Cuban Workers’ Confederation (CTC) is the Central Trade Union that groups Cuban workers.
The CTC came into being in 1939 after the dissolution of the National Confederation of Workers and Farmers (CNOC), which was fundamental in the struggle for the approval of the 1940 Constitution, the most advanced of its time in America. It was intervened in the 1940s by the Cuban oligarchic governments and it became an instrument of subjugation of the working class to capital, although the main leaders from the communist party continued to fight for worker’s demands.
After the revolutionary triumph of January 1, 1959, the trade union unity was re-established and the CTC joined the tasks of building the new society.
The structure of the CTC consists of: Congress, National Council, National Committee, National Secretariat, national trade unions, branches, provincial committees, trade union bureau at company level, and trade union section.
There are 18 national unions with approximately 2,998,634 affiliated workers.
Membership is voluntary and it consists of some 19 national unions. It is established in its Statutes that congresses are held every 5 years in which the General Secretary is elected and the new representatives are included in the National Council, the National Committee and the Secretariat.
In each workplace where more than 5 people work, there may be a trade union section. Several trade union sections form a trade union bureau. 96% of Cuban workers belong to the CTC. This organization is recognized as a very important force for the defense of the interests of the people and of the Cuban Revolution. The General Secretary of the CTC is a member of the highest leadership of the State and the Communist Party.
The official newspaper of the organization is Trabajadores, which is published weekly for the entire national territory. The union leaders receive training in the 14 provincial centers and in the National School of Cadres Lázaro Peña. Women workers and retirees receive good attention in the trade unions and they have laws in their favour that support their rights not to be discriminated against, to be able to work and to receive a pension upon retirement.