Mark Hancock

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 in 2015. CUPE is the largest trade union in Canada, with 800,000 members.

Career Hancock got his start with the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) in 1984 and served as president of CUPE Local 498, representing employees of the City of Port Coquitlam, then as Secretary-Treasurer starting in 2005 and Hancock has since been re-elected five times as National President, most recently in October 2025, alongside National Secretary-Treasurer Candace Rennick.

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

No-concessions bargaining policy In 2016, under Hancock's leadership, CUPE renewed its national bargaining policy to take a firm and proactive stance against concessions and two-tier contracts. "We bargain forward, not backward," Hancock said in explaining the policy.

The policy aims to empower local unions to take a strong stance during negotiations, knowing they will have the political, material and financial support of their national union to make progress at the bargaining table on wages, benefits, job security, and workplace health and safety.

Called a "blueprint for solidarity", the policy includes templates, training and strategic resources for local unions.

The policy has resulted in CUPE locals successfully fending off concessionary demands and winning significant wages increases in the turbulent post-COVID economy. Notable examples include the 2022 Ontario education workers strike, the 2021 CUPE general strike in New Brunswick, and in 2024 when 12 municipal local unions in Alberta broke the provincial government's wage mandate, winning wage increases well above the government's 2.75% wage cap.

Ontario education workers In November 2022, 55,000 school board workers in Ontario represented by CUPE defied the Ford government's Bill 28, a law that used the Notwithstanding Clause to impose a contract and make their planned strike illegal. Despite the potential for financial penalties of up to $220.5-million per day, CUPE vowed to continue its walkout for "as long as it takes". Under Hancock's leadership, CUPE mobilized public and private sector unions from across Canada, and plans for a general strike were underway. The move paid off, as the Ford government repealed Bill 28 just days later - the fastest repeal of a government bill in Canadian history. "The [Ford] government blinked," said Hancock, calling it a major win for education workers and the broader labour movement in Canada.

Fred Hahn controversy On October 7, 2023, the day Hamas attacked Israel, in which Hamas terrorists killed 1,200 people and took scores captive, Fred Hahn, general vice president of CUPE, tweeted: "Palestine is rising, long live the resistance." Hahn, for his part, said that he was refusing to step down. Hancock said that if Hahn does not resign on his own, "that’ll be new ground again for CUPE and me as a national president. I will review options available to me."