Jeffrey "Jeff" Raymond Rose (born 1946) is a Canadian trade unionist and former public servant. He is national president emeritus of the

Canadian Union of Public Employees The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE; ) is a Canadian trade union serving the public sector – although it has in recent years organized workplaces in the non-profit and para-public sector as well. CUPE is the largest union in Canada, ...

, 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.

Union representative

Rose was born in Toronto, and is Jewish. He began his career as a

city planner An urban planner (also known as town planner) is a professional who practices in the field of town planning, urban planning or city planning. An urban planner may focus on a specific area of practice and have a title such as city planner, tow ...

in the City of Toronto government 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. Rose’s years as national president of CUPE were marked by national membership growth from 294,000 members to 407,000 members (largely through organizing); a strengthening of CUPE’s infrastructure, staff capabilities, and rank-and-file skills; and his outspoken opposition to

Brian Mulroney Martin Brian Mulroney (March 20, 1939 – February 29, 2024) was a Canadian lawyer, businessman, and politician who served as the 18th prime minister of Canada from 1984 to 1993. Born in the eastern Quebec city of Baie-Comeau, Mulroney studi ...

-era wage restraint,

free trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold Economic liberalism, economically liberal positions, while economic nationalist politica ...

, the GST,

privatization Privatization (rendered privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation w ...

deregulation Deregulation is the process of removing or reducing state regulations, typically in the economic sphere. It is the repeal of governmental regulation of the economy. It became common in advanced industrial economies in the 1970s and 1980s, as a ...

, and cuts to public services. Under Rose’s leadership CUPE was particularly effective in improving pay and working conditions for women.

Provincial politics

In 1991 Rose declined to run for a fifth term and was appointed

deputy minister Deputy minister is a title borne by politicians or officials in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. A deputy minister is positioned in some way "under" a minister, who is a full member of Cabinet, in charge of a particular sta ...

of intergovernmental affairs in the

Ontario New Democratic Party The Ontario New Democratic Party (NDP; , NPD) is a social democratic political party in Ontario, Canada. The party sits on the centre-left of the political spectrum. It is Ontario’s provincial section of the federal New Democratic Party. The ...

government of

Bob Rae Robert Keith Rae (born August 2, 1948) is a Canadian diplomat and former politician who is the current Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations since 2020. He previously served as the 21st premier of Ontario from 1990 to 1995, leader of the ...

. He was named national president emeritus of CUPE and was succeeded by Judy Darcy. As deputy minister Rose was the lead negotiator and senior policy strategist for Ontario in its relations with the federal government and with the other provincial governments.

University position; Comment on anti-semitism

He held the position until 1995, when he moved to the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

and was named a senior fellow on conflict management and negotiation. He retired in 2002. The same year, Rose wrote an op-ed piece with lawyer Clayton Ruby and physician Philip Berger calling on their fellow leftists to denounce the

antisemitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

of "an increasingly vocal part" of the Canadian left.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rose, Jeff 1946 births Trade unionists from Ontario Canadian Union of Public Employees people Canadian urban planners Living people Ontario civil servants Jewish Canadian politicians Ontario New Democratic Party politicians Politicians from Toronto