se

ee Ss

See

The Santa Lucia Mine near Mata

Margolin
Cont’d. from pg. 3

The trip through Cuba was for me a
time of comparison with 1961. Cuba has
undergone an almost unbelievable trans-
formation since I was there eleven years
ago.

There were few schools in 1961 — they
had just begun to build them. Now they

‘are everywhere in the countryside. Let’s

look at the Fernando O’Higgins Second-
ary School outside of Havana. It has 500
students, half girls and half boys, who all
board at the school in dormitories.

The plan for developing the school’s
1,200 acres includes agricultural work and
study. The director. Fernando Leon, is
only 25 years old. Students participate in
decision-making through their student
federation and Young Communist Union.

The school, which has been open six
months, has classes in all the sciences and
in agricultural work. Slow students are
helped by faster-learning students. After
graduation many go on to pre-university
training for three years; others stay as
teachers.

There is no graffiti defacing the walls
or violence against students and teachers;
there is no drug problem, and few disci-

ine problems.

In Pinar del Rio. we visited the Mata
Hombre copper mine. It is the deepest
underground mine in Cuba, 1,400 meters
(4,200 ft.). We spoke to the mine engineer,
Isidro Bandera, and to many miners.
The mine had formerly been owned by
American Metals, a subsidiary of Kenne-

cott. Conditions were very bad in the town:

there were no roads, schools, hospitals or
housing, and company militia prevented
trade union organization. There were no
health or safety provisions; the Com-
munist Party was illegal, and Communist
miners and other militants organized

hombre, Pinar del Rio Province.

secretly.

After the revolution the mines were
nationalized and the union and the Com-
munist Party were legalized. Research-
ers found large copper reserves and a
plan was made. The mine installations
were improved for the safety and health
of miners — silicosis is low and kept in
check.

Miners work a six-hour day and re-
ceive from 180-250 pesos. Every six
months they get a medical checkup. In
this mining town there is a hospital, a
secondary school and a child care center
for 120 children. There is an adult educa-
tion program and a university is being
built. Housing for the miners is going up
all around the town; all streets are now
paved and bus transportation is free.

When the miners came out of the pits,
we drank beer with them out of huge cups.
The beer is free.

On our trip across Cuba, we stopped to
cut sugar cane for a half day with one of
the million-arroba brigades. An arroba is
25 pounds. We started cutting together,
but in a short time they were almost out
of sight. Cutting cane is very hard work
and the cane must be cut close to the
ground. The cane cutter is bent over most
of the time.

Near Santa Clara we visited a spare
parts factory.

In the past, factories, equipment and
vital spare parts for machines had come
from the U.S. After the revolution, the
U.S. cut off spare-parts sales to Cuba,
hoping to paralyze production. For a time
it did hurt the economy, but now this
spare parts factory produces almost all
parts of any type needed. The foundry was
donated by Poland and the machine shop
by the Soviet Union. Having been a ma-
chinist, I was impressed by the factory
and its equipment.

On the way to Oriente Province, we

visited Playa Larga and Playa Giron,
the Bay of Pigs invasion beaches. We rode
across the battleground as the victory
was described to us by veterans: ‘‘They
murdered men, women and children with
their Yankee weapons,”’ bitterly declared
a militiaman, ‘‘but.in 72 hours we cap-
tured all of them. This is the first defeat
for Yankee imperialism in Latin Amer-
ica,’”’ he ended, repeating Fidel Castro’s
famous statement. Playa Giron now has a
museum with a display of captured U.S.
tanks, planes, guns, trucks and military
equipment clearly showing their U.S. ori-
gin. :

We left the Bay of Pigs for Camagtiey
and Oriente. We stopped to examine a
huge new fertilizer plant, also donated by
the Soviet Union. It was being assembled
and built by Cuban workers under Cuban
and Soviet engineers. The Cuban engin-
eer in charge of assembling the plant is 32
years old. ‘Fertilizer is vital to Cuban
agriculture,” he said, “‘so we must in-
crease production. This plant will help
the Cuban economy greatly when it goes
into operation next year.”

It is impossible to describe everything
we saw and did but I must say a little
about the trade unions and their role. In
September this year, the 13th Congress of
the Cuban Trade Union Movement will
convene. ‘There are 15 subcommissions
now hard at work drawing up reports for
delegate discussion.

The Congress will deal with all ques-
tions and problems that unions under so-
cialism face: productivity and wages,

social security; health, rest and vacations;

women in the work force; sports and cul-
ture; training of workers; socialist emu-
lation; the merit system and voluntary
work; workers’ relations to management;

New housing built by the ‘micro’ brigades

workers’ participation in union and
agement of factories. a

International relations and solidatil! )
will have an important place on the age |
da. Structure of the trade unions will als?
be discussed. ee.

