Todd, Ron

▪ 2006

      British trade union leader (b. March 11, 1927, London, Eng.—d. April 30, 2005, Romford, Essex, Eng.), as the national organizer (1978–85) and general secretary (1985–92) of the Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU) and chairman (1985–92) of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) International Committee, was a leading figure in the British labour union movement and the Labour Party during a period when union membership and influence seriously declined. After his World War II military service, Todd worked as a gas fitter and autoworker until he became a full-time TGWU officer in 1962. A committed leftist, he clashed often with the antiunion government of Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (1979–90) and with Labour leader Neil Kinnock, who he felt was abandoning the party's working-class socialist origins. Todd was also prominent in the international fights for nuclear disarmament and against apartheid in South Africa. After retiring in 1992, he published small volumes of poetry.

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