MIAMI, United States. — A group of US congressmen denounced the vulnerable situation of independent trade unionists.
The politicians, led by representative Mario Díaz-Balart (R-FL), sent a letter to the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) exposing the difficult situation in which labor rights defenders find themselves in the island.
“I sent a letter to @AFLCIO to express concerns about the increasing repression against independent unionists and labor activists in Cuba and requesting that they consider ways to promote freedom of association and other labor rights for the Cuban people,” the Republican congressman wrote in his twitter account.
I led a letter to @AFLCIO with my colleagues to express our concerns on the increasing repression against independent trade unionists and labor activists in #Cuba & requesting that they assess ways to promote freedom of association, & other labor rights for the Cuban people. pic.twitter.com/l6BsB765yx
— Mario Diaz-Balart (@MarioDB) March 6, 2023
In addition to Díaz-Balart, members of the US House of Representatives María Elvira Salazar (R-FL), Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY) and Carlos Giménez (R-FL), Debbie Wasserman Schultz ( D-FL) and Jared Moskowitz (D-FL).
The text exposes, among other issues, the harassment suffered by figures such as the trade unionist Ivan Hernandez Carrilloleader of the Independent Trade Union Association of Cuba (ASIC), who for several years has been a victim of political persecution and police harassment.
The letter was also sent to the Secretary of the Department of Labor, Martin J. Walsh; National Endowment for Democracy (NED) Executive Director Damon Wilson and Shawna Bader-Blau, Executive Director of the Solidarity Center, a nonprofit organization aligned with the AFL-CIO labor federation .
Data revealed in 2022 by the Cuban Observatory for Human Rights (OCDH) reveal that working conditions and social security are among the major problems Cubans face.
According to the report “The State of Social Rights in Cuba”, published last October, of a total of 1,227 Cubans interviewed, 64% considered that labor rights were not respected in the country; while 51% of those surveyed said they did not know which instance to turn to in case of violation of these.