In production, while moral incentivé
are still stressed, changes in wage pol’
are taking place. New emphasis is 00M
being put on a more direct tie betW
production and wages. :

There are today, 40,847 trade union
cals with executive committees COM |
posed of 164,000, representing 2,024
workers. Seventy-nine percent are mM f
and 12% are women. There are 21 nation
trade unions.

This Congress will give much alter
tion to bringing women into productio?
and into the leadership of the trade ™
ions. ioe

Fidel, at the May Day celebrall
said, ‘It would be impossible to lista
factories and other work centers from
sectors of our economy that have fulfillet
or surpassed their production £0 s |
honor of May Day. There are so many;
can’t mention them here.” ‘ef

It is important to stress that racls
and discrimination have been elimina
since the revolution came to powel: | 5
construction work site in Los Naranlt
where we worked, is a good exam
Black workers had skilled jobs in Al
struction; they were masons, pricklay® 4
cement finishers, plastérers, electriciam
carpenters, foremen, engineers, are
tects and planners. 1

The same situation exists on pee
work site, factory, farm and industty
Cuba. Many of the top leaders in the ee
ernment party and trade unions are Bla
The same is true of the armed forces:
met many decorated heroes of the
of Pigs who were Black. ip

Black women play a leading role.
the women’s and youth movem
There is not a single province ead:
where Black workers do not play 4 ie
ing role alongside their white cu
brothers and sisters. ing

In conclusion, I hope my U.S. 8 rot
brothers will learn some lessons i
Cuba. Racism is the weapon of 1258:
ployers. It divides the working ©
White workers must fight it. new

The Cuban people are building @ ting
society—socialism. They are consttur
this new life under great obstacles 1
U.S. government embargo, blocka and
intervention in the affairs of CUD* 4
Latin America stand in the way of fri

S.
ly relations, trade and travel of al Ons

lo

on,

can force the government to v6 c
honest and equal relations with al put
tries of the world, and Cuba as We met!
this means organizing a broad m0 ipilitd
in our country. This is our respons!
This is our task.

@B Labor

That oil shortage -is it real or

Funny, isn’t it, how all the major oil
companies ran out of gas at the same
time? How none of these giants of in-
dustry had the foresight to prepare in-
creased refining capacity for 1973?
How none of them saw that the energy
crisis would place greater demards
on their industry?

Well of course it is really no laugh-
ing matter either for the public or the
oil companies. U.S. Senator Adlai Stev-
enson (D-Ill) says there is evidence
that the oil companies manufactured
the fuel shorgage and “‘are using it to
drive out the competition.’”’ The U-S.
Office of Emergency Preparedness re-
Be that 1,020 gas stations, as of May

had permanently or temporarily
@osed because of the fuel shortage, and
another 1,914are threatened.

Isn’t it also funny that in the midst

of this ‘crisis and amidst the threats
by the oil companies that the price of
gas will be going up to 50 cents or 75
cents a gallon. the first quarter prof-
its of the major oil companies are 24
percent higher than a year ago? They
pay a Federal income tax of about 5
percent of their income.

It costs a typical major oil company,
California Standard. 3 cents to produce
a gallon of gasoline in their refineries
from oil produced in their own wells,
according to an article by Roger Rap-
aport in The Chicago Sun Times. Using
the more expensive imported oil from
the Arab countries, production cost is
6 cents a gallon.

There is no shortage of crude oil
right now. One known Saudi Arabian
field has 81 billion barrels of oil, about
as much as the U.S. has consumed in

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, AUGUST 3, 1973—-PAGE 6

a hoax to fleece the people?

its entire history.

According to a former California
Standard executive. the oil industry
hopes to get the U.S. Government to
drop stiff pollution control laws on oil
drilling. stop chipping away at the oil
depletion allowance...a $3 billion a
year tax giveaway to oil companies...
and to permit new offshore oil drilling
leases. :

All this adds up to an arrogant. bra-
zen effort on the part of the oil com-

panies to fix prices and control the —

market. frighten the government into
more concessions and less control.
and fleece the American consumer of
millions of dollars a year.

It's nothing new. That's how Stan-
dard Oil started in the 19th century
under the leadership of the first John
D. Rockefeller.

t-bust
afte!

Once again we may need ‘oils
ers’ in the U.S. Congress t0 8 al
the modern day “Robber Barons: 4g {0

President Nixon can't be expe Hale
take on the oil companies: Even ate
didn't have his hands full with s were
gate right now. the oil companle pais
major contributors to his cam Jot"
and oil interests in: the perso? reset
Connally and others are well TeP
ed in the White House Councils. tigi

Congress must pursue its ne hott
tion of this highly suspicious ©). thal
age. and roll back the contr esta”
corporate interests are tryiné
lish over American life. 3 coffe |

—Midwest News, June, ae gion :

cial organ of the Midwest

Joint Board of the Amalgt

Clothing Workers of Americ?

Cio.)