It was not a coincidence to found the CTC the same day our National Hero Jose Marti (January 28, 1853) was born but in this case in 1939. By that time, the national leader managed to join the workers in only one national organization. They put into practice the legacy of the Teacher: to forge unity and they did it like him, knocking the rough edges to join wills for a common goal.
“Our enemy has one plan: to make us dispute each other, to disperse, divide and drown by ourselves – Marti said –. So we obey to another plan: teach us each other as much as possible, unite, evade it, and make our country free. It was a plan against another plan.” That was the one to put into practice by the founders of the CTC.
Its main goal was to defend the interests of all the workers, all the social classes that were oppressed in Cuba by then, to conquest the claims of the nation, its sovereignty and welfare.
Soon, the combat, unification and organization turned this union movement into an obstacle for the imperialism and the Creole oligarchy. They were favored by the reactionary policy of Cold War and they fought against the CTC supported by servile people and managed to divide it.
The workers did not give up and followed Marti’s ideas until they could found a CTC in a free Cuba that had lasted to present time, hoisting the legitimate interests of the workers and it joined the constitution for a future of social justice.
It is a history full of lessons for the current leaders of the union, because during all these years, the adversary has not stopped its purpose to break the union of our workers, promoting the so called “independent unions” that represent no one but those that before wanted to mine the strength granted by the union of the movement.
The CTC has today an important role, mainly in the transformation carried out in the economy of this country, but there is also an important task in the ideological sphere.
The fact is to join all the workers, not only to defend them, like in the past, but also to have them fulfill their duties anywhere to make the socialism people has created advance.
A way to do it with all our effort, as Marti called us to do it, is not only making the majority to join us but all the workers of our union, the one lazaro Peña conceived like training schools, and they will be, if the union leader does this job renouncing to formalities, with exemplary authority.
Marti said: “All what you see united is respected, what you do not see united is not respected.” We should join forces to carry out our social project and demonstrate that we can do it in Cuba; we can have a prosperous future that is our plan, to make ourselves respected so no one will win us.
