6-25-05,8:42am
AN increase in basic wages in the education and health sectors, announced by President Fidel Castro in a special presentation, will benefit 857,400 workers, the equivalent of 67% of Cubans working in those fields.
To support that measure, which comes into effect on July 1, 523.3 million pesos have been allocated, once again increasing the state’s central budget for such important activities, explained Carlos Lage, secretary of the Executive Committee of the Council of Ministers.
Lage, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party, specified that the average wage increase for health workers will be 57 pesos and for education workers it will be 43 pesos. Moreover, he said, additional payments for both sectors will be maintained, and remuneration will be increased for scientific categories (holders of master’s degrees and doctorates). Comments on the importance of the measure were made by Pedro Ross Leal, member of the Political Bureau and secretary general of the CTC, and Luis Abreu Mejías, who heads the Union of Education, Science and Sports.
THE PEOPLE’S OPINIONS
Education and public health are areas in which the Revolution has advanced the most in terms of the people’s wellbeing, Fidel affirmed. More than 800,000 people work directly in the two fields, with facilities throughout the country. And both sectors alike will continue to be the highest national priorities.
'Many citizens,' he commented, 'are beginning to understand the efforts and results of these times, when financial resources are making it possible to confront accumulated difficulties. Nevertheless, that acknowledgement is taking place in an atmosphere of many complaints, given that during these years of the Special Period, the scarcity of medications and all types of materials, the lack of transportation, low spirits among workers, and other human shortcomings all came together,' the Cuban president remarked.
As a result of the investments being made, the capacity for diagnosing visual problems will be in excess of one million patients by next year, he noted. Conditions are rapidly being created so as to be able to operate on 100,000 people from other Latin American nations and approximately 50,000 Cubans per annum. Many necessary surgical operations in ophthalmology will be possible, he affirmed: currently, 600 doctors are receiving specialized training and 24 centers are being constructed to offer those services.
Among facilities that are being rebuilt, Fidel pointed to the Ramón Pando Ferrer Hospital in Havana, which is to have excellent technical conditions. 'By the end of the year, the 24 aforementioned facilities will be completed,' he said. 'There, citizens will be able to receive care for problems including myopia, cataract, strabismus, pigmentary retinosis and glaucoma.'
In line with his custom of reporting on people’s positive and negative opinions of the issues under discussion, the leader of the Revolution explained that 'there have been complaints over the conduct of some doctors and technicians who, violating the principles of socialist ethics, are attempting to charge for their services or accept hard currency for the care provided.' With respect to such attitudes, Fidel reiterated, 'if they are true, they cannot be allowed, and need to be energetically confronted by the appropriate authorities and by the people.'
He affirmed that he agreed with those who have stated that the fundamental aspect in public health is workers’ excellence, given that it is simply not enough to possess the most modern and sophisticated equipment.
In seven provinces,' he commented, problems were reported in making clinical analyses due to the lack of reagents, and in other areas discontent was expressed over the scarcity of medicine. Difficulties with supplies have been a reality, Fidel noted, but the government has made a great and timely effort to provide the financing necessary for importing the raw materials and essential equipment for medicine production plants.
Availability should continue to improve, he explained, and at the same time, effectiveness should increase with respect to measures to put an end to the theft of drugs and the activity by greedy individuals and those involved in illegal sales.
There are also fears regarding student teachers’ lack of training and discontent over delays in the delivery of the tabloids corresponding to televised classes and the negative effects of power cuts on audiovisual based teaching.
In spite of these adverse comments, there is growing acknowledgement among the people of the quality of new investments in health and education, as well as the labors of workers in doctors’ offices, polyclinics, hospitals and schools. There is praise, Fidel pointed out, for new medical services added during recent months; transformations in the teaching process in primary and basic secondary education, and reported benefits of introducing school snacks at high school level.
Other issues addressed included the need for increased control over all types of resources and the damage caused by so-called 'piracy' of professionals and technicians from one sector to another, which Fidel described as 'irresponsible conduct by leaders who do not concern themselves with training the necessary personnel and ‘steal’ talent developed in other sectors.' One example of this problem occurred in the banking sector, which for years lost hundreds of comrades trained in informatics, explained Francisco Soberón, minister president of the Central Bank of Cuba. It was possible to counteract that exodus with economic incentives, but above all with moral acknowledgement of efforts, he noted.
Briefly alluding to efforts underway in the energy sector, Fidel reiterated that investments are advancing and that previously mentioned stability in the generation of electricity may be counted on for the summer months.
EACH PESO MUST COUNT
After concluding his remarks on citizens’ opinions, Fidel asked Alfredo Morales Cartaya, minister of labor and social security, to provide details on wage increases in the health and education sectors.
Morales noted that since 1999, wages have gone up in various sectors, which up until 2004 had benefited 1,850,000 workers, including teachers and doctors. The recent raise of the minimum wage from 100 to 250 pesos benefited more than 1,700,000 individuals, and with that figure, approximately 537,000 occupy various posts in general and higher education, and in public health; that was the case for mid-level technicians in nursing.
The current decision to raise basic wages in such vital areas, he commented, was made jointly by three ministries (MINED, MES and MINSAP) after a long exhaustive study. It is not everything that the Revolution is evaluating in that regard, but it is a step toward finding more just formulas of redistribution, he added.
Morales reported that the idea was to increase basic wages in the three sectors, maintaining additional pay for the categories of teaching, seniority, leadership responsibility, type of center and teaching, professional evaluation results and other current qualifications.
As a new element, a greater wage bonus is to be applied for doctorates, and for the first time, master’s degrees holder will receive remuneration. In total, between the three sectors, tens of thousands of workers who had already benefited from the higher minimum wage that went into effect on May 1 will receive additional raises.
'Inconsistencies and imperfections may remain, but we are seeking solutions, we will improve as much as possible some conflicting things, and we will continually revise the parameters of wages, prices, real income and other categories,' the Cuban president affirmed.
He alluded to the fact that many people who carried the weight of the Revolution for so many years are retired on very low pensions, including teachers, which is why it is urgent to begin this process of increasing income via Social Security.
Fidel also spoke out in favor of continuing to revalue the Cuban peso and devalue the dollar, 'so that working people have more, and so that in that way we can help and encourage those who contribute more to society.'
He also referred to the incessant increase of prices of different types of fuel, foodstuffs and other products on the international market, 'but in spite of all the difficulties,' he emphasized, 'we are virtually in a better position than anyone to deal with the complex problems of today’s world. The others will have to retreat, like the crab, or there will be a collapse in the global economy,' he stated.
Coming back to the subject of wage increases, he noted that 'what is most important is that those pesos have worth, that every bill has real value; that is why it is so important to strengthen our currency. We are aware that the increase is modest, and that is why we are continuing to work to find every possible variant with socialist formulas and make salaries much more just,' he affirmed.
Fidel then asked how the saving of a life could be paid for, and in what way the country could compensate for the selfless labors by so many experts in the field of medicine.
He reflected on the enormous efforts underway to guarantee that top-quality health services for every single Cuban, and in that regard, he mentioned the purchase of eight modern 64-track tomography machines, three-dimensional ultrasound machines, and cutting-edge magnetic resonance equipment.
He noted the swiftness with which workers at the Center for Medical-Surgical Research (CIMEQ) had in just one
