Radio Cadena Agramonte emisiora de Camagüey
A close minister, who appeared everywhere to be interested in the smallest details and did not hesitate to share sweat with the workers, that was Che.
On his visit to the Matahambre mines, he went down to level 43, defying his asthma, he insisted on working part-time and at the end he had broken the norm, but he warned “that they were not going to raise the extraction standard for the miners by "What he had done because he had only worked part-time and at a pace of intensity that was impossible to maintain on a daily basis."
Many images show him in voluntary work, which he conceived as forming consciousness and of which he was the main promoter. If upon arriving at the factory where he was going to do it, together with his colleagues from the Red Battalion created for that purpose in the Ministry of Industries, (Mindus in Spanish) he was asked: Commander, where do you want to work?, he responded with another question: Which one is the worst job, the hardest? Okay, let's try there. And at the end of the day he toured the factory, talked with the workers, suggested improvements, criticized the quality of certain production, visited the warehouses and many times questioned the administrator about the economic indicators.
Despite his high responsibilities, Che dedicated special attention to the volunteer work begun in November 1959 in the construction of what would be the Camilo Cienfuegos School City in Caney de las Mercedes, for the children of the Sierra Maestra. There, without letting his asthma overcome him, he crushed stones, threw concrete slabs, laid bricks, pushed wheelbarrows...
The then Chief of Personnel of Mindus, Ángel Arcos Bergnes, who directed the light mechanical production branch where the Ministry's voluntary work movement began, says that during those days that could be Saturdays, Sundays or nights, workers approached him to tell him : “Arcos, but this man doesn't feel like going to do something necessary? "He doesn't even go to the bathroom, dude, and at snack time he stays working on the computer, he doesn't rest for a minute." Therein lay the secret of why it was very difficult to beat him in emulation.
And he was seen in the port stowing bags, in the cane fields cutting cane and as a combine operator for weeks, in order to demonstrate the need to use them to humanize work.
An anecdote demonstrating this occurred in a fraternal competition between him and Arcos at the Sergio González factory, belonging to the then paper and cardboard converting company.
Both were glued to the clipping machines for five hours; in the end, Che had packed 4,425 boxes, which exceeded the norm by 50. But his partner made six more boxes. Arcos felt euphoric about his victory, however, Che told him that he had just spoken with the person responsible for quality control and he assured him that his production was better; therefore, he was the winner of the day.
When the plastic factory burned, he showed up with his bodyguards and worked like any other worker. The task was to carry 50-pound bags of raw materials but, because they were wet, they weighed 80 to 100 pounds. That day he had a severe asthma attack, and his companions agreed to give him only the dry bags. When he realized this, he gave them a tremendous scolding and demanded that from now on he would only carry wet bags, because although he suffered from asthma, he was not an invalid.
There are countless anecdotes of that sweat shared with the workers who made Che an example. “Work is the most honorable activity of man,” he said, and he demonstrated it with his actions. (Text and photo: Digital Workers)
