CHICAGO—“I’m a trade unionist, so I liked the idea of breaking rules,” said Joe Richert, secretary-treasurer of Service Employees International Union Local 73, to a crowd of peace activists and union members at the SEIU Healthcare union hall. The event was organized on the third day of the Democratic National Convention happening in Chicago by the U.S. Hands Off Cuba and the National Network on Cuba Committees.
Richert was part of a delegation of union members who went to Cuba last summer to celebrate May Day and learn about the socialist island’s trade union practices.
“When we talked about striking…the unionists there said they didn’t really strike often, and I was surprised at first. But, when they explained to me that the workers bargain and negotiate with the government, which is made up of workers themselves, I started to understand. I am not that educated on communism, but this made sense to me. Workers know what other workers need.”
But, what Richert most took away from the trip was knowledge of the terrible effects of the U.S. blockade and economic embargo on Cuba on the working people there.
In the midst of contraction
Cuba is in the midst of a years-long economic contraction that’s affecting food production and the availability of medicines. The central element of the ongoing economic crisis in Cuba is the U.S. blockade which is causing shortages of specific products from abroad. Overall economic production is down, held back by shortages of supplies and fuels. Currency shortages and loss of workers due to migration are worsening the healthcare and education sectors.
U.S. classification of Cuba as a “terrorist sponsoring” nation, on the so-called State Sponsors of Terrorism list, leads to the deprivation of much-needed aid and supplies, as well as the opportunity for general economic trade. Countries on the list are ineligible for transactions involving U.S. dollars. Due to the risk of U.S. penalties, international financial institutions opt out of fulfilling Cuba’s credit needs.
Since returning from Cuba, Richert and trade unionists like him have worked hard to pass resolutions in their union locals and labor federations to call on the U.S. government to end the blockade of Cuba and remove it from the SSOT list.
“So far, we’ve gotten 40 resolutions passed in local unions and federations—most recently the California Labor Federation that represents 2 million workers,” said Richert, “calling on the U.S. government to end the blockade of Cuba and remove them from the SSOT list.”
“I am passionate about getting labor involved” in the Cuba solidarity movement, he said. “We have to fight for them because if we don’t, the same forces will come for us next.”
Byron Sigcho Lopez, alderperson from Chicago’s 25th ward, which represents a primarily Latino area, called for all labor, civil rights, and community organizations to continue to pressure the Democratic Party to end the blockade. “It will not happen without organization,” he said.
“The American people know the blockade is wrong,” he said. “They know there are no terrorists in Cuba.
“There are 40,000 immigrants that were bussed here by reactionaries. Let’s face it, Donald Trump is a fascist. He openly admitted that meddling in Venezuela had nothing to do with ‘democracy’ but had everything to do with oil. We cannot discuss Cuba, Venezuela, or Puerto Rico without discussing imperialism,” he said.
Carlos Lasso, a Cuban-American high school teacher and founder of Puentes de Amor, insisted that the economic embargo on Cuba is an act of warfare. He served a tour in Iraq as a combat medic and his experiences there helped him understand the situation in his home country more, he said.
“I was born in Cuba 60 years ago. My father was a communist and my mother was an anti-communist. I left Cuba in 1991 and ended up in Miami. And like many others, I believe that you don’t need to be like my father, or my mother, to understand that what is happening to Cuba is wrong. You just have to be a decent person.”
Puentes de Amor, the organization led by Lasso, gained attention for bringing together American and Cuban-American citizens who, functioning as a bike squad, have ridden over 3,000 miles to the White House to promote the idea of love bridges between the Cuban and U.S. people.
“We’re about friendship,” he said. “My dream is for my father, Cuba, to be able to connect with my mother, the U.S…¡Cuba Sí, Bloqueo No!”
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