Ken Kovack Retires

Kenneth Kovack, SOAR Legislative Director Retires

Buck Sargent Ken Kovack was discharged from the Army Air Corps in 1946. A year later he hired in at Inland Steel’s 76-inch Hot-Strip Mill in East Chicago, Indiana. Soon after, he married Valerie, and they’ve been blessed with five children, nine grandchildren, and 12 great-grandchildren. 

There’s no doubt that Ken’s forte was in organizing the organized. As a member of USWA Local 1010, he was soon made Chairman of the Occupational Safety and Health Committee, expanded the Local 1010 blood replacement program and started an on-and-off-the-job First Aid training program. He became active with the National Safety Council, the Hammond Safety Council and the Sub-District Council. Ken was also an Executive Board Member and Secretary-Treasurer of the Consumer Federation of America (headquartered in Washington, D.C.) for almost 21 years and he is now an Emeritus Board member of that organization. Ken also attended meetings of other national organizations and often lobbied members of Congress with their staff members.

While serving as the local’s Recording Secretary, Ken was very active on the Legislative and Political Committee and was a member of the Local 1010 Community Services Committee during the Basic Steel Strike of 1959. Not long after that, he was selected by the Lake and Porter County Central Labor Union (now the Northwest Federation of Labor) to become the Labor Liaison for the East Chicago/Hammond United Way. Ken then began organizing a county-wide United Fund which is now known as the Lake Area United Way.

During his five United Way years, Ken organized fundraisers, an immunization program with the help of the Visiting Nurses agency in East Chicago, a health fair and a fundraiser to build a community recreation center. Ken then served one year as a Staff Representative representing nine Local Unions before being transferred to the Steelworkers Legislative Department in Washington D.C. Ken participated in two labor exchange programs. First, in Germany; and then, he toured Bangladesh, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, and Hong Kong.

He was given two international assignments. In 1990, he attended the Czechoslovakia jobs and migration conference and in early 1992, he was assigned to testify in hearings organized by Mexico’s Labor Department in Mexico City. Several issues against NAFTA were related to Mexico's many unfair labor practices and environmental implementation policies.

Since his retirement in 1992, Ken has been active in SOAR, occupied his old office in the D.C. Legislative Department for several years and occasionally spoke at SOAR conferences. He remained active with the United Way annual campaigns for several years and served as an adviser to the United Way Of America national office in Virginia. Ken has testified before Congress, and wrote the Washington Wrap article for the SOAR magazine and legislative updates to our SOAR board members for distribution to SOAR Chapters nationwide.

Ken, at age 93, decided to retire as the Legislative Director of SOAR, a decision that was put off for several months. 

Ken and Val remain as residents of Rockville, Maryland taking more time for each other and their family.