AFL-CIO Chief Kirkland Wins Top OECD Post

Lane Kirkland, head of the AFL-CIO, has won the presidency of the key union committee at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), OECD officials said Thursday.

Kirkland will chair the OECD’s Trades Union Advisory Committee (TUAC), which represents the interests of 60 million union members worldwide. He takes over from David Basnett, the leader of Britain’s General Municipal & Boilermakers’ Union, who is retiring. The post is generally held for three or four years.

Kirkland’s appointment is due to be officially announced today, and his first official duties will be to meet labor ministers from the 24 OECD member countries who will be in Paris next week to consider long-term unemployment problems in Western industrialized countries.