CLINTON – The Maine State Building and Construction Trades Council announced that John Hanson is the new executive director.

Council President Rod Gillespie said the council represents and coordinates the work of a number of unions in the Maine building trades and has more than 5,000 members.

Gillespie said Hanson will be available to speak to civic groups and organizations and will also be available to legislators and legislative committees to present and discuss the many issues that impact the building trades, organized labor and the Maine economy.

Hanson, who assumed his new position the first of March, has been director of the Bureau of Labor Education at the University of Maine since 1978. Prior to this, he served on the bureau staff for six years. He was director of research and education for the Maine AFL-CIO from 1968 to 1972. He is the author of a number of publications on labor and labor related topics and is also he co-author of a number of works including “A Workers’ Guide to Labor Law” and a “National Guide to Employment Law.”