Yunior, his wife Liliana, and their young child currently live in a small wooden house. The new home has two bedrooms, a bathroom, and two other rooms, constructed with low-cost cement substitute and brick. It is one of 31 new houses currently under construction by members of the cooperative.

Cooperative president Walter Avila says housing is one of the biggest challenges they face. "There are 56 houses that are in poor shape," he elaborated.

Now, he indicated, as Cuba continues to recover from the harshest conditions of a decade-long economic crisis, they can take some steps to address this pressing problem.

Workers' housing was one of the main topics discussed at a provincial conference in this city of the Central Organization of Cuban Workers (CTC), the country's national trade union federation. The gathering, held February 11, took up issues to be discussed at the 18th national congress of the CTC, which is taking place April 28-30 in Havana.

The 143 elected delegates spent a couple of hours soberly assessing the economic situation Cuba faces today--particularly in Las Tunas province--and the political role the union movement can play in strengthening Cuba's socialist revolution. Also attending the conference were about 100 observers, including government ministers and national union leaders, as well as managers of local workplaces. CTC general secretary Pedro Ross attended and actively took part in the discussion, which was marked by a tone of confidence among the delegates.

Similar meetings were held in each of Cuba's 14 provinces. They were the culmination of months of discussion in every workplace and union, which led to the election of delegates to the national congress.

A resolution known as the Theses, prepared by the CTC leadership for discussion by union members and presentation to the national congress, was taken up at all these provincial conferences. [The complete text of the resolution was serialized in the Militant in the April 16, 23, and 30 issues.]  
 
Housing a top priority
Provincial CTC secretary Omar Ramadán told the conference that he considered housing the number one priority faced by the unions in the province.

Some 13,000 workers' houses were built in Las Tunas in the period 1996-2000, largely through voluntary work involving 470,000 people, according to the Main Report, which was distributed in written form by the provincial committee to conference delegates. Last year almost 3,300 houses were completed, about 1,400 more than the previous year.

"We've got to build on the success registered in 2000 to offer each family, each worker decent housing" Ramadán argued. "This was explained by Fidel in History Will Absolve Me, but the realization of this goal was set back by the Special Period."

History Will Absolve Me was the courtroom defense speech that Fidel Castro gave during his trial for the 1953 attack on the Moncada military barracks of the Batista dictatorship. It became the basic program of political and social demands of the July 26 Movement and the Rebel Army, which led Cuban workers and farmers to victory over the U.S.-backed Batista dictatorship in 1959, opening the road to the socialist revolution.

In referring to the Special Period, Ramadán was employing the term commonly used here for the exceptionally difficult economic and social conditions Cuba faced following the collapse at the beginning of the 1990s of the regimes and parties that had existed in the Soviet Union and the countries of Eastern and Central Europe. The abrupt ending of aid from these countries and trade at preferential rates--accounting for some 75 percent of Cuba's imports--forced Cuba, virtually overnight, to face more directly the exploitative terms of trade imposed by the imperialist-dominated world market.

By the mid-1990s, the resulting disruption of the economy led to a 35 percent decline in Cuba's gross domestic product. An acute shortage of oil and other vital materials made sheer economic survival the number one issue that faced Cuban working people and their government for several years. Most projects to meet pressing social needs such as housing construction had to be shelved.

Although Special Period conditions continue, the last few years have witnessed a significant economic improvement. According to the Main Report, the year 2000 registered a decline in unemployment to 3.6 percent of Las Tunas province's economically active population of 200,000. Some 7,585 jobs were created, a 36 percent increase over the previous year. Of the new jobs, 6 out of 10 were in sugar and agriculture, mostly in the sugar industry. Labor productivity improved by almost 23 percent over the previous year.

This is part of the national trend, with unemployment on the island declining to 5.5 percent last year. Joblessness nationwide was reported to be 8 percent at the height of the crisis in 1996, not counting those on extended layoffs or short hours due to plant closings for lack of raw materials or electrical parts.

Industrial and agricultural production continued to rise over the past year, according to figures reported at the conference. Nonetheless, sugar production, which dominates the province's economy, continues to lag considerably--nationwide, it has not risen much above half the 8 million tons produced in 1989. Sugar is a vital source of hard currency needed to finance Cuba's social priorities.

"The purpose of citing these improved figures is not to brag," Ramadán told the conference, but rather to show what's now necessary and possible to meet the country's needs.

