Power In Unity
For over a century, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers has been built by active members and powerful local unions. The IBEW deserves leaders who understand the work, repest the membership, and fight for the future of our Union.
Kenneth Cooper, Paul Noble, and Joe Calabro represent leadership grounded in experience, organization, and deep commitment to the members of the IBEW.
Together, they bring decades of service to all the sectors of our great Union. On job-sites, as local union activists and leaders, as district staff and officers, and as our current international officers they have developed the strategies and led the fights that have resulted in record growth and power. Our contracts are stronger, our organizing successes are historic, our legislative voices are huge, and our benefits are stronger than ever.
Our industries are at the center of a once-in-a-century industrial revolution. The Cooper-Noble-Calabro team is making sure that IBEW members lead that future.
OUR RECORD:
DELIVERING RESULTS FOR IBEW MEMBERS
The Cooper–Noble–Calabro team has spent decades strengthening the IBEW through organizing victories, responsible financial leadership, and pro-worker policy wins.
Historic Organizing Victories
- 1,418 Baltimore Gas & Electric workers joined the IBEW, one of the largest
utility organizing wins in recent union history. - Expanded union representation across the utility and electrical infrastructure sectors.
- Organized the largest non-union contractor in Canada.
Expanding Market Share and Work Opportunities
- Expanded construction work opportunities for IBEW members.
- Increased contractor participation in regional agreements from 11 contractors to 455.
- Strengthened partnerships that create long-term union electrical jobs.
- Secured a PLA on the largest renewable energy project in US history.
- Expanded outside construction market share by 9% in one year.
- Secured tens of millions of dollars in grants from Google and Microsoft
to recruit and train electricians in growing markets.
Protecting Members' Retirement Security
- The National Electrical Benefit Fund grew from $13.9 billion to $16.1 billion, strengthening
retirement security for members. - Created the first new, nationally defined benefit pension fund since 1946, the National Electric Benefit Fund.
- Secured a 13th monthly check for all current NEBF pensioners.
Delivering Real Policy Wins for Workers
- Passage of the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act in Illinois, which created strong labor standards
for energy projects. - Approval of the Workers’ Rights Amendment, guaranteeing collective bargaining protections in the
Illinois Constitution. - Developed the National Tri-Trade Solar Agreement.
- Reached agreement with LIUNA and IUOE stating that underground transmission is the sole jurisdiction of the IBEW.
- Delivered national policy and agreements to reactivate Three Mile Island and Palisades nuclear power plants, marking the first time shuttered nuclear reactors have been brought back on line.
- Providing clear leadership at NABTU and AFL-CIO.
- Established the Clean Technology Training Trust to bring apprenticeship opportunities to our
manufacturing members.
Growing the IBEW
- The IBEW is now over 900K members and has the largest construction membership in IBEW history.
The last two years have been record-shattering. - 33,000 new members organized in a single year, the largest growth in more than 50 years.
- A goal of 1 million members by the end of the decade to ensure the union continues to grow and
lead the electrical industry.
meet the team
Kenneth W. Cooper’s, known to most as Coop, life story is the story of the IBEW.
A journeyman wireman from Local Union 688 in Mansfield, Ohio, he learned firsthand the value of hard work, solidarity, and union membership. From the jobsite to the local union hall, Kenny earned the trust of his brothers and sisters by leading, organizing, and fighting for working families. Over four decades of service, he has risen through every level of the Brotherhood—not because he sought titles, but because members recognized a leader who never forgot where he came from and never stopped putting the interests of working people first.
Throughout his career, Kenny Cooper has delivered results. As a local union leader, he expanded market share, increased work opportunities, and strengthened membership. As Fourth District International Vice President, he made organizing the defining mission of his administration, leading efforts that brought thousands of workers into the IBEW and helping secure some of the most significant organizing victories in our Brotherhood’s modern history. As International Secretary-Treasurer and now International President, he has helped protect members’ pensions, strengthen benefit funds, grow investment opportunities that create union jobs, and ensure that the IBEW remains financially strong and strategically positioned for the future. Whether fighting for utility workers, construction membership, manufacturing workers, telecommunications professionals, railroad workers, or public employees, Coop believes that all of the more than 900,000 members matter and every branch of the IBEW deserves a voice.
Today, Kenny Cooper is leading the IBEW through one of the greatest periods of opportunity in our history. Historic investments in infrastructure, energy, manufacturing, and emerging technologies are creating opportunities for union workers across North America. Kenny’s vision is simple: organize more workers, create more jobs, strengthen retirement security, develop the next generation of leaders, and leave the IBEW stronger than he found it. Grounded in the values of solidarity, accountability, and service, he remains committed to building One IBEW—a larger, stronger, and more united Brotherhood that will continue to lead the labor
Paul Noble has spent his career serving IBEW members and strengthening the labor movement. A lifelong resident of southern Illinois, Noble began his union career in 1986 and completed his apprenticeship with Local 702. He later served as organizer, instructor, business representative, and business manager before joining the International Office.
His leadership in political advocacy helped secure major victories for workers, including the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act and the Workers’ Rights Amendment in Illinois.
As Secretary-Treasurer, Noble is responsible for protecting the financial stability of the union and ensuring the security of members’ pension and benefit funds.
Joe Calabro has dedicated his career to strengthening the IBEW through organizing, leadership, and service to the membership.
Throughout his career, Calabro has focused on expanding opportunities for members, strengthening local unions, and ensuring the IBEW remains a powerful voice for electrical workers across North America.
His leadership reflects the core values that define the IBEW: solidarity, professionalism, and commitment to the membership.
