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VP of Canada’s Largest Union Ignores Increased Demands to Resign After Being Accused of Antisemitism
CUPE Ontario President Fred Hahn. Photo: YouTube screenshot
The general vice president of Canada’s largest union said on Thursday that he will not resign despite demands from the union’s 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 widely viewed as antisemitic.
“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 said in a lengthy statement sent to members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), which has 750,000 members.
In a motion passed on Tuesday, CUPE’s national executive board said it “lost confidence” in Hahn’s 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, “The 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.”
The CUPE leader apologized for his Facebook video on Aug. 18, but doubled down on his criticism of Israel and support for Palestinians in his statement on Thursday. He talked about being an “advocate for the cause of Palestine” and pointed out that he has been repeatedly targeted, “labeled antisemitic and vilified” for “expressing the views of our members in support for Palestine and against genocide.”
Hahn said although CUPE’s board wants him to resign, “because I respect the democracy of our union … the members should decide.” He said demands for his resignation have made him “so sad and so angry.”
“Trade unionists I have come to know and respect voted this week to overturn the democratic decisions of CUPE members,” he noted. “It is unprecedented in our union’s history and I’m 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.” He also rejected claims that he is antisemitic.
Hahn — who is the first openly gay labour leader in Ontario, according to the CUPE website — has been vocal about his anti-Israel stance in the past. A day after the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre in Israel, he applauded “the power of resistance” in a post on X/Twitter. He also retweeted a message that said, “Palestine is rising, long live the resistance.” Hahn, who has been a member of CUPE since 1991, has also supported Palestinian efforts to stop Canada from aiding Israel during the ongoing Hamas war.
Photo: Screenshot
CUPE’s National President Mark Hancock told the Toronto Star that because Hahn was elected to the national vice president position, the board cannot simply fire him.
“I have a [CUPE] constitution to live by and firing is … it’s not a job, per se, so it’s different,” 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, “that’ll be new ground again for CUPE and me as a national president. I will review options available to me.”
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 called for his resignation as well as a local branch in 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 said he also needs to step down as president of CUPE Ontario, a position he’s held since 2009.
“Being part of our union is about being part of a team, and Fred stopped being a team player a long time ago,” said CUPE’s Air Canda Component President Wesley Lesosky in a statement on Thursday. “His 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’t 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.”
“This is about whether we think it’s okay for our elected leaders to be sharing harmful views that violate CUPE’s Equality Statement online and repeatedly getting a pass for it,” Lesosky added. “The responsible thing for Fred to do was resign in October after his insensitive remarks that put his fellow CUPE members in harm’s way. The next best thing is for him to resign today.”
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 statement on Thursday that CUPE needs to take action and “remove Fred Hahn from his position.”
“It is appalling but not surprising to see Fred Hahn once again put himself ahead of union members,” CIJA added. “Since Oct. 7, Hahn’s antisemitism and anti-Israel obsession has been made clear. His insincere apologies won’t 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.”
In November, the union’s Jewish members filed a complaint against CUPE at the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal for alleged discrimination and promotion of antisemitism, according to the Toronto Star. 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.
The post VP of Canada’s Largest Union Ignores Increased Demands to Resign After Being Accused of Antisemitism first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.