.

In a two-page statement, Hahn also rejected accusations of antisemitism.

“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,” he said.

Hahn’s comments drew criticism from Premier Doug Ford, who last week called him “a disgusting human being” for his video post.

Hahn has a history of making anti-Israel comments. After Hamas terrorists massacred around 1,200 people in Israel on Oct. 7, Hahn tweeted, “Palestine is rising, long live the resistance.” He later apologized for the tweet.

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.

“There’s a lot of Jewish CUPE members who feel completely at a loss. There’s nobody there to really represent them,” said Epstein. “The Jewish community has always stood with every community that believes in peace, and that’s always been something that we’ve pride ourselves with.”

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