The first, called Fábrica de Trajes Antonio Maceo, is in Cerro, an industrial part of Havana. It makes suits, caps, and uniforms for waiters, mainly for the tourist sector--"whatever the market demands," the manager said. It's part of a group of three plants, one of which produces the fabric used at the Fábrica de Trajes Antonio Maceo. They have their own trucks for transporting finished articles.

The conditions in this factory are good. It is spacious, well-ventilated, and equipped with modern machinery purchased a year ago. The workers are proud that the factory is clean and pointed out that consequently they have no mosquito problem, a source of infectious diseases. A doctor and a nurse are on hand to address medical needs of workers at the three plants. The workers are provided with overalls at a nominal charge.

We were met at the factory by a representative of the Central Organization of Cuban Workers (CTC), René Álvarez, deputy general secretary of the Light Industry union. He introduced us to the manager as well as Beatriz Perdona, the union secretary at Antonio Maceo. They showed us around the plant.

Talking to them we found out that this company was founded 40 years ago and is a 100 percent Cuban enterprise. It currently has a daily turnover of $10,000. The workers are paid in pesos but get an incentive, or bonus, in "pesos convertibles," a U.S. dollar equivalent. If a worker comes late three times in one month or does badly at his or her job, the worker loses the whole bonus for that month. The average wage is around 210 pesos every two weeks, but there are seven different wage grades: four for cutters and three for machine operators.

They work towards the goal of completing 100 pieces of clothing a day. There is one eight-hour shift, five days a week. The total workforce is 208, the great majority women. The minimum age to work in the factory is 17 years, and, in some cases, 16. The retirement age for women is 55 years and for men 60 years, but retirement is not mandatory. Workers can keep on working.

Alvarez told us that after September 11 tourism to Cuba had declined and the government has been cutting back orders. The plant has had to look for other customers.

We asked if there had been any layoffs because of this situation. There aren't any layoffs in Cuba in this kind of situation, he explained, nor in the case of technical improvements that are made at the plant. The trade unions won't agree to layoffs, and it is also part of the law and the Cuban constitution.

If there is no work for a worker doing a particular job, Alvarez said, plant managers try to find another job for him or her. First they see if there is a job available inside the factory. If not, they look into openings in other plants that are part of the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Light Industry, which, among other things, covers garment factories. If the worker gets less pay in her new job, she is guaranteed at least 80 percent of what she was paid at the other place, for life.
 

We then had the chance to walk around the plant on our own and talk to a number of workers. We introduced ourselves as reporters for the Militant newspaper and the Spanish-language monthly, Perspectiva Mundial, as well as fellow workers--garment workers from New Zealand and the United Kingdom, a fishhouse worker from Iceland, and an immigrant worker from Colombia living in the United Kingdom. They were interested to hear about conditions of workers in the imperialist countries--in particular the assaults on workers' rights, the place of immigrant workers, and working-class resistance. We also explained that we are militants in our respective Communist Leagues and Young Socialists, as well as volunteers at the Pathfinder booth at the Havana International Book Fair.

A young sewing machine operator, Miriam Solis, explained that her living standard is quite good. She has worked there for a year and gets 250 pesos every two weeks, plus her hard currency bonus. Her husband, a construction worker, earns about 600 pesos per month and also gets a hard currency bonus. They have no children. Miriam said she always eats in the factory canteen where "the food is good--rice and beans, meat, salad." A meal costs 50 centavos.

Asked if prices have risen over the last year, Miriam replied they had but that this had been more than compensated for by her improved income since working in this plant. She anticipated that her wage would continue to rise.

We talked to a few women who cut away the threads on the inside of clothes. One explained that if a worker at the plant gets sick, they don't get paid for the first three days they are off, then they receive 60 percent of their wage. She said that the work hours for most workers in this industry are usually 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m Monday through Friday, and 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Saturdays. In this factory workers made an agreement that instead of working Saturdays, they would take a shortened, half-hour lunch break Monday to Friday.

We asked her if her wages were sufficient. She said that she was getting by on them; there are difficulties, but it has gotten a little bit better in the last few years.  
 
Voluntary work brigades
Workers at the plant get two weeks vacation twice a year. They organize voluntary brigades to come in some Saturdays for special projects, such as cleaning the machines. There is no overtime, but sometimes workers do voluntary overtime if they are behind in production.

The second worker we talked to was 61 years old and did not plan to retire in the near future. She had been working there since 1974. Before the revolution she couldn't find any job at all. She said that the Special Period had been terrible. That's the name Cubans give to the economic crisis in the 1990s after the collapse in trade and aid from the Soviet Union. During the worst period the factory had closed. The workers spent two years working at other plants.

