CUPE executive Hahn mulls re-election after row over video

Embattled union leader Fred Hahn says he has not decided whether to seek re-election at CUPE after its national executive board "lost confidence" in him and sought his resignation over a Facebook video post denounced as antisemitic.

- ROB FERGUSON

"We'll cross those bridges when we come to them," Hahn told reporters Tuesday.

His comments came 10 days after the CUPE hierarchy conceded it could not oust Hahn as an elected national vice-president over concerns the video violated the union's equality policy and accused him of fuelling "conflict" for refusing to resign.

The former social worker and outspoken critic of Israeli attacks on Gaza expressed dismay at lingering controversy over the video, which depicted a Jewish athlete with a Star of David arm tattoo leaping off a diving board at the Paris Olympics and turning into a bomb that explodes.

The Aug. 11 video post which Hahn took down seven days later at the urging of CUPE national president Mike Hancock - raised concerns that its content conflates Judaism with military strikes by Israel in Gaza that have killed more than 40,000 Palestinians. The Israeli offensive was launched in the wake of the surprise attack by Hamas last Oct. 7 in which some 1,200 people in Israel were killed and more than 200 hostages were taken.