MANSFIELD — An international labor union leader with local ties will be the guest speaker on Saturday night at the Richland County Democratic Party’s annual Joseph H. Mudra Legacy Dinner.
Kenneth W. Cooper, president of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, will speak during the event at the Life Celebration Center, 129 S. Man St.
A social hour at 5:30 will begin the evening, followed by dinner at 6:30 and remarks afterward, according to local Democratic Party chair Larry Weirich.
The dinner is named in honor of Joe Mudra, the former longtime local Democratic Party chair who died in March 2021.
“We do have a few tickets that can be purchased at the door,” Weirich said. “Of course, we will be celebrating the life of Joe Mudra.
“There will be a large focus on organized labor. We will be awarding the John J. Rinehardt Lifetime Achievement award and Democrat of the Year, as well as the Emily Campbell Brown Young Democrat Award,” Weirich said.
According to a Richland Source article in 2017, Cooper made his career decision while still in school.
Cooper was working in a factory in Shelby while taking classes at The Ohio State University-Mansfield at night.
“The guy next to me asked me what I was going to school for, and I told him business,” Cooper said. “Then he said, ‘When you get your degree, come travel the world with me.’
“He was in electrical, and when I graduated, I chose to join the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.
“I chose the IBEW for a lot of reasons,” he said. “Electricity is a part of everyone’s life. I knew if I learned that, I could feed my family for the rest of my life.”
Cooper began his career in 1985 at Local Union 688 in Mansfield, where he served a four-year apprenticeship to become a journeyman wireman.
He served many roles at his local union, including steward; vice president; president; chairman trustee for the Pension Fund; chairman trustee for the Annuity; and chairman of trustees for the Health and Welfare Fund.
Cooper was elected business manager in 1993.
He also stayed active in the community. Taking on community roles such as vice president of the Richland County AFL-CIO; co-chairman of the Richland County Building Trades; and board member for the American Red Cross, United Way, Catholic Charities and Richland County Woman’s Shelter.
In 2002, Cooper relocated to Las Vegas, Nev., working for Local Union 396 as the assistant business manager. While there, he was instrumental in organizing five new units of workers at the Nevada Power Company.
In 2006, IBEW International President Edwin D. Hill recognized Cooper’s leadership skills when he asked him to serve as an international representative for the Fourth District of the IBEW, which covers Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia, Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia.
In May 2011, Cooper’s was once again recognized when Hill recommended to the International Executive Council that Cooper be appointed as the international vice president for the Fourth District.
He was elected to the role in September 2011 by the delegates at the 38th International Convention in Vancouver, British Columbia, and re-elected in 2016 at the 39th International Convention in St. Louis, Mo.
In 2017, the IBEW celebrated one of the biggest organizing wins in its 125-year history when 1,418 Baltimore Gas and Electric Employees voted to be represented by the union.
In May 2017, then-International President Lonnie R. Stephenson asked Cooper to join him as International Secretary-Treasurer and serve the IBEW as his partner.
Delegates to the 40th International Convention overwhelmingly elected him to a full term in 2022.
Stephenson retired in December 2022 and Cooper was selected president.
According to an article in the St. Louis/Southern Illinois Labor Tribune in December, Cooper praised his predecessor’s work.
“President Stephenson leaves behind a great legacy. We are a bigger, stronger and more diverse union than we were seven years ago,” Cooper said.
“I am committed to building on that legacy as we work to fulfill our fundamental mission: ‘to organize every worker in the electrical industry.’”
The IBEW is the largest organization of electrical workers in North America.
Cooper lives in Clarksburg, Md., with his wife, Gina. Together they have raised three daughters and two sons.
