TORONTO - A national union leader has refused to step down despite his organization calling for his resignation over an online post that it said violated its policies.
On Tuesday, the national arm of the Canadian Union of Public Employees passed a motion asking vice-president Fred Hahn to resign.
In a message to union members late Thursday afternoon, Hahn said he will not resign because he believes the decision must be made by members, who democratically re-elected him earlier this year.
His response came after Ontario Premier Doug Ford called Hahn a "disgusting human being" at an unrelated news conference on Wednesday — while praising one of his ministers for recent criticism of Hahn over the Israel-Hamas war — and asked union members to vote him out.
CUPE has said it will not take advice from Ford, who they claim is a "union hating" premier, but demanded Hahn's resignation because he reposted "a deeply problematic video" that violates its equality policy.
Hahn has also served as CUPE Ontario president since 2010 and was re-elected earlier this year.
