Jackson was president of the Manitoba Government Employees' Association (MGEA) from 1976 to 1979.
He co-chaired a government task force on restructuring the provincial bureaucracy in this period, but resigned in dramatic fashion in February 1978 to protest layoffs in the civil service.
[1] Later in the year, he signed an agreement with Sterling Lyon's government to give workers protection against layoffs and the contracting out of services.
[2] In 1979, Jackson was appointed president of the National Union of Provincial Government Employees (NUPGE).
[5] He was subsequently forced to stand down as president of the NUPGE, after its executive determined that he had violated the union's non-partisan status.