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Hassan Yussuff

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The Honourable
Hassan Yussuff
Hassan Yussuff at the Ontario Federation of Labour Convention in 2017
Yussuff in 2017
Canadian Senator
from Ontario
Incumbent
Assumed office
June 22, 2021
Nominated byJustin Trudeau
Appointed byRichard Wagner
Preceded byLynn Beyak
8th President of the Canadian Labour Congress
In office
2014 – June 18, 2021
Preceded byKen Georgetti
Succeeded byBea Bruske[1]
2nd President of the Trade Union Confederation of the Americas
In office
April 20, 2012 – 2021
Preceded byLinda Chavez-Thompson
Succeeded byFred Redmond
Secretary-Treasurer of the Canadian Labour Congress
In office
2002–2014
Personal details
Born (1957-12-15) December 15, 1957 (age 66)[2][3]
Guyana
NationalityCanadian
Political partyIndependent
Children1[3]
OccupationHeavy truck mechanic, trade unionist

Hassan Yussuff (born December 15, 1957) is a Canadian labour leader and politician. From 2014 to 2021, Yussuff served as president of the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC), the first visible minority person to hold the role.[4] In 2021, Yussuff was appointed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to serve as Canadian Senator from Ontario.

Early life

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Yussuff emigrated to Canada from Guyana as a young man to work as a heavy truck mechanic.[5] Once he arrived in Toronto, Yussuff soon found employment on the plant floor of CanCar, a local automotive parts manufacturer.[6]

Career

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Canadian Auto Workers

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Yussuff first became a member of the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) union while at CanCar. Within a year, he was elected plant chairman of Local 252 of the Canadian Auto Workers at the age of 19.[7] Yussuff was later elected plant chairman of the General Motors Truck Centre.[citation needed] He later served as a staff representative in the organizing and service departments before being appointed as Director of the CAW Human Rights Department.[citation needed]

Canadian Labor Congress

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Yussuff's position led to him joining the CLC's Executive Council, where he co-chaired the CLC Human Rights Committee.[8] In 1999, Yussuff was elected Executive Vice-President of the CLC. In 2002, Yussuff was elevated to the position of Secretary-Treasury within the CLC, serving for twelve years. On April 20, 2012, Yussuff was elected to a four-year term as President of the Trade Union Confederation of the Americas.[9][10]

He remained in that position until 2014, when he challenged incumbent CLC President Ken Georgetti, defeating him by 40 votes at the CLC's May 2014 convention to become CLC president.[11] In doing so, he became first person to unseat an incumbent CLC president[12] and the first non-white Canadian to hold the role.[4]

Yussuff's presidency was characterized by a rift among the leadership of the CLC between NDP-loyalists and those who favoured widening the support to include the Liberal Party where appropriate. This reflected Yussuff's personal beliefs, and those of then-president of UNIFOR, Jerry Dias. Unable to reconcile his differences with the CLC on a number of issues, including on UNIFOR's decision to begin raiding other affiliates of the Congress, Dias pulled UNIFOR out of the CLC and disaffiliated, leaving Yussuff, elected from the delegates of UNIFOR, ineligible to remain in the role. He was given a special membership by one of the affiliates to permit him to carry out the remainder of his term, and on June 18, 2021, Yussuff retired from office, and was replaced by Bea Bruske.[3][13]

Yussuff's presidency saw the CLC make several important inroads on important issues it had campaigned for, in some cases, for decades. Notably, Yussuff's leadership was characterized by "Town Hall"-style campaign events, where he travelled across Canada holding events on various topic of importance, often with experts or scholars on the topic joining him on the stage. The CLC commissioned several studies and pushed for an expansion of the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and an introduction of Pharmacare, a public single-payer insurance system for medications. In 2016, the Liberal Government of Justin Trudeau announced it would make changes to the CPP, improving the plan beginning in 2019.[14][15] Several years later, the government announced similar plans to implement dental care coverage on a means-tested basis and to phase-in pharmacare in the near future.[16][17] All three were achievements Yussuff and the CLC were responsible for in large part.[18]

Political activity

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Following the loss of the New Democratic Party (NDP) in the 2015 federal election, Yussuff supported replacing Tom Mulcair as party leader.[19] In 2019, Yussuff voiced concern that the federal NDP was failing to resonate with both its membership and the general electorate.[20]

