BRIEF HISTORY OF THE CUBAN
LABOR MOVEMENT
&
SOCIAL POLICY SINCE
1952
[GENTE
DE LA SEMANA, Vol. 1, Havana, January 5, 1958, No. 1,
American Edition]
BRIEF
HISTORY OF THE CUBAN LABOR MOVEMENT
SOCIAL
POLICY SINCE 1952
Page 59
PHOTO CAPTION
- Eusebio Mujal, top leader of Cuban's Labor movement
reads workers claims in an assembly.
In
the photo: Labor Minister Suarez Rivas, and U.S. Embassy
Labor
Attache.
BRIEF
HISTORY OF THE CUBAN LABOR MOVEMENT
August 12, 1933, the day that the dictatorial regime of
president
Gerardo Machado was overthrown, is a decisive date in Cuba's
labor
movement. Prior to that time social gains had been
small and the
labor movement was limited. After that, the labor
picture became
brighter.
Until that historic day 24 years ago, the few legal labor
organizations
were reformist in character and almost all of them were
forced to
conform to government regulations in order to survive.
Only in
the darkness secrecy did the classisist and revolutionary
labor groups
make their initial appearance.
After this date, the Secretariat of Labor (today known as
the Labor
Ministry) came into being, a limit on the number of working
hours was
enforced, legislation was passed for the establishment of
labor and
management groups, the protection of the worker was
guaranteed and the
old law requiring payment of salaries in cash was reenacted.
The political-revolutionary strike of March, 1935, opened
the door for
repressive measures features by the banning of labor
unions. But
the seed of struggle and progress and the fruit of social
advancement
had become a part of the Cuban coincience and a short while
later the
legalized unions again took their rightful place on the
nation's
political, social and economic scene.
THE CUBAN WORKERS
CONFEDERATION (CTC)
The Cuban Workers Confederation (CTC) is the only central
union now in
existence in Cuba. It is remarkably strong and is
characterized
by a keen sense of responsibility and the high respect with
which it is
regarded both inside and outside the country. The CTC
was created
in January of 1939 after Cuban labor delegates of varying
ideological
groups had agreed months before at an international labor
congress in
Mexico to unify the nation's labor movement.
(Prior to the CTC was another central union, the National
Workers' Confederation of Cuba (CNOC), which
Page 60
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Page 61
PHOTO CAPTION
- Workers of Unions demostrates on C.T.C. rally.
was founded in 1925 b y anarchistic labor leaders and which
worked underground until 1935).
The CTC was officially recognized in 1943 by presidential
decree signed
b y then President of Cuba, Gen Fulgencio Batista Zaldivar,
on April
7. At that time it consisted of nine national
industries
federations made up of a few hundreds unions. Today it
consists
of 33 federations with a membership of 1522 unions composed
of
1,214,271 workers.
From 1939 to 1947, the CTC was influenced notably by
Communist union
leaders, despite the fact that the Reds were a
minority. In 1947,
however, at the historic fth CTC Congress, the Communists
were expelled
and have since been under constant union attack. The
principal
Communist labor leader was Lazaro Pena Gonzalez, today
living outside
the country and without an appreciable following among the
Cuban
citizenry.
The international labor groups of which the CTC is an
affiliate also
have strongly anti-Communist records, among them being the
International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) and
the
Regional Interamerican Workers Organization (ORIT).
THE COMMUNIST PROBLEM
The Cuban Communist Party was founded secretly in
1925. It was legalized in 1938, and in 1953 was
outlawed.
Before 1933 it had very few members. After the
revolutionary
upheavels of that year and following its old tactic of
hiding behind
popular mass movements, it started to grow, gaining strength
by heading
all drives for social and labor improvements. These
improvements
were later incorporated into the new 1940 Constitution and
in labor
legislation passed since that date.
In its period of greatest strength, Communism in Cuba
controlled one
newspaper, "Noticias de Hoy", and a radio station, "Mil
Diez", as well
as assemblies in 126 municipalities of the Republic.
It was also
robust enough to elect senators and representatives and win
two mayoral
posts (Yaguajay and Manzanillo) as well as numerous
councilman's
posts. Its maximum voting strength through out Cuba at
one time
reached 152,000 voters.
From the foundation of the CTC in 1939 to the middle of
1947, the
Communist leaders controlled the national labor
movement. But its
ambitions, schisms and dictatorial techniques lead to a mass
rebellion
in that year, in which the Communist hierarchy was expelled
from the
CTC and labor leaders of national and democratic ideals
elevated to
take their places.
