Larry Cohen

Who is Larry Cohen?

Larry Cohen is president of the Communication Workers of America, a 700,000 member labor union representing workers in Canada and the United States. Cohen was first elected to his current position, by acclaimation, in 2005.

A native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Cohen became active in the union as a state worker in New Jersey, where he led a successful organizing drive which eventually brought 36,000 state workers into the union. In 1980, he was appointed a staff representative. He was promoted in 1982 to New Jersey area director and again in 1985 to assistant to the CWA vice president for District 1. In 1986 he was called on to serve as assistant to the CWA president and director of organizing, a position he held until his election as executive vice president in August 1998.

Throughout his career, Cohen has chaired major contract negotiations in both the public and private sectors, at employers including Verizon and AT&T, as well as Cingular Wireless. Cohen was one of the first to recognize changes in telecommunications through the convergence of video, voice and data technologies, and the need to unify unionized workers in these sectors.