Communist Named Chairman of British Labor Confederation

The Trades Union Congress, a confederation which represents 9.8 million British workers in 98 unions, ended its annual congress Friday by electing a Communist to the largely ceremonial post of federation chairman, the first such election since it was founded in 1868.

Ken Gill, 58, who will hold the post for 12 months, is general secretary of the Technical, Administrative and Supervisory Section, a 215,000-member, white-collar engineering union. The TUC chairman is largely a figurehead, chosen on the basis of seniority on the general council, whose key figure is General Secretary Norman Willis.

Gill, a draftsman, was among hard-liners expelled from the Communist Party two months ago for opposing the leadership’s moderate line and its criticism of the Soviets’ military intervention in Afghanistan. Those expelled now have their own organization and control the Communist Morning Star daily newspaper.

Gill told reporters after his election: “I didn’t want to start my new job in a tangle with anyone, but my political position remains as it always did. I am a Communist.”