Havana Cuba. — “My retirement is not enough to cover the basic needs of my family,” he assures CubaNet Sergio Cristiá Mauro, 69 years old. In his home, at Calle 51 #14 406, in Coco Solo, Marianao, the former trade unionist recounted his work career and explained to this newspaper why he considers the amount he receives for his retirement unfair after 40 years of work recognized by the Island authorities, who were actually a few more.
“I started working in 1974 as an automotive painter and then moved to Agricultural Aviation as a mechanic. During that time, I managed to obtain the titles of Higher Secondary Level Technician in the specialties of industrial painter and automotive and aviation mechanic”, said Cristiá Mauro.
Later, the man worked in branches of the Labiofam business group in Santiago de Cuba and Havana, in the Trasval company (transfer of securities) —dependency of the Minint— and in the Antivectorial Campaign.
“I was also in Personal Security of Plan 160 in which I performed various functions, including a sericulture project directed by Fidel Castro and in Moncar (forklift company), where I retired,” added Sergio.
retirement vs. ordering
“I also participated in three harvests of the town, in multiple tasks in agriculture for months and I was general secretary of the union on three occasions in the different centers in which I worked. Due to the efficient way in which I performed, they proposed me as a professional cadre, but I did not accept”, explains Cristiá Mauro, who began her working life with a salary of 127.70 pesos until climbing to 9,000 pesos in her last position.
Retired for 4 years, the man began to receive a pension of 1,052 pesos, a figure that was high at the time. After the economic reorganization, his pension rose to 2,580 pesos, but the prices increased much more than his salary.
“Marino Murillo —the so-called czar of the economy, in charge of implementing the Ordering task—He said at first that salaries would be increased five times, so I should receive 5,260 pesos, but later he retracted and pointed out that this scale would be for those who earn up to 500 pesos, something that I consider unfair and contrary to the Marxist principle of to each according to their ability and to each according to their work”, laments Sergio Cristiá.
And he continues: “My colleagues who earned less salaries than me when I retired, when they did so after the order, they not only earned the same as me, who had more capacity and salary, but when they retired they obtained pensions greater than the one I receive, therefore a fair salary increase was not made and according to what was promised in principle.
According to the former employee, Murillo said that these scales would increase progressively a year after applying the first salary increase. However, “today the only ones who have received these benefits are the members of the FAR and the MININT, who receive up to 20,000 pesos in retirement.”
When last year the first secretary of the Communist Party in the capital, Juan Antonio Torres Iribar, visited Coco Solo on his tours of the so-called vulnerable neighborhoods, Sergio Cristiá tried to approach the senior leader and express his concerns. Intercepted by State Security agents, they did not let him reach Torres Iribar. They told him that “the Party would visit him to learn about his proposals.”
After this, two PCC officials went to Cristiá’s house, and he presented his problems and those of the neighborhood to them. They told him to write a letter where he listed “those deficiencies”, that they would soon pick him up and summon him to a meeting. Cristiá is still waiting for the summons to said meeting.
The sadness in Cristiá’s face is perceived when she says: “My efforts and sacrifices in favor of the Revolution have not been rewarded. They don’t even deign to answer my claims. I feel disappointed. This is not the future I was promised. I find myself in misery, with no hope of improvement. What I earn is not enough to support my family and myself with dignity”.
There are many retirees who are in the same situation as Sergio Cristiá and who feel like him. His great frustration is another example of the failure of Castro’s socialism.
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