APPOINTED — Folsom, N.J., Local 351 Business Manager Daniel P. Cosner, a second-generation IBEW member who has been a tireless union activist for more than 30 years, has been appointed by International President Kenneth W. Cooper as the International Executive Council’s First District representative, effective Jan. 1.
Cosner fills the vacancy created when his predecessor, Newark, N.J., Local 1157 Business Manager Joseph Calabro, became the IEC’s chair following the retirement of New York City Local 3 Business Manager Christopher Erikson.
Born and raised in Gloucester City, N.J., Cosner had always intended to follow his father, Ray, into the Brotherhood.
“I’ve got to thank my dad for getting me rolling,” Cosner said. “He was able to provide for us, and my mom was able to stay home with me.”
“Dad was also friendly enough with the local’s leadership to get me on as a helper after high school,” he said, adding that Ray, a member for 63 years and counting, is still enjoying the retirement he was able to take at 55 thanks to his IBEW membership. “He said, ‘If you like it, we’ll let you apply to the apprenticeship.’”
Cosner liked it, and the following year, he was admitted into an apprenticeship with Camden Local 439. (The local merged in 1994 with Atlantic City Local 211 and Vineland Local 592, which resulted in the charter of Local 351.)
“[Dan’s] a class act — just a giving person. He loves his family, and he loves his local.”
– Trenton, N.J., Local 269 Business Manager Steve Aldrich
“The work was good back then,” said Cosner, who topped out as a journeyman inside wireman in 1992. “I loved working with the tools, I got on some big jobs, and I met a lot of people.”
He was also an active IBEW member, helping with his local’s annual picnic for members and the children’s Christmas party, as well as playing on the local’s softball team. “But I kept wanting to push further, to be more active and have more to say,” Cosner said.
He recalled one local meeting where the discussion grew heated. “Somebody from the floor said to the business manager, ‘I don’t understand what you’re telling me, and I don’t agree with it,’” Cosner said. “Then, one of the executive board guys, a rank-and-file guy, stood up and defended the business manager.
“He wasn’t just sucking up. He was expressing himself. I thought that was so cool,” Cosner said. “I wanted to be the guy like that, working with the tools but having the guts to stand up at a meeting and say, ‘Wait a minute.’ That had a lot of impact.”
Cosner told then-Local 351 President Fred Richmond that the episode got him thinking about running for the local’s executive board. Richmond counseled Cosner to start small and aim instead for a spot on the examining board.
Grateful for Richmond’s advice, Cosner still chose to go for the executive board. Although he lost by nine votes, Cosner was shortly afterward appointed to the board to fill a vacancy.
He was elected to the executive board in 1998 and became its chairman three years later. Meanwhile, his desire to advocate for his IBEW brothers and sisters continued to grow.
“He’s always fighting for the members,” said Jersey City, N.J., Local 164 Business Manager Dan Gumble. “He’s truly a man of integrity. We’re lucky to have Dan here in New Jersey and to work alongside him,” Gumble said.
In 2001, then-Business Manager Ed Gant hired Cosner as a Local 351 business agent and, in 2010, appointed him assistant business manager. When Gant retired in 2016, Cosner felt prepared by Gant to accept the appointment to replace him.
Last summer, Cosner celebrated his fourth uncontested election as business manager of the 2,000-member local.
“It’s a busy job,” said Cosner, who also has been president of the Southern New Jersey Building Trades Council since 2013. “We’ve been very fortunate with work since I first became business manager, and it looks like that’s going to continue.”
Many of Local 351’s members work at one of New Jersey’s nuclear power stations, build and maintain casinos in Atlantic City, or staff oil and gas refineries along the Delaware River.
“When I started with the IBEW, the refineries were our thing, while the nukes would keep us going during times of lower employment,” Cosner said. “When the refineries slowed up, we had casino work.”
He said this diversity of work prospects has been fortunate for the local. “We still have a lot of open farmland, and we’ve been fortunate with solar work in our area, too,” he said. “We’ve been able to manage the ups and downs.”
Trenton, N.J., Local 269 Business Manager Steve Aldrich has known Cosner for more than 30 years.
“Dan is the man,” said Aldrich, who worked the tools with Cosner at a Bally’s casino in Atlantic City. “He’s a class act — just a giving person. He loves his family, and he loves his local.”
Cosner credits the local’s staff, led by President Charles Della Vecchi, with the enthusiastic attendance of members and their families at an annual picnic weekend in Wildwood. “We’ve made that such a family affair,” Cosner said. “All weekend long, all you see is IBEW 351 shirts everywhere,” he said.
Since the 1994 merger, “we have developed Local 351 into this institution that really looks out for each other,” he said.
Cosner said he’s grateful for the support of his fiancee, Amy, and his middle-school-age daughter and son.
“I’ve brought them up in the IBEW world, and they know what it’s about,” he said. “They help out with the picnics; they give out shirts. They are IBEW through and through.”
Cosner said he was humbled and excited to be asked to join the IEC. “It’s the highest judicial body within the IBEW,” he said. “When President Cooper asked me if I was interested, I didn’t hesitate a second.”
Gumble called Cosner’s selection “a great pick.”
“He’s an asset to this union as a business manager, and now to be on the IEC, we couldn’t ask for a better person for the job,” he said.
“He’s a true gentleman,” Aldrich added. “He’s going to be nothing but helpful on the IEC. This was a smart decision.”
Cosner said he is grateful for this opportunity.
“I thank God for everything I’ve gotten from the IBEW,” he said. “I believe in it so much. We’ve got to keep it rolling.”
Please join the Brotherhood in wishing Brother Cosner the best of luck in his new role.
