"It’s crucial to maintain and strengthen our solidarity" - Unite Conference sends its support to Cuba
Campaign News | Thursday, 27 July 2023
Rob Miller, Bárbara Montalvo Álvarez, Michelle Smith, Lauren Harper and Mark Butterly
Citing Unite’s proud history of solidarity with Cuba – from the campaign to free the Miami Five to fundraising for material aid - Michelle Smith, Vice-Chair of Unite’s Executive Committee called on all Unite members and branches to get involved with the Cuba Solidarity Campaign. “It’s crucial to maintain and strengthen our solidarity”, she said. Chairing the meeting, Michelle spoke alongside Lauren Harper and Mark Butterly, two young Unite members who visited Cuba earlier this year as part of our Young Trade Unionists’ May Day Brigade, as well as Rob Miller CSC Director and Bárbara Montalvo Álvarez, Cuba’s ambassador to the UK.
Lauren Harper, from Unite Hospitality and the Labour Party’s Scottish Executive Committee, reflected on the way Cubans spoke about their health care professionals during her time there on the brigade. “They are constantly referred to as heroes and they genuinely mean it”, she said. Contrasting it with the performative way in which the British government encouraged people to clap for the NHS during the pandemic, only for them to then be told they’re not worthy of a decent pay rise, Lauren reflected that “its indicative of a totally different outlook on life” where values of love and solidarity are paramount.
Mark Butterly recalled the brigade’s visit to La Castellana in Havana, a centre for children, young people and adults with special educational needs and disabilities. “I’ve worked as a care worker in Glasgow and it’s badly paid and undervalued”, he told attendees. “But I’ve never experienced anything like La Castellana… despite the hardships, to see a model of social care that places the wellbeing of vulnerable people at its heart was truly inspiring.”
Detailing the difficult few years Cuba has experienced in the past few years, from the lasting effects of the COVID-19 pandemic to the current global economic crisis, Bárbara Montalvo Álvarez, reminded the meeting that the principal hurdle to Cuba’s development and its biggest issue remains the illegal US blockade of the country. “This situation is aggravated by the fact that Cuba remains on the unilateral and illegitimate list of State Sponsors of Terrorism (SSOT) which reinforces the blockade, the ambassador explained. Calling on trade unionists to strengthen their solidarity and help the Cuban people, the ambassador set out what they can do - “demand the lifting of the blockade, the unjust designation of Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism and work towards its definitive end.”
Closing the meeting, CSC Director Rob Miller thanked Unite and its members for the solidarity they’ve demonstrated with Cuba over the years. Rob set out CSC’s number one campaigning priority this year – working to get Cuba removed from the US government’s SSOT list – and encouraged all members to join the Unite team on the Cycle Cuba Experience in 2024 and join the Young Trade Unionists’ May Day Brigade.
You can find out more about the 2024 Cycle Cuba Experience here.
If you want to find out more about the Young Trade Unionists' May Day Brigade, you can email Tariq Anderson on campaigns@cuba-solidarity.org.uk.
