Mark Hancock

Mark Hancock
Mark Hancock at CUPE National Convention, Nov 2015
6th National President of the Canadian Union of Public Employees
Assumed office
November 6, 2015
Secretary-Treasurer Charles Fleury
Preceded by Paul Moist
President of CUPE British Columbia
In office
April 2013 – 2015
Secretary-Treasurer of CUPE British Columbia
In office
May 2005 – 2013
Personal details
Political party New Democratic Party

Mark Hancock is a Canadian trade union activist who is currently the National President of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) . He was elected as the sixth National President of CUPE on November 4, 2015.[1] CUPE is the largest trade union in Canada with approximately 643,000 members. [2]

Career

Hancock got his start with CUPE in 1984[3] and served as president CUPE Local 498, representing employees of the City of Port Coquitlam,[1] a suburb of Vancouver, British Columbia for 15 years. Elected to lead his local at only 24, in 1993, Hancock was also elected to the executive board of CUPE British Columbia Division, where he served for a total of 12 years, initially as a General Vice-President,[4] then as Secretary-Treasurer starting in 2005 and [4] finally as President of CUPE BC beginning in 2013.

Simultaneously, he served on the CUPE National Executive Board beginning in 2005 as Regional Vice-President for British Columbia. On November 4, 2016 Hancock was elected as the 6th National President of CUPE National after defeating the President of CUPE Ontario Fred Hahn at the biannual CUPE National Convention.[5] In 2017, Hancock was re-elected for another two-year term at the CUPE National Convention in Toronto.

Hancock has established himself as a leader ideologically aligned with his predecessor Paul Moist but with a softer approach. Moist was regarded as an intellectual with little patience for those who make mistakes and a person who demanded a lot from himself and others. He was simultaneously received as a corporatist within CUPE and as being on the far left by other Canadian Unions. Hancock, on the other hand, is viewed with affection and is widely liked across CUPE and the labour movement. He appears to have continued Moist's policy of support for the NDP at any cost; while other unions have cozied-up to the Federal Liberal government, CUPE's national convention in Toronto in 2017 hosted Jagmeet Singh's first public appearance as the newly-elected leader of Canada's New Democratic Party.

Hancock has developed a reputation as a traditionalist in labour circles outside of CUPE and as a fair and caring leader within CUPE. He quickly established a new rapport with CUPE's staff unions, implemented a no-concessions policy for all CUPE Locals insisting that the organization would not follow in the footsteps of other unions who agreed to regressive contracts, produced a strategic directions document that commits the union to organizing the unorganized and has pushed for stronger ties with the NDP.

Hancock is an adamant supporter of Canada's New Democratic Party saying he is "100-per-cent committed" to supporting the federal NDP.[1]

Hancock is a father of two and lives in Coquitlam, British Columbia.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Culbert, Lori (November 5, 2015). "B.C.'s CUPE leader elected as union's national president". The Vancouver Sun. Retrieved November 28, 2015.
  2. ↑ "Canadian Union of Public Employees - About Us". Canadian Union of Public Employees.
  3. ↑ "Mark Hancock, National President". Canadian Union of Public Employees. Retrieved November 28, 2015.
  4. 1 2 "Hancock to seek CUPE National Presidency". CUPE British Columbia. Retrieved October 8, 2015.
  5. ↑ Warren, Janice (November 4, 2015). "Hancock named national CUPE president". Tri-City News. Retrieved November 5, 2015.
Trade union offices
Preceded by
Paul Moist		 National President of the
Canadian Union of Public Employees
2015–present		 Incumbent
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