CUPE criticism continues after Fred Hahn’s anti-Israel posts

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More CUPE locals have denounced the union’s Ontario president and is his social-media comments on Israel.

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CUPE Ontario president Fred Hahn has been accused of anti-Semitic social-media posts since the Oct. 7 terror attacks by Hamas militants on Israel.

Hahn recently posted a video on Facebook showing an AI-generated Olympic diver — wearing a Star of David on his arm — leaping from a springboard and turning into a bomb falling on a building, an apparent criticism of Israel’s military response in Gaza to the attacks.

It was the latest problematic post by Hahn, who has accused Israel of genocide and the day after the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel posted on X that he was thankful for the “power of resistance around the globe.”

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Hahn has refused multiple calls for his resignation, but now two more CUPE locals have rebuked his online posts.

CUPE Local 2977, which represents Bethesda Community Services workers in the Niagara Region, disavowed Hahn’s comments on social media.

“In response to last week’s social media posts made by CUPE Ontario president Fred Hahn, the executive of CUPE Local 2977 would like to acknowledge how harmful, hurtful and divisive it was. President 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,” CUPE Local 2977 wrote in a series of posts on X.

“CUPE Local 2977 believes in respect, safety and justice for all. We also fully support the right to free speech, but believe it can be delivered in a way that’s respectful and humane to all.”

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CUPE Local 1734, which represents education workers at the York Region District School Board, said it “recognizes the harm caused by Fred Hahn’s Facebook post has undermined the safety, dignity and inclusivity for all members.”

CUPE’s national executive board previously said it had “lost confidence in the ability of Fred Hahn to represent the national union in his role as general vice-president and calls for his resignation of that position.”

Hahn has said that he believes he has done nothing wrong.

“I have given many decades of my adult life to our union. It’s because I deeply love my fellow CUPE members and the work they do,” Hahn said in a recent statement. 

“It’s why I’m both 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. 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.”

Previous requests by the Toronto Sun to Hahn for comment went unacknowledged.

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