Trade Union Movement Intensifies Preparations for International Workers’ Day Celebration on 1 May

A trilogy of idea-generating initiatives is boosting preparations for the celebration of International Working Class Day on 1 May in the Cuban province of Ciego de Ávila.

Sulema Veliz Pina, a member of the provincial secretariat of the Cuban Workers’ Federation (CTC), reported that the first source of actions prioritises tribute to 15 work collectives that achieved National Vanguard status for their comprehensive performance during 2025.

Among them, she mentioned the Container Operating Unit (Transcontenedores), which recently joined the elite group with the highest category in the Cuban trade union movement’s emulation.

The trade unionist said that the second force energises the holding of revolutionary reaffirmation rallies in workplaces. «At the Doctor Antonio Luaces Iraola General Teaching Provincial Hospital — she gave as an example — the message from the participants was very clear; they stated that the inhumane economic blockade against our country is like a silent enemy in every operating theatre, in every consultation, in every bed of the healthcare institution.

«An obstacle, as was explained there, is the inability to purchase surgical instruments for minimally invasive techniques in orthopaedic services. Many of the firms that produced those instruments were independent, and Cuba used to buy from them. Today, the companies have US shareholders who forbid trading with the Island.»

The components of the Osteosynthesis Association system, fundamental for treating any fracture, are now denied because they belong to US interests, an issue that Dr Osvaldo García Martínez, president of the Orthopaedics Academic Committee at that hospital, has highlighted in various settings.

The rally also quantified the impact of the inhumane siege over more than six decades on the national health system. In 2025 alone, 288 million could have been invested in medicines, equipment, supplies and maintenance.

Completing the trilogy, which is generating the most drive these days, is the reading of the call for the 1 May parade and the ExpoAnir «Cuba Solutions» event in neighbourhoods and communities, to showcase the intelligence and creativity of workers and the people to break the empire’s blockade. This activity is included in the commemorative programmes for the 50th anniversary of the National Association of Innovators and Rationalisers and the centenary of the birth of Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro Ruz.