The third worker we talked to was Maria Eugenia Aruet. She had been working there for less than a year and is a presser. The workers are all cross-trained, so she does other jobs--although not sewing or cutting--when there is no pressing to be done. She told us that it is not hard to get a job at that factory; you just have to bring your papers and have an interview. The trainees get 150 pesos a month.

When she found out we were volunteers for Pathfinder at the book fair, she said she enjoys reading and was sad she hadn't been able to come to the book fair yet. She said she still was going to try to get there.

She told us that she can speak Russian, and had learned a little English in the "University for All" program. The school is televised and broadcast at 7:00 a.m., 2:00 p.m., and 11:00 p.m. each day. The University for All is scheduled to start teaching Italian soon, which she is planning to study.

The three main victories of the revolution, she told us, are the liberation of women, health care, and education. When we asked her what she thought about the prisoners the U.S. government is holding at its naval base in Guantánamo, she said, "It isn't a problem of the Cubans, but of the Yankees, because the military base is here against the will of the people."
 

We also spoke with six cutters, four of whom are women. The machinery is modern, and the techniques, as in other parts of the plant, are identical to those the garment workers from New Zealand and Britain are accustomed to. The wages of the cutters are slightly higher than those of the sewing machine operators and pressers. There is also a cleaning crew.

Zionera Vedoz, the secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba at the plant, said that there is a party nucleus there of 21, and a nucleus of six members of the Union of Young Communists (UJC). We asked if workers had discussed in factory assemblies the case of the five Cuban revolutionaries framed up and imprisoned in the Untied States. She said no, as that was taken care of by the mesas redondas (Round Tables, a popular show featuring news and political discussion) and other events outside the factory.  
 
Movement to encourage inventions
There are efficiency assemblies every three months, she told us, but since the CTC congress last year, they've decided on monthly assemblies. These are held "as necessary and when necessary," the union secretary said.

Anton Jímenez is head of the National Association of Innovators and Rationalizers (ANIR), a national movement to encourage inventions and ways to rationalize the work, at the plant. He's a mechanic and has worked in the industry for 34 years, the last five at Antonio Maceo. He told us that there are 36 Aniristas at the plant and said that they have a campaign--part of "la mujer creadora" (the creative woman)--to raise the number of women Aniristas.

Xiomara Zambrana has worked in the plant since leaving school 20 years ago. We asked if there is a library at Antonio Maceo. "No, but we need one," she said. She then quoted Cuban revolutionary hero José Martí, who said that "to be cultured is to be free."

We took the opportunity to donate the first book for their library--From the Escambray to the Congo: In the Whirlwind of the Cuban Revolution, by Víctor Dreke--a copy of the Militant, a couple of copies of Perspectiva Mundial, and a Pathfinder catalog.
 

We then went to the other factory along with René. It is smaller--it has 89 workers--and makes traditional Cuban clothing. It's called Centro Desarrollo Artesanal "Quitrín" and is located in Obispo, Old Havana.

We were greeted there by Lidia Betancourt, the plant director, and Fernando Hulsa, union secretary. The Federation of Cuban Women (FMC) started this workshop with financial backing from a United Nations agency. Again almost all the workers are women; 11 are male. Fourteen are members of the Cuban Communist Party and two are UJC members.

At this factory there is no production quota. They said that this is because they want to preserve the quality of the clothes and the traditions in making them. On average, take-home pay is lower at Quitrín than at Antonio Maceo.

The plant has a canteen that opens out to a beautiful Spanish colonial-style garden. Lunch costs 85 centavos.

We talked to some women who teach traditional sewing to a number of home workers linked to Quitrín. Those who work at home do so because of transportation problems. Unlike the other workers at the plant, they get paid for the amount they produce. Most of Quitrín's produce is sold at a shop on Obispo; the plant also sends products to Varadero. It takes around three months to learn each skill.

Workers who take the bus to work told us that at peak hours the bus comes every 10 minutes, and to lower the cost of taking the bus they have developed a transfer ticket system. The workers work from 7:30 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. and take only 15 minutes for lunch. At one of the assemblies the workers decided to cut the breaks so that they could get home earlier due to transportation problems.

Betancourt said that the older generation knew what life was like under capitalism--their parents and grandparents often were peasants. Some of the younger workers had never lived under those conditions, she said. So, during the worst crisis of the Special Period they retreated a bit. But conditions are now better.

We presented this workshop with gifts of the Spanish-language editions of Cuba and the Coming American Revolution, and Pathfinder was Born with the October Revolution, as well as the Militant, Perspectiva Mundial, and a Pathfinder catalog.  
 
 
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