Under the slogan "Efficient industries, greater development", the second National Conference of workers of this union met in this Thursday in Havana, to address the main routes that the country's economy demands today, to achieve further development of the industry, substitute imports and increase and diversify exports.

Representing the 122 thousand workers in the sector, the delegates to the meeting spoke of the experiences, positive and negative, in their work groups; all analyzes under the premise of not recounting what affected the year, but examining the innovative points to contribute to the country's economy, and projections for 2020.

The opinions emphasized that there is work in a sector impacted by technological obsolescence, there are intermittences in production processes, labor interruptions and loss of qualified force, as well as the shortage of raw materials caused by the United States blockade against Cuba.

“This soap that you see here is imported; I bought it in a store in Havana, although they suggested that I not do it, because it stained the sink; but I wanted to bring him here to the Conference to speak with the proof in hand. This other is the one we produce in our factory, here in the country. It sells for 55 cents, and it's much better. Why does the country import that soap and not invest that money to manufacture it here? We have the manpower, the equipment. We only lack the money, ”exemplified Irma Betancourt Albert, secretary of the union bureau at the Suchel Camacho Joint Venture.

For her part, Zunilda Flores, from the Electronic Industry Company, insisted on the need for production chains and that quality be the word of order in each of the Cuban companies.

Related to quality, the delegates insisted that it is an issue that must be improved from the implementation of management systems, "so that the industry plays a leading role in the diversification of exports, import substitution and in the foreign direct investment, and thus, work on the progressive improvement of the industrial establishment ".

Regarding the forms of payment, it was said that they have undergone transformations in their indicators until April 2016, when resolution 17/2014 was applied and later, 6/2016, which has allowed greater efficiency and growth in the average salary per worker.

Insufficient preparation, lack of integration of economic areas with human resources, planning problems, deviations, thefts, and poor quality of some productions directly affect the increase in salary income.

From the union operation

The Industry Workers Union has 122,242 members at the end of June 2019. The figure, compared to the previous year, decreased by more than 8,000 workers due to processes of labor reorganization and interruptions due to instability in the input of raw materials, which brings with it fluctuation in the workforce, mainly in light industry and iron and steel.

The approaches and non-compliances that are most reiterated by workers in the industry are:

Financial problems and those of a subjective nature, which affect the entry of raw materials and spare parts, directly affecting the fulfillment of plans.
Concern with existing inventories
Non-application of piece-rate payment systems due to lack of raw materials, which causes demotivations for wages.
Workers' concern, that after accumulating 240 hours of protection for interruptions, they are left without salary protection.
The indicators of salary expenditure limits by weight of gross value added and profit before tax by gross value added, favor entities that have not had high levels of efficiency.
Workers transport situation and the non approval of investments to improve this situation.
Need to approve the payment of the stimulation in CUC when the accumulated amount is recovered in the quarter.
Existing situation with the acquisition of the means of protection that do not exist in the national market, and in the same way clothing and footwear.
Need for surveillance and control of medical check-ups, mainly in centers with high exposure to physical and chemical risks.

Main investments that are being made in the Cuban industry

Chlorine-soda technological reconversion, in Sagua la Grande, Villa Clara.
NPK Mixed Fertilizer Plant in Cienfuegos
Technological modernization of the steel company Antillana de Acero
Increase of the production capacity of mochas and machetes in the mechanical company Ogún
Production of electrical energy conductors in the company Conrado Benitez
Production of refrectarios in the company Refectarios Habana
Workshop for the manufacture of tubular towers for wind turbines at the Paco Cabrera company in Las Tunas
Expansion and remodeling of the Rensol solar heater factory, in Morón, Ciego de Ávila
Modernization of the Ernesto Che Guevara electronic components factory in Pinar del Río
Modernization of the factory of air ventilation ducts, RC company
Investment in a saponification and chip drying plant
Modernization and expansion of the Inejiro Azanuma spinning mill, Gibara, Holguín
Furniture industry rehabilitation program in Havana, Camaguey, Las Tunas, Santiago de Cuba and Guantánamo
Modernization of the Compacto Caribe SA company and the Confort mattress factory
Acquisition of transport equipment and rehabilitation of warehouses of the companies ENCOMIL and Confecciones Textiles BOGA
Acquisition of technological equipment for clothing
Comprehensive program for the development of Graphic Arts
Investment in the production of sanitary pads in Havana, Sancti Spíritus and Granma
Production of plastic paint buckets

Ulises Guilarte: "Greater leadership must be achieved in the leaders"

"This sector has undergone significant transformation in recent years to respond from the national industry to the demands and production challenges that in terms of efficiency, gradually allow us to achieve technological sovereignty, essential in the conditions of a heightened blockade imposed by the US government. "Said Ulises Guilarte de Nacimiento, secretary general of the CTC, speaking at the event.

The union leader assured that for this purpose guiding policies have been approved aimed at optimizing the productive capacities and machine tools of the business system, among other objectives, "a scenario that identifies the necessary contextualization of the union's work in its management methods, which favor and make their role visible to fulfill their missions to mobilize and represent the interests of the workers, ”he stressed.

He stressed that deficiencies persist in spaces gained from our internal life such as the affiliated and representative assemblies, to which the administrations sometimes minimize their role and delay responses to their agreements, the Collective Labor Agreements and the union's participation in the councils of direction.

Guilarte de Nacimiento said that an essential step at this stage was the process of preparing the plan without specific directives, with the aim of not limiting the analysis with the workers to figures lowered from above. "However, in some groups it was not a contributing exercise, especially in the qualitative one, which will require its gradual improvement".

At the appointment of the workers in the industry, Arturo Rodríguez Fons was ratified as the national secretary of this union.