22nd Municipal Conference of the CTC held in Cárdenas.

At the end of the meeting the 49 delegates to the Provincial Conference 22nd CTC Congress were announced.

Party Central Committee member Isdalis Rodríguez Ramos, second secretary of the  Cuba  Trade Workers Union(CTC), attended the 22nd Municipal Conference in Cárdenas, the penultimate of 13 planned in the western province of Matanzas.

Arnaldo Díaz denounced the problems of the workers’ transportation in charge of Transmetro and its negative impact on the tourist service. Photo: Noryis

After several interventions of some of the 120 delegates, Rodriguez emphasized the challenges of the union movement in a key territory in the economic structure of the nation for concentrating sectors such as tourism and oil, which provide the highest income to the country.

If Cárdenas fails, Matanzas and the country fail, he reasoned, in a clear reference to the role of the leaders to mobilize the employees in the production of goods and services. For this, he added, it is necessary to overcome the weaknesses of the internal functioning.

Yordanka Rodríguez Medina, center, was elected secretary of the Municipal Committee of the CTC in Cárdenas Photo: Noryis

Training and personal knowledge management are essential to improve the performance of the organization and in this sense, she announced, steps are being taken to retake some schemes to improve the preparation of the cadres.

The second secretary of the CTC questioned the link with the non-state sector, composed of 18 thousand employees, where the affiliation is going well, a voluntary process, she reminded, but which also demands the action of the leaders to teach the economic actors the proven usefulness of the union, the convenience of being organized.

Sergio Rodríguez, an official of the Party’s Central Committee, agreed with Isdalys on the urgency of an optimal internal life in order to be able to better influence the labor collectives and consequently assume the missions of the CTC and its unions.

After the presentation of the summary report of the work in the last five years by Ariannis Rodriguez, general secretary of the CTC Municipal Committee, a debate began, with special emphasis on the problems that prevent the business sector from performing according to its real potential.

Arnaldo Díaz Hiedra, secretary general of the union bureau at the Sol Palmeras Hotel, highlighted the contribution of the Tourism Union to food production, the sugar harvest and the construction of the Jovellanos photovoltaic park.

Díaz referred to how, through creativity and innovation, the workers deal with the supply problems in the hotels, nothing comparable to the worsening of the workers’ transportation, in charge of Transmetro, which harms the dynamics of the services and also affects the image of Cuba as a destination.

Amaurys Echevarría, the secretary of the trade union bureau at the Royalton Hicacos Hotel, is from this sector and he once again denounced the dissatisfaction among workers due to the impossibility of receiving the benefits of the economic stimulation fund, approved under the Foreign Investment Law for joint ventures.

This statement linked to the income made common cause with those who complained about the low purchasing power of the salary in a territory where inflation is tremendously tacit, and little given to the application of Decree 87, this salary organization today only applicable in five of the 14 companies that operate in Cardenas.

Yojannier Moreno Hidalgo, secretary of the union bureau of the Varadero General Works Contractor Company, commercially known as Arcos Varadero, raised his voice to express the discontent generated in the beneficiaries of 40 houses, built with funds from profits, one of their destinations, and according to the regulations of the Housing System, they must now pay the State one million pesos for each property. If we generate those funds, how are we going to spend that amount,» he asked.

A call to take care of the raw material from a system of workers’ guards and management councils was made at a conference where Rolando Leal Gómez, from Agency 3 of Taxis Cuba, reiterated the damage caused by illegal drivers in Varadero both to the economy of the country and to the drivers themselves, and how this interferes in a better political-ideological to maintain an optimal working environment.

At the end of the meeting, the 49 delegates to the Provincial Conference 22nd CTC Congress were announced, three of which are direct, honor that corresponded to Arnaldo Díaz Hiedra and Mercedes García Maceiras, general secretaries of the Sol Palmeras Hotel and Medical Services of Matanzas, respectively, and Adonys Rojas Pérez , quality specialist of Lácteos Cárdenas products.

Ariannis Rodríguez was recognized for her performance. Photo: Noryis.

In its first meeting, the Municipal Committee of the CTC in Cárdenas elected Yordanka Rodríguez Medina as the new general secretary, and the performance of Ariannis Rodríguez was recognized, who after occupying that position, will now assume other responsibilities in the ranks of the union movement.

With the one in Cárdenas, the country completed the 100th Municipal Conference and the province, with 12th out of 13th planned, is one step away from closing this important stage of the 22nd Congress, which will conclude here when the one in Unión de Reyes is held in the next few days.

Written by Eva Luna Acosta Armiñán.