Siliguri-based Sudip Dutta, 40, was elected as the all-India president of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (Citu), affiliated to the CPM, during its 18th all-India conference in Visakhapatnam on Sunday.
Dutta has worked closely with the Darjeeling tea industry as part of the Joint Forum, a conglomerate of more than 20 trade unions from Dooars-Terai and hills.
Speaking to The Telegraph from Visakhapatnam, Dutta said the focus during the conference was to “modernise” the working of the union” and also be “a bit militant to represent the anger of the young working class”.
“Sixty-five per cent of the working force in the country is below 35 years old,” the newly elected Citu president said.
Their immediate focus was to ensure the success of the February 12 nationwide general strike, he said. Ten unions have called the strike to protest against the Centre’s new labour codes. The Citu president said that they were not averse to calling strike over multiple days if the government goes ahead implementing the labour codes.
Dutta said it was unfortunate that workers of the tea industry were having to agitate for 11 years just to ensure their minimum wage.
“The workers working the (tea) industry for nearly one and half centuries are having to agitate just for a minimum wage for the past 11 years and for land rights,” he said. “However, neither the state nor the Centre is listening to the demands of workers of an industry that is also a major foreign exchange earner.”
Saman Pathak, the former Rajya Sabha MP of the CPM, hailed “Comrade Sudip” as a young and capable leader with “a very clear understanding of the working
class movement”.