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%.
[6] 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-era wage restraint, free trade, the GST, privatization, deregulation, and cuts to public services.
[7] In 1991 Rose declined to run for a fifth term[7] and was appointed deputy minister of intergovernmental affairs in the Ontario New Democratic Party government of Bob Rae.
[8] He held the position until 1995, when he moved to the University of Toronto and was named a senior fellow on conflict management and negotiation.
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 of "an increasingly vocal part" of the Canadian left.