Today the Communists have gone underground, their strength
decimated. But they lose no opportunity to try to
infiltrate and
agitate te nation's working class, its students and its
intellectuals.
CUBA'S SOCIAL ADVANCES
Chapter Four of the Cuban Constitution recognizes "the
inalienable
right of the individual to work" and that the state will use
all
resources within its power to provide work for those without
it".
In this way the Cuban Magna Carta guarantees the
salary, or the minimum wage as regulated periodically
Page 62
PHOTO
CAPTION - Vicente Rubiera, Telephone Worker's leader.
PHOTO
CAPTION - Eusebio Mujal Barniol, Secretary General of
Cuban C.T.C. addressing a meeting.
by management-labor groups; the sanctity of the minimum
wage; the equal
salary for equal work; the invalidity of payment by voucher,
chits,
merchandise or any other monetary substitute; payment of
labor by the
week; social security to provide for layoffs, old age, etc.;
an
eight-hour maximum work day and a 44-hour work week for 48
hours pay,
and the illegality of child labor under 14 years.
All established by the Cuban Constitution is payment of one
month's
vacation for 11 months work in a year's period; the payment
of salary
for holidays or national days of mourning; the rights of
working
mothers; the free organization of final dissolution of labor
unions
until a definite decision on each individual case has been
handled down
by the courts; the regulation and fulfillment of collective
work
contracts and the preponderant participation of the native
Cuban in
employment an salary scales.
Discrimination of all types is prohibited; the creation of
cooperatives
is favored, and no one may be fired from a job without the
prior notice
provided by law.
The obligation of the state to provide low cost housing for
workers has
been fixed constitutionally, as have the conditions which
must be
observed by all shops, factories and other work centers, te
lending of
social aid and charity to poor families, as well as the
regulation of
the transfer of factories and shops to avoid the payment of
salaries
and work levels. Also employer-worker commissions have
been
established to help solve labor disputes.
Furthermore all Cubans, whether they be workers or not, have
the free
right of assembly and movement, free expression of thought
and respect
for their home and correspondence, etc.
All these rights are respected in the present day except
during those
periods (as specified in the Constitution) when
constitutional
guarantees are suspended. Also respected is the
worker's right to
strike and the employers' right to work stoppages.
A word about strikes: since 1952 until the present time, the
CTC has
organized, directed and won several strike movements.
Among these
have been the strike for the payment of "differential" pay
(for sugar
workers) in late 1955, the strike on the Ferrocarriles
Consolidados,
the Hatuey Brewery strike in Cotorro (Havana), as well as
tobacco,
port, textile and transport strikes. In all, the CTC
has directed
over 100 strikes in the past five years, all of which have
been
approved by the majority of votes or by unanimous agreement
of the
responsible parties.
There have been violent strikes, resulting in the
intervention of the
authorities. In the bank strike of September 1955 and
the
electric strike of May 1957, both declared illegal by the
government
and subsequently quelled by the authorities, it should be
noted that
both unions involved rejected the strike movement. In
the bank
strike the vote was 14 against a work stoppage and three in
favor in
the National Bank Workers Federation of Cuba, and 62 opposed
and one in
favor in the CTC. The union directors who disobeyed
the agreement
and initiated the strike were cited for insubordination to
union
authority and punished by the CTC through regular union
channels.
The same happened in the case of the electric strike.
The first international strike, in which Cuban workers,
represented by
the CTC, showed their solidarity with American workers,
represented by
the AFL and the CIO, should not go unnoticed here. It
was an
outstanding success. It occurred in 1955 when Cuban
workers
refused to load crude sugar in Cayo Juan Claro (Puerto
Padre) for sugar
refineries in the southern U.S. on the grounds that the
refinery owners
did not want to pay Southern Negroes the same salaries as
those paid in
northern refineries. The Cubans refused to ship the
raw sugar
until they were sure that their
Page 63
PHOTO CAPTION
- Prisciliano Falcon Sanu, leader of Cuba's F.N.T.A.,
largest Cuban Union.
North American brothers had won their wage demands from the
refinery bosses.
All along, the United States labor organization, the
AFL-CIO, has
maintained and still maintains its close ties with Cuban
labor, not
only to provide mutual support in the common fight against
Communism
and for a higher standard of living for labor, but as in the
case of
the CTC and FNTA leaders in 1955 when Cuba was seeking a
sugar quota in
the U.S. market. On that occacion the U.S. labor
chief-tans
greatly helped the Cuban labor group achieve its goal.
