Independent Trade Unions in Cuba
"Reality of Labor in Cuba and the Social responsibility of foreign investors" prof. Jesus Mercader. (PDF) There is only one legal trade union association in Cuba which covers all sectors along the country: Central de Trabajadores Cubanos (CTC). Belonging to it is mandatory. It is an organization totally controlled by the party, which also elect the management of the association. Before being employed, the future worker has to sign a contract on which declares support to the Communist Party of Cuba and to all their activities. The foundation of independent associations or worker’s organizations are strictly forbidden by law. All intent to organize ourselves are immediately and drastically interrupted. Activists of those organizations are put behind bars for many years, their families repressed, fired from their jobs and their lives are obstructed even more. The Cuban government, who like to call itself Socialist, and state that Cuba is a country of workers, does not gives its workers the right to strike. The International Confederation of Trade Unions states: „Every one, who is involved in an independent trade union, takes the risk of being repressed and to lose his job. They demand that workers inform about any “dissident activity” [International Confederation of Trade Unions (ICFTU)] The term dissidence can be extended to any activity. The Secret Service revise houses of persons belonging to Independent Trade Unions and confiscate their belongings. Unions are infiltrated by the secret service. Seven leaders of the Independent Trade Unions were arrested during the black spring of 2003. They were accused of treason to the country and action against its interests. It is a clear violation of the universal law related to freedom of speech and association. Cuban independent activist take the risk to organize illegal, Independent Trade Unions regardless of the attacks by unknown persons (secret service), revisions of their homes, and the dangers and repressions involved. Some activists come from the official trade union, from which they resigned and founded their own association. They are not so strong as Solidarity was in Poland in the eighties, but the scale of repression, paralysis of the society and the information control are much bigger. In 2001, one of these groups, in coordination with other leaders founded the Independent Workers Confederation of Cuba (Confederacion Obrera Nacional Independeiente de Cuba - CONIC). Abroad, they are presented by The Federation of power plants, water and gas supply in exile (Federacion de Plantas Eléctricas, Gas y Agua en Exilio. Presently, 92 groups are represented in this confederation. The aim of the Federation is to inform the international public opinion about human rights violation and to report them to the International Work Organization. Independent Trade Unions apart of supporting workers, also direct the press agency Lux InfoPress, which send abroad about 900 pieces of information related to the situation of the Cuban workers. The movement also edit the magazine Lux, on which 90% of the information is coming from the above mentioned agency. We does not require the person who would like to join our association, resign from the official trade union association, as it would increase the repression against him. | Cuban Trade Union Central de Trabajadores de Cuba (CTC) It was founded in 1939, when the first congress of this independent organization was held. In 1960, it was transformed into an instrument of the Cuban Communist Party and also of the government. Today, it is the most discredited massive organization. In a country, where the party has to complete monopoly of the decisions related to all spheres of life, CTC is not more than an instrument of the policy of the government against the society. We can read in the CTC program: “CTC and trade unions openly and consciously accept the leadership of the Communist Party of Cuba, as the best organization of workers and take over their policy” The dependency of this organization of the government, the lack of sensibility about the problems of the workers, its aims completely isolated form the aim of a trade union association, its lack of credibility, together with the changes in former communist countries, the deep economic, political, ideological and social crisis in the island since the eighties, are the main factors for the development of Independent Trade Unions. They are recognized by the international community as the only representative of the rights of the workers The Cuban Constitution and Work Code allows associations to founded but „the cannot act against the existence and aims of the Socialist Country, nor act against the decision of the Cuban nation to construct the socialism and the communism”. The Cuban authorities violate international agreements and the Cuban Constitution. | |
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2010-03-10
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