Yussuff opposed the CLC's decision to affirm its relationship with the NDP at the 2021 convention, arguing the CLC should take a more pragmatic approach to party politics.[21] In 2021, Yussuff co-wrote an op-ed with Perrin Beatty, CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, in support of the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy for the Financial Post.[citation needed]

On June 22, 2021, Yussuff was appointed by Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to the Senate of Canada.[22]

Personal life

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Yussuff at Street Party for a Fair Future, 2017

Yussuff is married to Jenny Ahn, who works as the Executive Director for Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations,[23] with whom he has a daughter.[24] In October 2018, Yussuff received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Ryerson University.[7]

References

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  1. ^ "Canadian Labour Congress elects new president to lead nation's biggest labour group". cbc.ca. June 18, 2021. Archived from the original on June 22, 2021.
  2. ^ "Senate of Canada - Senators List". September 2016.
  3. ^ a b c Thurton, David (June 18, 2021). "No apologies: Hassan Yussuff faces down his critics as he retires as leader of Canadian Labour Congress". cbc.ca. Archived from the original on June 22, 2021.
  4. ^ a b Thurton, David (June 18, 2021). "No apologies: Hassan Yussuff faces down his critics as he retires as leader of Canadian Labour Congress". CBC News.
  5. ^ "New Canadian Labour Congress chief vows aggressive approach". Globe and Mail. May 8, 2014. Retrieved May 8, 2014.
  6. ^ "Hassan Yussuff (Bio and Stories) :: Parkland Institute". parklandinstitute.ca. Archived from the original on May 8, 2014. Retrieved May 8, 2014.
  7. ^ a b "Ryerson University to Honour Maria Campbell and Hassan Yussuff, October 10–11". Ryerson University. Retrieved 2022-03-30.
  8. ^ "Hassan Yussuff | Canadian Labour Congress". canadianlabour.ca. Archived from the original on May 12, 2014. Retrieved June 1, 2014.
  9. ^ "CLC's Hassan Yussuff to head TUCA: Elected president of hemispheric labour organization". Canadian Labour Congress. April 20, 2012. Archived from the original on May 9, 2014. Retrieved May 8, 2014.
  10. ^ "Who's running for CLC national executive? | rabble.ca". rabble.ca. Retrieved May 8, 2014.
  11. ^ "Hassan Yussuff elected new head of Canadian Labour Congress". Montreal Gazette. May 8, 2014. Retrieved May 8, 2014.
  12. ^ "Hassan Yussuff is new CLC President". Rabble.ca. May 8, 2014. Retrieved May 8, 2014.
  13. ^ "Head of Canada's unions set to preside over his final Convention after navigating pandemic response". globenewswire.com. June 15, 2021. Archived from the original on June 22, 2021.
  14. ^ "What they're saying: Strengthening the CPP | Liberal Party of Canada". liberal.ca. Retrieved 2024-07-26.
  15. ^ "Prime Minister of Canada announces agreement on strengthened Canada Pension Plan". Prime Minister of Canada. 2016-10-04. Retrieved 2024-07-26.
  16. ^ Canada, Service (2023-12-08). "Canadian Dental Care Plan". www.canada.ca. Retrieved 2024-07-26.
  17. ^ Canada, Service (2015-10-13). "Not Found". www.canada.ca. Retrieved 2024-07-26.
  18. ^ hannah (2019-12-02). "Let's grasp this opportunity to shape a fair Canada for everyone". Canadian Labour Congress. Retrieved 2024-07-26.
  19. ^ "Mulcair responds to Labour Congress statement predicting NDP leader will get less than 60 per cent in review". National Post. 2016-04-06. Retrieved 2022-03-30.
  20. ^ "Federal NDP struggling to resonate with members and Canadians at large, labour leader says". The Toronto Star. 2019-02-15. ISSN 0319-0781. Retrieved 2022-03-30.
  21. ^ Tasker, John Paul (June 22, 2021). "Trudeau taps a former labour leader and a mayor to fill Senate vacancies". CBC News.
  22. ^ "The Prime Minister announces the appointment of three Senators". Prime Minister of Canada. 2021-06-22. Retrieved 2021-06-22.
  23. ^ "Jenny Ahn hired as next OCUFA Executive Director". October 22, 2020.
  24. ^ McFarl, Janet (2014-06-20). "Union roots run deep for Canada's new face of labour". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2022-03-30.
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Preceded by President of the Canadian Labour Congress
2014–2021 		Succeeded by
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