CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia’s organized labor community is scheduled to gather Sunday afternoon to mark the life of former West Virginia AFL-CIO President Jim Bowen who died last month.
The Celebration of Life ceremony is scheduled from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Four Points Sheraton in downtown Charleston.
The ceremony announcement says Bowen “dedicated his life and career to the betterment of working men and women across the state of West Virginia.”
He served as WV AFL-CIO president from 1997-2004.
Bowen became best known as part of the negotiating team during the Steelworkers’ labor dispute with Ravenswood Aluminum in the early 1990s. The nearly two-year dispute was a watershed moment of organized labor in the state and Bowen was one of the union’s negotiators who helped forge an agreement which ended the dispute.
“Jim said there are five qualities that led to their victory: labor solidarity, community support, bravery, creativity and perseverance. That sums up how Jim conducted himself throughout his career. He never gave up, and he inspires all of us to live up to his unwavering standards.,” said current AFL-CIO President Josh Sword.
Bowen, who died on Sept. 26 in Florida, was 87.