González, director of international relations of the Central Organization of Cuban Workers (CTC), addressed the meeting along with Manuel Montero, head of the CTC's North American Interests Bureau, on the first leg of a national tour by three Cuban trade union leaders. A third unionist, Olga Rosa Gómez, is also on tour.

"We are here to speak out against the continued U.S. blockade against the Cuban people, to speak out against the Cuban Adjustment Act, and to exchange information on the realities of life of the Cuban people with the people of the United States," said González.

"New legislation being considered in the U.S. Congress says that Cuba can buy U.S. products, but we can't sell products to the United States. They want to demobilize the fight against the blockade."

Why does Washington maintain a trade ban on revolutionary Cuba? "Because Cuba is an example of what sovereignty and independence can do for the people," González stressed.  
 
Condemns immigration law
González condemned the U.S. law known as the Cuban Adjustment Act, which expedites U.S. legal residency and citizenship for Cubans who claim political asylum, compared to most other immigrants. "When a Cuban applies for a visa to come to the United States they are denied. When they risk their life on a raft they get U.S. citizenship," González said.

"What the U.S. wants is propaganda against Cuba. Every year 1.2 million people immigrate here from Mexico. They don't say they are trying to flee the regime in Mexico."

Montero reported that "in Cuba, the workplace is ruled by the workers. Administrators must report to workers, and their performance is criticized by the workers. The unions don't just deal with economics, like wages. They participate in the economic, political, and social life of the country."

Referring to the economic crisis that began in the early 1990s with the collapse in preferential trade and aid from the Soviet Union, Montero said, "In 1993 tens of thousands of factories shut down for lack of fuel. There were blackouts for 16 hours a day. But there were no social explosions. Why? Because discussions were organized in every workplace to discuss the situation," and every major measure the revolutionary government was taking to get production going again. "Discussions in more than 70,000 workplaces were held," he reported. "The same process took place in the high schools, universities, and peasant organizations.

"That's why Cuba survived. Workers participated as part of a workers state," the trade unionist stated. In recent years Cuba has slowly recovered from the worst of the economic crisis.

Brock Satter is a meat packer in the Boston area.

Schedule of Cuban trade union leaders tour