'I utterly reject' charge of antisemitism

CUPE official rejects board's demand he resign

- ROB FERGUSON

Embattled CUPE leader Fred Hahn says he will defy the union executive board's demand that he resign for posting a video characterized as divisive and antisemitic, a criticism voiced by a growing number of his own members.

Hahn, the elected president of the public sector union's Ontario arm since 2010 and a vice-president of the national union, dug in Thursday even as the CUPE local representing more than 4,000 City of Hamilton employees called for his ouster.

"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," he said in a two-page statement.

"I'm both so sad and angry. Trade unionists I have come to know and respect voted this week to overturn the democratic decisions of CUPE members," he added of the executive board's decision to demand his resignation as a national vice-president because it had "lost confidence" in him over the video.

"I want to be clear-I utterly reject the charge of antisemitism."

Mark Hancock, the union's national president, had set a noon Thursday deadline for Hahn to resign.

"CUPE's national executive board made the difficult decision to ask for Fred Hahn's resignation as general vice-president because he reposted a deeply problematic video that was a clear violation of our union's equity statement," CUPE's national officers said in a statement.

At issue is a digitally manipulated video that the veteran unionist posted on his Facebook page Aug. II. It depicted a Jewish athlete with a Star of David arm tattoo jumping off a diving board at the recent Paris Olympics and turning into a bomb that explodes.