No one expected the good news. Even in the workers’ congress, the issue was overlooked. But the announcement, on the afternoon of June 27, of the salary increase to the budgeted sector and of pensions generated an atmosphere of optimism in the working people.
It was an old yearning, not expected, but welcomed by all. Even the benefit comes to recent graduates.
It was always said that for this salary increase, labor productivity was key, and proportionally. This did not grow, and amid the economic tensions that the country is experiencing, this bold step was taken.
The measure impacts in a million 470 thousand 736 workers of the organisms of the Central Administration of the State, the local bodies of the Popular Power, the organizations and associations of the country.
In Mayabeque hundreds of teachers have returned to the classroom after the announcement of the salary benefit.
Many families have been lacking with a salary that does not reach the end of the month. “Now I can buy a little more oil and my chicken packages.” This is what my neighbor Marlenys told me, a teacher who has been working in the special education for 30 years in Güines and, despite everything, did not leave the sector.
Maybe someone says it won’t reach now either. But it is a break for the battered pocket of thousands of workers, pensioners, recent graduates, and there will be some who with the money of August feels like the story of the cockroach Martina ?What will I buy?.?
To guarantee the triumph of this monetary policy, the country’s management has indicated to encourage the sale of food, construction materials, tourist packages and offers related to computerization and communications.
All this is valid, because improving life is not just about changing the menu at home, even if that remains a Cuban priority.
It is about money having real purchasing power and improving the lives of the favored and their families. Hence the measure of the strict control of the prices of products, goods and services sold to the population to preserve the country’s financial balance.
The first step has already been taken to reverse the social pyramid, which has influenced many professionals to migrate to better paid sectors, and non-professionals have a higher standard of living.
As the authorities announced, this first step is a special recognition for those who remained.
