Kannapolis native J. David Cox was elected today as national president of the American Federation of Government Employees.
Cox’s election came during the union’s 39th National Convention in Las Vegas.
The American Federation of Government Employees is the largest federal employee union, representing 650,000 workers in the federal government and in the District of Columbia.
Cox was longtime head of the AFGE local at the Hefner VA Medical Center in Salisbury.
He rises to the union’s top position after serving two consecutive terms as AFGE’s national secretary-treasurer.
According to an AFGE press release, Cox helped the union add more than 52,000 new members and expand the size and scope of AFGE’s political action committee and its legislative action fund.
Cox said in a statement he would work on strengthening the union by embracing the union’s diverse membership and building consensus among members.
“The strength of unity is the only way we are going to fight back against the anti-government and anti-union forces that want to dismantle the vital programs and services federal employees provide each and every day to millions of Americans,” Cox said. “I am honored and humbled that AFGE’s members chose me to lead this fight.”