Doricel Dopico Sánchez, secretary of the construction workers union, shared Ramadán's view as to the importance of the housing question. House-building is being revived, she said, by relaunching voluntary work as a way to resolve this social need. "This is not a construction movement but a political movement, one that today places house construction as a priority," she explained. Dopico said this effort began a few years ago, led by the Communist Party.

The government pays half the costs of the building materials for an individual worker's house, and the family concerned gets loans to finance the other half. While some skilled workers are provided to help direct the labor, most of the construction work is done by family members, friends, and neighbors who volunteer after working hours or on weekends. Frequently, family members become more active in mass organizations as the result of this experience, said Dopico.

Next, she added, they aim to turn their attention to building rural schools and teachers' houses to go with them.  
 
Workers' role in economic upturn
Delegates at the CTC conference focused considerably on assessing the economic turnaround, its scope, how it has been achieved, and how to build on it.

In a capitalist country, bosses frequently make appeals to workers to do "our part" to boost the efficiency of a particular plant and improve the economy as a whole by accepting speedup, the erosion of job safety, and belt-tightening measures. Such appeals--often echoed by the trade union officialdom--are designed to boost profits and convince workers that our interests and those of our bosses are the same.

The situation in Cuba is the opposite. Through their socialist revolution, Cuban workers and farmers removed the profit-seeking capitalist class from power and established their own class rule--"the revolutionary power of the workers, by the workers, and for the workers," as the Theses adopted by the previous CTC congress in 1996 put it. The Cuban government defends the interests not of an exploiting minority class but of workers and farmers.

As a result, working people in Cuba have a powerful interest in raising labor productivity and efficiency, and reducing waste, because they have the power to determine how the product of their labor is utilized. The ability to meet the basic needs of the majority, made possible by the revolution, depends on such actions and initiatives by workers.

As Julio Martínez, provincial secretary of the sugar workers union in Las Tunas, said in a post-conference interview, "The unions have a dual role in Cuba, reflecting the fact that workers here are simultaneously employees and--unlike in capitalist countries--also owners. As such, the unions must both represent their members, defending their rights before the administration, and at the same time act in favor of the values, responsibilities, and norms that workers must observe to improve the functioning of the enterprise or workplace."

When workers in Cuba discuss how to boost productivity nationwide or increase the efficiency of their particular plant, they do so--often through union-organized workplace meetings known as efficiency assemblies--in a way that brings their collective weight to bear in resolving problems in the interests of all working people.

The CTC conference discussion, as registered in the Main Report, gave considerable importance to the place of efficiency assemblies in continuing the economic recovery and making social advances. The report specified ways of improving them, such as regular monthly meetings held at a time that maximizes turnout--including for women who have small children--and ensuring they're well-prepared with reports written clearly and understandably, not blurring the issues.

As they celebrated the economic improvements registered over the last year, a number of conference delegates stressed that sustaining and improving on them depended on advancing the leading political role of the working class.

Jorge Licea, of the agricultural workers union, reported on the improved economic performance in the province of the agricultural cooperatives known as UBPCs, Basic Units of Cooperative Production. "Sixty-five of the 97 UBPCs that come under the ministry of agriculture made a surplus last year"--a distinct improvement, he reported. There are an additional 94 sugarcane-producing UBPCs in Las Tunas that come under the sugar ministry.

Licea spoke of the importance of ensuring material incentives to workers as a way to help achieve these results, in particular by linking workers' incomes to production results through special bonuses, and resolving their housing needs.

"Most important," he said, "is political awareness. If workers understand the social role of a cooperative--for example, a dairy UBPC's contribution to much-needed milk production--then they make efforts to reach these goals."

Licea also stressed that production targets must be fully discussed by the workers involved to ensure they're realizable.

Héctor Rodríguez of the union of maritime, merchant navy, dock, and fish workers reported that fish production had improved in both quantity and quality, with lower costs and less wastage. He said improvements in the fishing industry were in line with the overall 39 percent increase in production in Las Tunas province. He said the role of union cadres, whether they hold or don't hold official posts, is critical.

"Our role is to participate with voice and to listen," Rodríguez said. "What we're doing is improving the situation. It's not perfect. Continuous improvement can only be achieved by listening closely to what other workers say."

Rodríguez specified that two issues consistently come up on the job. "One is protective work clothes, and broader questions of working conditions and health and safety at work. The other is the need for production results-based bonus payments in hard currency," referring to dollars. The average hard currency bonus received by fish process workers in Las Tunas is $43 monthly, he said. Given the economic crisis of the Special Period, many basic necessities such as laundry detergent, cooking oil, and clothing are largely unavailable except with hard currency.  
 
