The participation of unions and the National Association of Innovators and Rationalizers (Anir) in the transformations approved by the Government cannot be mechanical or linear. It is necessary to imprint the effectiveness required, but first one must know them thoroughly to explain and share them, open to new ideas or solutions wherever they arise.
The greatest concerns are related to the impact of these measures on the budgeted sector and the retired population, as well as the urgency of resolving rampant inflation, achieving real banking across all economic areas, strengthening the state enterprise on equal footing with the private sector, and maximizing agricultural production, tourism, commerce, and foreign investment once bureaucratic shackles are removed. These should also be guiding coordinates for union work.
Of course, I do not forget that work with all economic actors, especially the private sector, remains a priority not only to increase the number of affiliates to the organization. Accurate representation and the defense of rights won in the Revolution, which someone may attempt to violate amid turbulent waters, will be essential to preserve what Lázaro Peña so strongly advocated: “the union must act with its own criteria (…) to have moral authority, to demand duties and rights.”
The rough road we speak of will be full of contradictions, but also of good examples, anonymous heroes and those who bear their marks; of creative youth, workers, intellectuals, and peasants who aspire to live in a better Cuba. Did the Congress end, or has another just begun?
