EMPAI will have a lot to teach at the final sessions of the 22nd CTC Congress.

If there is one thing that gives EMPAI prestige, it is the fact that it has not failed to comply with its plans in the last 30 years, evidence of the lineage of a collective with history and results.

Jorge Luis Hernández Rodríguez, director of the Empresa de Proyectos de Arquitectura e Ingeniería (EMPAI), is the direct delegate to the final sessions of the 22nd Congress of Cuba Trade Union Workers for the provincial Construction Union. It is not common for such recognition to be given to someone who, like him, is an administrative and not a union leader.

«There are hundreds of workers who could have taken my place. In fact, it was a complex process because of the number of valuable proposals. It was my turn and the commitment to the collective is the most important thing I will take to Congress.»

For Jorge Luis, «it is a great honor to represent a company like this, with multiple awards and the election occurs at a time when we are opting for the top category of National Vanguard. If we achieve it, we would obtain it for the thirtieth consecutive time».

Jorge Luis does not hide his happiness and the tremendous satisfaction of taking EMPAI’s daily activities to the great meeting of the Cuban labor population, to express what it means for a company to support the union, which has in the board of directors a very high support to the proposed tasks, because they have gone, he says, a little beyond the concepts of production, of the plans.

«We are immersed in the community, in the sponsorship of hospitals such as Faustino Pérez, specifically the Angiology ward, and we have also donated resources to the home for children without family support».

For the general director of EMPAI, «without the union work it would have been very difficult to achieve even half of the results and recognitions that we have today. Systematicity, dedication and devotion, in such difficult times as the ones we are going through, have given the final result that I am today in the position of representing this company».

What are EMPAI’s concerns in order to be better than it already is?

«The main obstacle to continue growing is today’s fierce blockade, which has led us to a very complex situation. The only possible way to move forward is creativity… There are always things to do, tasks to accomplish, options for ingenuity and I believe that this is the example we must take to Congress».

Jorge Luis is clear that «we have to work with something that is affecting the world, because it is not a Cuban problem, and that is the movement of workers, the exodus of personnel. That is why we have to do a lot for working conditions, to ensure that they have a livelihood from the work they do».

The director is convinced that «every day we must continue to bet more on innovation, on doing things differently, which is not to cling, for example, to the latest technology, but to seek solutions to what we have, and that is fundamental. We are convinced that we must continue to fight with the little we have and, above all, preserve it».

The impact of the economic situation on the investment process and its effect on EMPAI is valued by Jorge Luis. «The country is taking on works of a strategic nature, where we have managed to insert ourselves, as in the projections of the photovoltaic parks, and in addition to those of Matanzas, we have participated with professionals in the conformation of the projects of the structural solutions that are going to be applied in a large part in the country.

«And this is a sample of alternatives that we can always look for work, but this must be demonstrated with the installed capacity, with the value of the professionals, with the possibility of responding to a program such as this one of the parks, which responds to national security».

He added that they are working on the housing program, on the continuity of the works on the banks of the San Juan River, on the remodeling of tourist facilities, among other investments.

If there is one thing that gives EMPAI prestige, it is the fact that it has not failed to comply with its plans in the last 30 years, evidence of the lineage of a group with history and results and winner of the National Quality Award four times. With these merits, Jorge Luis is sure that in the final sessions of the 22nd Congress the company will have a lot to teach.

Photo by the author.

Written by Eva Luna Acosta Armiñán.