THE IMPORTANCE OF SUGAR
LABOR
Sugar is Cuba's prime wealth. Exports of this
commodity and its
sale abroad provide a larger percentage of the nation's
income than any
other single commodity. The price per pound of sugar
and the
volume of the sugar harvest are the two economic factors
with the
greatest bearing on the nation's political, social and
economic
situation.
Of the island's labor force, estimated at 2,059,659 persons
in the 1953
census, the National Sugar Workers Federation (FNTA) has
calculated
that more than 500,000 workers depend on the sugar industry
for their
livelihood. For this reason, among others, it is
called the
"leading industry" of Cuba.
In 1952, the revolutionary government of General Batista
faced an
anarchic sugar harvest which produced over seven million
tons of the
product, a record figure in Cuba. There were no
markets in which
to sell it. The government, in order to avoid the
imposition of
rigid controls the following year, set aside 1,752,000 tons
for sale
over a five-year period. Before taking this stop,
however, the
government consulted the Cuban labor movement in the form of
the CTC
and the FNTA, as well as the sugar owners, the "hacendados"
and
"colonos".
The labor movement of the sugar industry has been invited by
the
government to participate –and has participated– in various
international sugar discussions with the United States and
other
nations on the American Market and the World Sugar
Agreement.
In regard to salaries, the Cuban workers sugar have achieved
a wage
scale which fluctuates with world sugar prices. For
instance, in
1953 and 1955, when sugar prices dropped on the world
market, the
workers suffered two salary cuts which totally approximately
14
percent. It is curious to note that the Communists and
political
groups which opposed the CTC termed the Cuban labor leaders
"cowards"
for accepting these cuts. However, in 1957 when the
national
labor movement demanded the restitution of the high
salaries, due to
the high price of sugar at the time, the aforementioned
critics refused
to recognize the union victory. This restoration of
salary,
together with the increase in the sugar harvest for this
year –from
4,600,000 tons to 5,500,000 tons– means an increase of more
than $80
million in salaries for sugar workers over 1956.
The shipments of bulk sugar have been planned for some time
in
Cuba. Mill owners wished to do it to cut down on
workers'
salaries. But the CTC, the FNTA and the National
Maritime
Workers' Federation (FOMN), in a hard-fought battle,
succeeded in
changing the owners point of view and in securing a
presidential
decree. –Decree number 738 of 1955– which authorized the
shipments but
without effecting the number of workers at the mills.
Another union
triumph was won with the conversion of mechanization into a
friend, and
not an enemy, of the worker.
For many years, Cuba's sugar workers have worked to win
representation
in the Cuban Sugar Stabilization Institute (ICEA), the
official
regulating body for the industry managed and staffed by mill
owners
(both "hacendados" and "colonos") and government
representatives.
The workers' desires were finally realized this year, by
official
decree and the leader of the FNTA, Prisciliano Falcon, today
occupies a
place on the ICEA.
The Supreme Court has adjuged "super production" of sugar
(indemnification for mechanization) unconstitutional.
Nevertheless, by employer-worker agreement backed by the
government, it
is still paid.
The sugar "differential" (indemnification at the end of the
year if the
price of sugar rises in relation to the price at harvest
time) has not
only been respected from 1952 to the present but in 1955,
when such a
differential was not warrented, the government through
various
financial maneuvers in the sale of sugar futures, permitted
the
distribution of more than $10 million among the sugar
workers as a
"prefabricated differential".
Page 64
PHOTO CAPTION
- Cuba's CTC Palace. Here resides the HQ of all
Cuban Unions.
SOCIAL POLICY SINCE 1952
Since the fall of the regime of Gerardo Machado in 1933, the
salary
level and living conditions of the Cuban working man has
been on the
rise. The revolution of March 10, 1952, reaffirmed
these
"social conquests" the very day that it took over the nation
and
offered to widen them. The result was that the CTC,
which had
called a general strike to protest the revolutionary
take-over,
canceled its strike and offered inmediate [immediate]
cooperation with
the new government. From that movement onward the
labor
organization has maintained respectful and harmonious
relations with
the government in what has been a tacit "non-aggresion
pact".
In the sugar industry alone, the most important in the
nation, both the
top executives as well as the workers have recognized the
policy of
President Batista during the five year period in which he
has governed
the nation. Recognition of the President's policies
and regime
was affirmed at the large banquet for the President in
Havana's "Centro
Gallego" in November 1956, and in the visit to the
Presidential Palace
after the congratulatory parade following the terrorist
assault on the
palace on March 13 of this year. Other segments of the
nation's
social and economic life have also granted their fullest
backing to the
Batista program for social and economic welfare.
