Jean-Claude Parrot

Who is Jean-Claude Parrot?

Jean-Claude Parrot was National President of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers for fifteen years and its chief negotiator for eighteen.

Early in his career, CUPW had reached a low point with Canadians when, at the outset of a 42-day postal strike, Parrot's presidential predecessor Joe Davidson responded to a reporter's hypothetical question by uttering "to hell with the public."

Capitalizing on the lack of support for the postal worker union, the federal government moved quickly in 1978 to crush the workers, imposing back-to-work legislation. In defiance, postal workers remained on strike for seven days after the legislation took effect.

J.C. Parrot was eventually jailed for two months in 1980 for not telling postal workers to return to work.

He led postal workers to many victories such as the conversion of the post office into a Crown Corporation, breakthroughs in collective bargaining such as paid maternity leave, and CUPW's 1989 victory in a winner-take-all certification vote that doubled the size of the union.

Jean-Claude Parrot was elected Executive Vice-President of the Canadian Labour Congress at its 19th Convention in Vancouver in 1992. He was subsequently re-elected to this position in 1994, 1996 and 1999.