Comrade Kedar Pradhan is no more with us. He passed away on 29th May 2025. He was 71 years old. Comrade Pradhan was Vice President of AICCTU, Odisha and former General Secretary of Ispat Shramik Sangh in Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP). He was also a former State Committee Member of CPI-ML.

He was very dedicated towards the rights of workers and used to fight for all the workers including contract workers in RSP. He took the initiative of forming the party in Rourkela in the 80s.

Demanding Regularisation and Against Outsourcing 

Chennai corporation is divided into 20 zones and sanitation workers are employed under National Urban Livelihood Mission (NULM). The Left Trade Union Centre (LTUC, recently affiliated to AICCTU) has been working among NULM workers for years and took up their cause for minimum wages, regularisation and social dignity. 

[AICCTU submitted a memorandum on 29 April 2025 to the Minister of Labour and Employment demanding removal of wage ceiling for ESI and guarantee universal access to social security. Some Major points of the memorandum are given below.]

We are writing to you in regard to the exclusionary criteria in Employees' State Insurance Scheme (ESIS) resulting in lakhs of workers being excluded from the Scheme.

Through Alternate Dispute Resolution and By Weakening of Penal Provisions for the Employer!

As part of the present government’s attempts to dilute all existing legal rights of the working class and clear the path for employers to refuse workers their legal rights, the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has proposed major changes in the enforcement mechanism of EPF.

The following joint statement was issued to the press after meeting of the Joint Platform of Central Trade Unions and Independent Sectoral Federations/Associations on 15th May 2025. 

The fourth conference (BGM – Biennial General Meeting) of EREU (Eastern Railway Employees Union) was successfully held on April 20, 2025, at Comrade D.N. Das Nagar, Andal, Asansol Division, Eastern Railway. On this occasion, the stage was dedicated to Comrade Chandan Kumar and the auditorium to Comrade Mrityunjay Majhi.

While Prime Minister Narendra Modi was delivering an election speech in Madhubani, Bihar on April 24 (just two days after a terrorist attack on tourists in Pahalgam, Kashmir, when the entire nation was in mourning) and shedding crocodile tears, ASHA workers and facilitators in the state were expressing their anger on the streets of Bihar. ASHA workers in the state have been struggling for the past six months to receive their rightful remuneration.

The representatives of the Joint Action Committee of All Central Trade Unions and Independent Federations of Tamil Nadu submitted a memorandum to express serious concerns regarding the functioning of the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) and the current status of pension disbursal under the EPS-95 scheme.

Protection for Workers in the Summer

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has projected a 48% probability that global temperatures will surpass 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels in at least one year between 2022 and 2026, with this likelihood rising to 66% for the period 2023-2027. Additionally, it has warned that 2025 is expected to be among the three hottest years on record.