United Trade Union Centre-Lenin Sarani

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The United Trade Union Centre-Lenin Sarani (UTUC-LS) is a Central Trade Union Organisation in India and the labour wing of the Socialist Unity Centre of India. Presently its activities are spread over 19 states. The organisation claims to have 600 affiliated unions, comprising an individual membership of over two million.

[edit] History

UTUC-LS was founded at a conference held in Calcutta April 26-27 1958, following a split in the United Trade Union Congress. 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 State Committee President of the organisation and PWD Minister in anti-Congress United Front 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 re-named as 'United Trade Union Centre (Lenin Sarani)'. In the 18th conference held in 1992 in Calcutta '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 is now known as 'United Trade Union Centre-Lenin Sarani' (UTUC-LS).

[edit] Activities

The UTUC-Lenin Sarani 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 UTUC-LS 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 UTUC-Lenin Sarani has been recognised as a Central Trade Union Organisation by the Government of India and has its representations in Apex level various tripartite committees as well as in International Labour Conferences (ILC) of the ILO.