Jeff Rose

Who is Jeff Rose?

Jeffrey "Jeff" Raymond Rose is a Canadian trade unionist and former public servant. He is national president emeritus of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, having served as national president of CUPE from 1983–1991, and was deputy minister of intergovernmental affairs for the government of Ontario from 1991 to 1995.

Rose began his career as a city planner in the City of Toronto and in 1976 became active with his local union, CUPE Local 79, which represents City of Toronto inside workers. In 1980 he was elected president of Local 79 and in the next two years negotiated collective agreements containing across-the-board wage increases that totaled 26.5%. These bargaining achievements, and campaigns around working conditions and short-staffing in homes for the aged and around waste disposal and landfill in Toronto that he conducted for Local 79, brought him to the attention of CUPE locals on a national scale. In 1983, with rank-and-file support from a wide spectrum of locals, Rose ran from the floor of the CUPE national convention and was elected national president, succeeding Grace Hartman.