Jean-Claude Parrot (born 24 July 1937) was National President of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers between 1977 and 1992, and its chief negotiator for eighteen years. Parrot led the union through several national postal strikes and was responsible for cultivating the union's reputation as a militant organization that made pathbreaking gains in collective bargaining that would later be adopted by other unions.

Early life

Parrot became a postal clerk in Montreal in 1954.

Union activism

Parrot became CUPW's national negotiator in 1975. The 1975 negotiations led to a 43-day national strike. During the 1978 negotiations, the Canadian federal government imposed back-to-work legislation. In defiance, postal workers remained on strike for seven days after the legislation took effect. Parrot was eventually jailed for two months in 1979 for refusing to tell postal workers to return to work. He led postal workers to many victories such as the conversion of

Canada Post Canada Post Corporation (, trading as Canada Post (), is a Canadian Crown corporation that functions as the primary postal operator in Canada. Originally known as Royal Mail Canada (the operating name of the Post Office Department of the Can ...

into a

Crown Corporation Crown corporation () is the term used in Canada for organizations that are structured like private companies, but are directly and wholly owned by the government. Crown corporations have a long-standing presence in the country, and have a sign ...

, breakthroughs in

collective bargaining Collective bargaining is a process of negotiation between employers and a group of employees aimed at agreements to regulate working salaries, working conditions, benefits, and other aspects of workers' compensation and labour rights, rights for ...

such as paid

maternity leave Parental leave, or family leave, is an employee benefit available in almost all countries. The term "parental leave" may include maternity, paternity, and adoption leave; or may be used distinctively from "maternity leave" and "paternity leave ...

, and CUPW's 1989 victory in a winner-take-all certification vote that doubled the size of the union.

Canadian Labour Congress

Jean-Claude Parrot was elected Executive

Vice-President A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...

of the

Canadian Labour Congress The Canadian Labour Congress, or CLC ( or ), is a national trade union centre, the central labour body in Canada to which most Canadian trade union, labour unions are affiliated. History Formation The CLC was founded on April 23, 1956, thro ...

at its 19th Convention in

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in 1992. He was subsequently re-elected to this position in 1994, 1996 and 1999.

Writings

On the fortieth anniversary of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, Jean-Claude Parrot published his memoirs in a book entitled ''My Union, My Life: Jean-Claude Parrot and the Canadian Union Of Postal Workers.''

References

External links