CONFEDERACIÓN DE TRABAJADORES DE CUBA (CTC)

A union (central) of trade unions established in January 1939 through the influence of Fulgencio Batista, serving as an umbrella for the then Communist domination of the unions.  It was given official status in 1942, and continued to be Communist controlled until 1947 when President Grau San Martín broke with the Communists, and his anti-Communist labor  minister Prío Socarras pushed them out of the CTC, which became the stronghold of trade unionists favoring his Partido Revolucionario Cubano (Auténtico).  When Prío became president, the exclusion of Communists was so complete that Lázaro Peña, CTC’s principal founder, left for Mexico, and Blas Roca, another Communist stalwart, for the Soviet Union.  After Batista’s coup d’état in 1952, the new secretary general, Eusebio Mujal, cooperated wit the regime, denouncing the general strikes called for by Fidel Castro and others.  After the Revolution of 1959, the CTC lost importance until its reconstitution in 1970 when the government assumed complete control and held “elections” in 37,047 local sections, choosing 164,367 officials to represent its 2.2 million members.  The CTC (now the Central de Trabajadores de Cuba) has stayed loyal to Castro, preventing strikes, and making no demands on behalf of labor.