By Laura Gomez
HAVANA TIMES – Ileana de Jesus lives with her diabetic mother. The years of the pandemic and monetary reforms have diminished her purchasing power. Like all Cubans who work in the public sector, her salary evaporates in the first week after payday, and she has to perform miracles to put food on the table.
What is your job?
Ileana de Jesus: I am the principal economic specialist at an education center, earning 4,410 pesos (US $14) a month. I graduated as a specialist in accounting and have been practicing my profession with good results for 18 years. Good results professionally, because what I earn is not enough to eat decently. A couple of years ago, while leading my company’s union section, I dedicated myself to managing food packages for all the workers; I’ve stopped doing that now, and, of course, I eat worse.
Are people still interested in the union?
Well, it’s something that works on its own, like a machine. You know that when you start at a workplace, you also start in the workers’ union of that place. It’s never clear who believes in the union or who doesn’t, because that’s something no one talks about. Then, when there’s an administrative problem, people turn to the union, but since it’s closely tied to the management of the center, it generally doesn’t solve much. Supposedly, they are there to defend the workers, but also the revolution. So, it’s hard to separate.
For example, I was very well-liked, even though at that time I headed the human resources department, and they always chose me to be the union secretary; judge and jury. Besides, no one wanted to lead anything, so they chose me because I dedicated myself to managing those food packages.
Of course, I experienced something similar. If there’s someone who gets things done, no one wants them to stop, especially when it’s something as necessary as food. I imagine your work was a great help to everyone.
Yes, I wish it had continued to this day. Back then, the workers were very motivated. There’s nothing more gratifying than being able to bring home provisions without spending so much time on it and paying for them with our salaries, something that is impossible now. The management itself was exhausting. I had to walk a lot, talk with store managers, make deals. Living far from the workplace made transporting things very difficult.
In the e