Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) pays homage to the veteran Trade Union leader Comrade M.M. Lawrence who passed away today at 12pm at Kochi at his age of 95 years due to age related  illness and conveys its condolences to his family members and all comrades.

Comrade M.M. Lawrence who started his political activities at his age of 18 was involved in freedom struggle and started his trade Union life organizing manual scavengers as a leader of AITUC and was imprisoned for a valiant struggle against the Police in 1950 for defending the illegally detained comrades and beaten up mercilessly by the Police.

He was one of the founders of Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) along with Comrade E. Balanandan, K.N.Ravindranathan and others in Kerala. He was a militant fighter for the cause of working class all through his life and rose to be CITU Kerala State Committee General Secretary and National Secretary from 1983 to 2010 and Vice President in between for a term from 2000 to 2003.

He was President of Cochin Port Labour Union and several other organized and unorganized workers unions and all India leader of Water Transport Workers Federation of India.  As a part of his struggle for the cause of working class he was elected member of the Loksabha from Idukki in Kerala from 1980-84.

He was CPI(M) Central Committee member, Kerala State Secretariat Member and Convener of Left Democratic Front (LDF) of Kerala. The CITU dips its banner in respect of departed comrade M.M. Lawrence.

Issued by
Tapan Sen
General Secretary