Stanley Little (1911 – May 15, 2000) was the founding National President of the

Canadian Union of Public Employees The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE; french: Syndicat canadien de la fonction publique, links=no; french: SCFP, link=, label=none) is a Canadian trade union serving the public sector – although it has in recent years organized work ...

from 1963 to 1975. He was also the President of the National Union of Public Service Employees from 1961 to 1963. In his early years, Little worked in a factory, a supermarket, and hydro. He first became involved in the

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in 1931, initially as part of Local One of the National Union of Public Service Employees (NUPSE) in

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, and later as part of Local Eight in

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. In 1951, he was hired as a full-time

union representative A union representative, union steward, or shop steward is an employee of an organization or company who represents and defends the interests of their fellow employees as a labor union member and official. Rank-and-file members of the union hold ...

by the NUPSE. Little was elected as the President of the union in 1961. With the ultimate goal of having one big union in the Canadian

public sector The public sector, also called the state sector, is the part of the economy composed of both public services and public enterprises. Public sectors include the public goods and governmental services such as the military, law enforcement, in ...

, Little successfully negotiated a merger with the National Union of Public Employees (NUPE). This led to the founding of the

(CUPE) on September 24, 1963. Little was elected National President at CUPE's first national convention alongside Robert Rintoul, the former director of the NUPE, who was elected National Secretary-Treasurer. The new union started with 78,000 members coming from 483

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. Within five years, CUPE's membership had increased to over 115,000, and by the time Little resigned as president, it was over 210,000, making it the largest union in the country.

References

1911 births 2000 deaths Trade unionists from Ontario Canadian Union of Public Employees people {{Canada-activist-stub