PINAR DEL RÍO, January 9 (Víctor Rolando Arroyo, UPECI) –
Workers at sawmill number 22, near Pinar del Río, are increasingly
unhappy with their earnings, saying there’s no relationship between their
wages and what they produce.
The sawmill pays them 24 pesos per cubic meter of wood handled, and sells
that same quantity of wood at 2,646 pesos (126 dollars).
Other conditions at the sawmill have also worsened lately. The supply of
water was cutoff because the company is several payments behind and says it
doesn’t have the dollars to pay them. Meanwhile the workers make do with
water from an old storage tank.
The food available to them, say workers, is of poor quality and not enough
in any case. It generally consists of rice, split pea soup, and a chunk of bread
with maybe a root vegetable. Occasionally there is not enough to go around;
those working the 10- to 13- hour night shift are the ones who usually come up
short.
The workers also complain that every 15 days one peso is deducted from their
salary for the cook, who also doubles as an office cleaner, because
administrators say there is not enough money to pay her for that last chore.
The Communist administrators, however, earn higher salaries than the
workers.
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