Winter Issue 2009 - cfmeu
Winter Issue 2009 - cfmeu
Winter Issue 2009 - cfmeu
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S E C R E TA R Y ’ S A D D R E S S<br />
with Kevin Reynolds<br />
Over 1 million people marched<br />
International Delegates meeting in Cuba.<br />
It was with a great deal of pride that<br />
I had the opportunity to represent<br />
the members of our union as one of<br />
2700 invited guests from around the<br />
world to Cuba’s celebration of May<br />
Day. The event also coincided with<br />
the 70th anniversary of the Cuban<br />
Trade Union movement and the<br />
50th anniversary of the Cuban<br />
Revolution.<br />
It was an amazing experience to see<br />
over one million people at their<br />
annual May Day Parade.<br />
Along with over 2000 delegates<br />
from 82 countries I attended and<br />
spoke at a specially convened<br />
congress at the Cuban National<br />
Convention Centre – on behalf of<br />
our union I expressed our solidarity<br />
for the Cuban people in their plight<br />
against the inhumane trade<br />
blockade of their country by the<br />
USA government. Just to give one<br />
small example of the hardship<br />
people live under due to this<br />
blockade: Kids can’t get milk from<br />
the USA mainland, they have to<br />
import it all the way from NZ – this is<br />
just the tip of the iceberg on how the<br />
Cuban people suffer under the giant<br />
shadow cast by the USA. Our<br />
delegation also took a trip to a<br />
township called Pinar Del Rio. It was<br />
totally flattened 6 months ago by<br />
hurricanes. It was incredible to see<br />
how much had been rebuilt in that<br />
time – the Cuban people and<br />
government took pride in the fact<br />
that they responded to their<br />
people’s need far better and faster<br />
than the Bush Government did after<br />
Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans.<br />
We also spent time with Cuban<br />
union officials and workers,<br />
discussing and helping them to take<br />
on board better safety standards<br />
and procedures for their workforce.<br />
Obviously they are a long way<br />
Vinnie Molina and Kevin Reynolds proudly<br />
display the medals awarded for on-going<br />
CFMEU commitment and help towards CUBA<br />
behind our standards but we hope<br />
the knowledge we passed on starts<br />
to improve their local situation.<br />
CFMEU AWARDED<br />
HIGHEST HONOUR<br />
The Cuban Government presented<br />
to both the CFMEU and Organiser<br />
Vinnie Molina, a specially struck<br />
one-off medal to recognise all the<br />
help we have been able to give the<br />
CUBAN people in their struggles.<br />
Cuba has recently been ravaged by<br />
Page 2 Construction Worker – <strong>Winter</strong> <strong>2009</strong>
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