For Immediate Release: August 19, 2024
Contact: Matt Spence, 202-728-6014
IBEW President Kenny Cooper to Address Democratic National Convention on Opening Night
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) President Kenny Cooper will address delegates on opening night of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
Taking the stage with fellow labor leaders, he will celebrate the historic accomplishments of the Biden-Harris administration on behalf of working people and point to the tens of thousands of IBEW jobs created by the administration’s signature legislation: the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Inflation Reduction Act, and the CHIPS and Science Act.
Cooper will also highlight the millions of working American’s retirement pensions saved by the Biden-Harris administration’s American Rescue Act.
“It’s an honor to be asked by Vice President Harris and the convention to speak to this convention, but it pales in comparison to the gratitude I feel for what this administration has already accomplished for the men and women of the IBEW,” Cooper said.
“From saving our pensions to finally following through on previous administrations’ empty promises to invest in American infrastructure to truly committing to making things in America again, Kamala Harris and Joe Biden have done more for American working families than any administration in history.”
The IBEW represents 838,000 members working in the electrical industry. Its members are on the front lines of the Biden/Harris jobs boom, building the power plants, data centers, advanced manufacturing plants, solar and wind farms, distribution centers and more. They’re constructing billion-dollar transmission lines to upgrade America’s electrical grid, operating nuclear power plants and utility-scale power generators and repairing storm and fire damage resulting from climate change and weather events. IBEW members are operating freight and commuter railroads, broadcasting sports and nightly news coverage, running the fiber optic lines that make the 21st century economy hum and manufacturing products in America again.
Cooper is a journeyman electrician by trade from Mansfield, Ohio, a town forgotten when trade agreements and cheap foreign labor took aim at America’s small communities. He has served the IBEW at every level for nearly 40 years and as international president since January 2023.
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The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) represents approximately 838,000 members and retirees who work in a wide variety of fields, including construction, utilities, manufacturing, telecommunications, broadcasting, railroads and government.