Another public sector union is under fire by its Jewish members for turning a blind eye to anti-Israel sentiment within the union.
OPSEU’s Jewish members crafted a letter to president JP Hornick last month after the union’s flags were spotted flying at a protest celebrating violence and death to the Jews and attacks by the Yemen-based Houthis on ships in the Red Sea.
Marchers were seen on video supporting the Iran-backed Houthis, whose slogan, I should note, is, “Allah is great, Death to the USA, Death to Israel, Curse the Jews, Victory to Islam.”
The letter, obtained by True North, expresses the “profound shock and disappointment” of OPSEU’s Jewish members at watching public videos of the Jan. 14 protest with OPSEU clearly there.
”We are shaken to see OPSEU/SEFPO flags flying in the hands of members at this …protest,” the letter says. “We as OPSEU/SEFPO Jewish members and allies do not agree with the use (of) OPSEU/SEFPO flags or logos for this cause, or any cause that is not labour-related.”
The Jewish members ask if this involvement in this toxic protest is the “union position.”
”We do not pay union dues to have death chants against us seemingly glorified by the SAME union that represents us. The message being sent is dangerous and frankly, none of us feel safe,” the letter continues.
The members conclude by asking that Hornick make a public statement disassociating herself from the seeming antisemitism of some OPSEU members and reaffirm that she and her board are inclusive of all union equal rights and anti-racism initiatives (not just a select few).
Sources say standard letters were finally sent to the Jewish signatories.
My Feb. 4 request for a response from Hornick was finally addressed a week later.
According to an OPSEU spokesperson, the union’s members share a “diverse range of opinions, positions and correspondence” with them and OPSEU makes all reasonable efforts to “respond in a timely and thoughtful manner.”
The spokesperson contends that they “work tirelessly to fight against antisemitic, Islamophobia and all forms of racism and discrimination” — not addressing the involvement of some OPSEU members in the Jan. 14 protest at all.
”Like all Canadians we want to see an end to this terrible cycle of violence in the Middle East,” the spokesperson said.
Nice platitudes.
That said, Hornick was seen front and centre at a labour protest in Niagara Falls with disgraced Ontario MPP Sarah Jama in attendance. At least, unlike the Amalgamated Transit Union’s John DiNino and CUPE Ontario’s Fred Hahn, she was not pictured smiling with her.
But according to sources, OPSEU’s Jewish members are considering taking the union’s activities further.
Two other public sector unions have already become the subject of human rights complaints for their overt and bordering on aggressive anti-Israel activities.
Some 80 Jewish members are taking on CUPE Ontario for what they say is systemic and longstanding antisemitism.
It really came to light, their claim contends, in the days following the atrocities of Oct. 7 — as the Israeli body count was still being tallied — when Hahn tweeted that he was grateful for the “power of resistance around the globe.”
He also posted a picture to Instagram in which he parroted the chant, “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free” — which is considered a call to eradicate the Jewish state.
Hahn continues to obsessively tweet virulent anti-Israel diatribe including, a claim that anyone who voted for Justin Trudeau “has blood on their hands” because Canada exported military equipment to Israel.
Hahn happily celebrated Jama at an OPSEU rally in early February
Jewish members of the Public Service Alliance of Canada have also filed 14 human rights complaints. They allege a “culture of discrimination and harassment” from a union pushing an “anti-Israel agenda.”
Among the incidents listed are a “solidarity with Palestine” webinar in which Israel was accused of all the predictable buzz words such as “colonialism, apartheid and genocide.”
The complaint also accuses the union of handing out “antisemitic” flyers promoting the BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanction) movement against the Jewish state.
The radical progressives in these unions — who are the first to scream transphobia and Islamophobia if someone dares express an opinion contrary to their own—have been allowed to carry out anti-Semitic activities like funding UNRWA and Hamas-led Gaza for years.
Never mind that this has nothing to do with labour negotiations.
It’s been a true slap in the face to those Jewish members who have seen their union dues go to groups advocating for their destruction.
It’s more than time that Jewish union members spoke out.