Health and safety
At the urging of Pedro Ross that delegates speak concretely about problems faced in addressing workers' needs, José Antonio Pérez, union secretary at the Antonio Guiteras sugar mill and a member of Cuba's Union of Young Communists, complained that protective work clothes are often in insufficient supply, despite being stipulated in collective agreements between the union and management. This problem is not due to objective reasons, he said--they are simply not sent in the necessary quantities.

In response, Ross insisted that this situation was unacceptable. "The union cannot accept any explanation for this," he said. "The measures and materials necessary for workers' safety constitute part of the production costs." If collective agreements are not honored or agreements are made that are not sufficiently precise, cynicism will result, Ross said.

Ross asked Pérez how many accidents there have been, insisting that union cadres know the figures and can show that they're actively working to improve things.

Health and safety on the job is one of the concerns of the CTC that has most suffered under the Special Period. The Main Report to the Las Tunas conference noted that while improvements have been made--there was an average yearly reduction of 936 injuries since 1996--there continue to be major health and safety problems, especially in sugarcane, other agriculture, food, light industry, and construction.

The report says there were 38 on-the-job fatalities in Las Tunas province over the 1996-2000 period--down from 49 during the previous five years, in the depths of the Special Period and on average, 42 days were lost through each serious accident.  
 
'Battle of ideas'
In his opening address to the Las Tunas conference, Omar Ramadán noted that the coming national CTC congress was above all part of a "great battle of ideas." The Theses point to the efforts of imperialism "to erode our principles and values, and weaken in particular our youth," and of the negative consequences of some of the measures the Cuban government has had to take--such as decriminalizing use of the dollar--which have increased economic inequalities. This challenge imposes "new demands on our conscious activity in defense of socialist values," the Theses state. Ramadán highlighted two such negative consequences: petty crime and corruption.  
 
Problem of petty crime
Militant reporters also had the opportunity to attend workers' assemblies at the Calixto García hospital in Havana and the Prodal fish and meat processing plant in nearby Regla, where the issue of increased petty crime was a point of discussion.

At the Calixto García assembly, Roberto, a pensioner, was the first to take the floor. "We are revolutionaries," he said. "This means there is no material necessity that can justify the erosion of revolutionary ethics that theft of hospital property entails." Roberto is one of 150,000 retired workers in Cuba today who remain active members of the CTC through retirees' organizations, continuing to carry out voluntary work in their former workplace and other activities.

Roberto noted there had been an improvement in the situation over the past year. There had been more than 100 reported crimes in the hospital in 1999, particularly cases of theft, and the figure was down to 28 in 2000. One way workers have addressed the question is through "lightning meetings" called immediately after a crime is discovered, which has helped focus attention on this problem and check petty crime.  
 
Strengthening of workers guard
He said another question he thought should be addressed was the strengthening of the "workers guard," the voluntary organization of workers into the 24-hour defense of their workplace. Roberto argued that some people who signed up for the workers guard didn't take it seriously enough. "It's voluntary guard duty, but when you sign up you have an obligation to do it effectively," he said. Roberto proposed that each department head organize classes on Cuba's defense against imperialist aggression and the exemplary role of the Revolutionary Armed Forces.

The question of crime also came up at the efficiency assembly at the Prodal fish processing plant, where about 300 production workers and other personnel drew a balance sheet of last year's performance.

CTC general secretary Ross joined workers in the assembly at Prodal and spoke on the question of crime in the workplace. He called for trying the accused worker in the plant rather than calling in the police and going to court. Where this approach has been applied, CTC officials said, a worker who is found guilty is sanctioned through a transfer to another department, being moved to a lower-paying job, or another measure.

"Prisons are not part of the socialist system of ideas. Nor is social marginalization. Nor is unemployment. This question is part of the battle of ideas too," Ross said, to enthusiastic applause from the delegates.

Ross's approach, CTC officials said, is being applied at a number of plants but not yet at Prodal.

At the Las Tunas conference, after concluding their discussion to prepare the national union congress, delegates met in a closed session to elect a new provincial committee and executive body. Of the 75 elected to the committee, 28 had not previously served. Forty-three are women, up from 39 in the outgoing committee. Of the newly elected 19-member secretariat, whose average age is 39, nine are women, up from seven in the outgoing executive.
 
 
Related articles:
'In Cuba the people are involved in making the decisions'
YS sales, Cuba activities attract new members
Cuban leader reports on 1961 Bay of Pigs victory
 
 
 
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