The All India United Trade Union Centre (AIUTUC), formerly known as United Trade Union Centre (Lenin Sarani) or UTUC-LS, is a Central

Trade Union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

Organisation in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and the labour wing of the

Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communist) The Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communist) or SUCI(C), previously called the Socialist Unity Centre of India and "Socialist Unity Centre", is an anti-revisionist Marxist-Leninist communist party in India. The party was founded by Shibda ...

. Presently its activities are spread over 19 states. The organisation claims to have 600 affiliated unions, comprising an individual membership of over two million. It is the 6th largest trade union in India.
UTUC's all-India conference from tomorrow
' According to provisional statistics from the Ministry of Labour, UTUC-LS had a membership of 1,368,535 in 2002.

History

All India UTUC was founded at a conference held in

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

26–27 April 1958, following a split in the

United Trade Union Congress United Trade Union Congress is a central trade union organisation in India. UTUC is politically tied to Revolutionary Socialist Party. Ashok Ghosh is the general secretary of UTUC. According to provisional statistics from the Ministry of Labo ...

. Initially it used the name UTUC, but in the general media it was referred to as UTUC (Dharamtala Street) (where it had its offices) to distinguish it from the original UTUC. In 1969, at the initiative of Subodh Banerjee,

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...

State Committee President of the organisation and Labour Minister in anti-

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...

United Front A united front is an alliance of groups against their common enemies, figuratively evoking unification of previously separate geographic fronts and/or unification of previously separate armies into a front. The name often refers to a political a ...

Government in the state, the name of the street was changed to 'Lenin Sarani'. Thus the new name of the organisation became UTUC (Lenin Sarani). In the 17th UTUC (LS) conference held in Delhi in 1985 the organisation was renamed as 'United Trade Union Centre (Lenin Sarani)'. In the 18th conference held in 1992 in

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

'Lenin Sarani' was un-bracketed, implying that it no longer referred to the name of the street where the office is located but became an integral part of the name of the organisation which was thereafter known as 'United Trade Union Centre-Lenin Sarani' (UTUC-LS). The 19th all India conference of the organisation held in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

on 27 March 2008 approved the change of name to All India United Trade Union Centre (All India UTUC). AIUTUC is affiliated to the

World Federation of Trade Unions The World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) is an international federation of trade unions established in 1945. Founded in the immediate aftermath of World War Two, the organization built on the pre-war legacy of the International Federation of ...

.World Federation of Trade Unions.
Indian Trade Union Delegation visits Venezuelan Embassy in New Delhi
'

Activities

The All India UTUC is functioning in both formal and informal sectors. In informal sector, the most important segment where it has been working from the very inception, is agriculture. In the formal sectors All India UTUC has unions, federations and activities in basic, heavy and key industries and important service sectors like Iron and Steel, Engineering, Electricity, Coal and Non-Coal Mines, Railways, Port and Dock, Road-Transport, Banks and Financial Institutions, Insurance, Central and State Government Services. On the basis of its membership strength All India UTUC has been recognised as a Central Trade Union Organisation by the Government of India and has its representations in apex level tripartite committees as well as in International Labour Conferences (ILC) of the

ILO The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is the first and ol ...

Leadership

*President – Shankar Saha *General Secretary – Shankar Dasgupta

References

{{Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communist) Trade unions in India National trade union centres of India Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communist) Trade unions established in 1958 World Federation of Trade Unions