Workers enjoy full representation on the Consultative Board,
the
legislative body created as a consequence of the Revolution
of March
10, and help promote indemnification laws for their
retirement funds
and create social security laws for the construction
livestock and
leather industries, etc.
The obligatory union dues, the basis of the economic support
of Cuba's
labor movement, were passed into law in 1955. This has
given the
Cuban workers' movement its full independence, has resulted
in the
creation of a modern publicity network of presses and radio
and TV
stations, has helped form free international labor missions
to work for
increases in salary levels and living standards in
undeveloped
countries –through the CIOSL and ORIT– and the endowment of
buildings,
furnishings, clinics, ambulances and other equipment to
individual
unions.
Labor congresses and assemblies have been held in large
numbers in
recent years. The CTC has received its share of praise
and
complaints at these events, which have been attended y
government
groups (Jose Perez Gonzalez, Julian Sotolongo, Andres
Soberon, Mercedes
Chirino, etc.) And well-known opposition groups
(Conrado Bequer,
Conrado Rodriguez, Rodrigo Lominchar, Pablo Balbuena, Angel
Cofino,
Vicente Rubiera, Jorge Cruz, Antonio Morejon, Jose Lemus,
Calixto
Sanchez, who died later in a revolutionary action, and
others.
The workers' movement has gained both respect and
respectability, as
well as the public recognition from President Batista, for
the program
of political independence followed by the CTC. This is
made
possible by the fact that
page 65
PHOTO CAPTION - Jose Perez Gonzalez
PHOTO CAPTION - Mercedes Chirino
PHOTO CAPTION - Julian Sotolongo
some 70 percent of the workers have so requested at labor
congresses and assemblies. The
remaining 30 percent still retains ideological ties with
either the
government coalition parities or parites of the opposition
on roughly
an equal 15 percent basis. The political independence
of the 70
percent who do not form strong attachments to either
political faction
is guided by the National Workers' Union (UNO) which is
directed by the
present secretary general of the CTC, Eusebio Mujel Barniol,
assisted
by Facundo Pomar Soler, Jesus Artigas Carbonel, Javier
Bolanos, Sergio
Pons and others.
As a logical result of the respect accorded it by the
government, the
CTC for its part recognizes and lauds the attitude of
President Batista
in not interfering or trying to dominate the political
independence
which has done so much to make the Cuban labor movement
great. It
is interesting also to note that many of those who now
make up
the leadership of the Nation Workers' Union were formerly
members of
the parties which made up government prior to March 10,
1952.
Following the ascendence of the new regime, these labor
leaders retired
from party politics to dedicate themselves exclusively to
labor
activities.
All attempts by non-organized labor elements to stir up
strikes have
failed because the rank and file has recognized them for
what they are
– persons seaking [seeking] to further their own political
aspirations
who are not in accord with the CTC policy of "keeping
politics out of
union activity". In this matter the general strike
called by
Fidel Castro Ruz, the insurgent hiding out in the Sierra
Maestra,
failed. And in a similar manner the worker's strike
called last
December by the University Students Federation (FEU) also
failed.
Another attempt to tie up the nation which failed to
materialize was
that called for August 5 by oppositionists and underground
groups
organized by the Cuban Communist Party (the outlawed
"Partido
Socialista Popular"). In all instances, the CTC has
unmasked the
political motivations of these movements through its wide
newspaper
coverage and has alerted its membership to their daughter.
Last August 12, the prime minister gathered all the main
directors of
the industrial, commercial, banking and working groups in
the
Presidential Palace to congratulate them for having refused
aid to
their strike movement which had called upon "terrorists",
insurrectionalists and Communists" the week before.
The strikes
had termed their action "a passport to chaos". The
prime minister
emphasized in this talk with the industry and labor leaders
that the
government was prepared to facilitate "guarantees and
security" for
all, but in exchange for good sense on their part. The
group
agreed unanimously to condemn the action of the strikers and
align
themselves on the side of order, peace and national
prosperity.
The outstanding labor leader present, Eusebio Mujal Barniol,
secretary
general of the CTC, stated on that occasion that any attempt
at
violence which tended to create anarchy in the country would
men the
fall of the national economy, the scaring off of investors,
the
tightening up and hiding of money and the loss of labor
gains.
In this regard, the Cuban working class has stated through
its congresses the following principles:
The peaceful solution of
national problems.
The favoring of investments,
domestic and foreign, to create new jobs for labor.
A fight without quarter
against Communist infiltration.
Eradication of politics among
unions.
Harmonic relations between
the government capital and labor.
Repudiation of terrorism.
End of Page
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