A History of Organized Labor in Cuba PDF
Preview A History of Organized Labor in Cuba
A HISTORY OF ORGANIZED LABOR IN CUBA A HISTORY OF ORGANIZED LABOR IN CUBA Robert J. Alexander IP1AAIEGIER Westport, Connecticut London Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Alexander, Robert Jackson, 1918- A history of organized labor in Cuba / Robert J. Alexander. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-275-97703-X (alk. paper) 1. Labor unions-Cuba-History. 2. Labor movement-Cuba-History. 3. Working class-Cuba-History. I. Title. HD6577.A44 2002 33 l.8'09729 l-dc2 l 2002067943 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data is available. Copyright © 2002 by Robert J. Alexander All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, by any process or technique, without the express written consent of the publisher. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2002067943 ISBN: 0-275-97703-X First published in 2002 Praeger Publishers, 88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06881 An imprint of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc. www.praeger.com Printed in the United States of America (§" The paper used in this book complies with the Permanent Paper Standard issued by the National Information Standards Organization (Z39.48-1984). 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 To Lyndsey Erin Alexander Contents Preface ~ 1. Organized Labor in the Colonial Period and Early Republic 1 2. The Confederaci6n Nacional Obrera de Cuba and Its Rivals 35 ere 3. The Early Years of the 75 ere 4. The Split and Its Aftermath 105 5. Labor Under the Second Batista Dictatorship 133 ere 6. Organized Labor in Castro's Cuba: Seizure of the 169 7. Soviet-Style Labor Movement in Castro's Cuba 215 Bibliography 259 Index 269 Preface This is the first of a planned series of volumes on the history of organized labor in Latin America and the Caribbean. These deal with a subject that more than half a century ago first caused me to become interested in the societies, economics, and polities of the nations that make up the Western Hemisphere south of the United States. My attention first focused on Latin American organized labor when I took a course in Latin American History from Professor Frank Tannenbaum at Columbia University in the late 1930s. I wrote a term paper for Professor Tannenbaum on the history of Argentine labor movement. When I completed this study, which totaled something more than 100 pages, I made the surprising (and not unpleasant) discovery that I was an "expert" on the sub ject-for the simple reason that it appeared that no one else in this country-except a real expert in the U.S. Department of La bor-knew anything about it. I continued to look into the labor movements of Latin America by writing my M.A. thesis on the history of Chilean organized la bor. Then, after an "extended vacation" from concentration on intellectual matters while spending three and a half years in the United States Army Air Force during World War II, I returned to the subject by writing my Ph.D. dissertation on labor relations in Chile. To collect material for that work, I made my first extended trip to Latin America in 1946-1947 , spending half of that year in Chile, and first visiting Cuba on the way home. Subsequently, during my early years as a member of the Eco nomics faculty of Rutgers University, I had the good fortune of having an association with two people who greatly facilitated my X Preface continuing and developing study of Latin America, and particu larly of the Latin American labor movements. These were Serafino Romualdi, the Latin American representative of the American Federation of Labor (and subsequently of the American Federa tion of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations [AFL-CIO]), and Jay Lovestone, who was for many years the virtual "foreign minister" of the AFL and then of the AFL-CIO. Mr. Romualdi engaged my part-time services to help him edit the English-language periodical of the Interamerican Confedera tion of Workers (CI11, and then that of the Interamerican Regional Organization of Workers (ORIT). Mr. Lovestone employed me on a number of occasions during the Rutgers vacation periods to travel to various parts of Latin America to report to him what I obseived there about the trade union situation (as well as general economic and political conditions) in the countries that I visited. With the help of these two gentlemen I was able to expand and intensify my firsthand acquaintanceship with the labor movements of Latin America and the Caribbean. Subsequently, for several additional decades, I continued to visit Latin America and the Caribbean and to maintain and broaden my study of the subject. In traveling more or less frequently to Latin America and the Caribbean, renewing and expanding my contacts with organized labor in the nations, I kept extensive notes on conversations I had with union leaders, politicians, and others who could shed light on the labor movement, as well as comments on particular situa tions that I was able to obseive. These notes and comments have provided an important part of the material that appears in this book. So do trade union related documents that I collected on my visits. Of course, I am obliged to many people who had made it pos sible for this book to be written and published. To start with, I owe much to the many people who, over the years, talked with me and told me about details of the history of Cuban organized labor with which they were acquainted or in which they had partici pated. The names of many of these can be found in the chapter notes and Bibliography. I am much obliged to Dr. Efren Cordova, who himself has chronicled the story of Cuban organized labor and who was kind enough to read parts of the manuscript of this book, and to give me a worthwhile critique of them. Of course, he bears no respon sibility for any errors of fact or judgment that appear in these pages. That responsibility is only mine. I also owe much to my friend and former student, Eldon Parker, who has put the manuscript into camera-ready condition, and has done invaluable work in proofreading it, and helping in
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