LOUISVILLE, Ky. 鈥 An advisory board member for the University of Louisville鈥檚 Labor-Management Center has won Kentucky鈥檚 top labor-management award.
Kenneth Koch of Louisville, president of Local 681 of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, was named 鈥渓abor person of the year鈥 for 2010 at the Kentucky Labor-Management Conference last night.
The annual conference is co-sponsored by the Kentucky Labor Cabinet and Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development.
Koch, a union steward at Philip Morris, has led Local 681 for 20 years and also is vice president of the AFL-CIO in Kentucky. He helped forge a nine-year labor-management agreement at Philip Morris that stayed in effect until the company closed its Louisville production plant in 2000.
Koch also is president of District 27 Machinists, member of an unemployment task force formed by Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear and formerly belonged to the board of directors for Jefferson Community and Technical College.
He has served on UofL鈥檚 labor-management advisory board since 1990.
UofL鈥檚 Labor-Management Center was created in 1986 to foster good relations between labor and management through education, research and technical assistance. The Kentucky Labor-Management Conference awards go each year to management and labor representatives in the state who demonstrate a strong commitment to cooperation.