2023-11-09 15:00:00
Sewing is like weaving stories with threads and fabrics. Each stitch tells a new episode, sometimes more beautiful, other times, full of nostalgia, always with great effort. Workshop 112, Mártires del 20 de Noviembre, located in Cabañas, Mariel, is not experiencing its best times today, but no worker stops to complain.
Both the middle school and pre-university uniform pants that they delivered before the start of this school year, as well as those that they recently finished for AZCUBA, the 1,200 that they make these days, intended for students of professional technical education, or the 3 000 shirts for primary school children, holding them to their position until the end of the day.
With own canvas and brush
They truly understand the importance of their mission. They are also artists, not those who exhibit unique pieces in renowned galleries, but those who create works to be carried on the body day after day. The fabric is your canvas and the sewing machine is your brush.
Regla Caridad Martínez’s love for the job has tied her to that workshop since it was founded in 1980. “I was a trainer; However, my job is there, on the machine, and to help my colleagues whenever necessary.”
She does not mind having surgery on both hands because she suffers from Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, an occupational disease caused by forced postures, repetitive movements and excessive pressure on the median nerve in the wrist.
She mentions that sewing also affects the spine, feet, eyesight… but, she does not insist on pain or ailments but on the topic that excites her. “I like complex operations, especially on pockets, and I look for ideas that benefit my skill,” says experienced seamstress A.
“This workshop has a very beautiful history,” says its boss, Irma Rodríguez. It was made of cane carts, although it was no longer used, and Félix Rivera, the president of the popular council, gave it this new purpose to offer employment to housewives.”
“In 1980, there were 180 workers in two shifts. “We receive workers from Quiebra Hacha to Silvio Caro.”
Deepening wounds
If those memories made his eyes shine, they dim as he recounts the wounds that have grown deeper and deeper with the years. “Starting in 1985, there were only 118 of us in a shift. In 1990 we ran out of raw materials and made boxes for collection. The workforce decreased. Today the staff is limited to 34; Physically, it was 22”.
Irma remembers when they used to make 2,000 and up to 4,000 units a day: uniforms, work shirts…
“The minimum wage currently amounts to barely 2,100 pesos, and only A seamstresses earn 3,400 (only three, by Resolution, plus one B and the rest C). However, B and C carry out operations from A, such as front and back pockets, stitching, pinning, overstitching, crotch closing and widening.
“That’s why, a week ago, María Caridad Rodríguez left crying. She is going to work with her daughter in a cafeteria, where she will earn 500 pesos a day.
“And Belkis Valdés, the best seamstress, one of the first to arrive and the last to leave, also left. She did everything well: belt loops, buttonholes, belt loops, buttons, scallops, topstitching… Even if she felt bad, she never failed, and she always delivered. She did not have an A seamstress qualification, because she had not attended grade 12.”
She was led there, 20 years ago, by an irremediable inclination for sewing, since she was a child. However, she had already commented on the insufficiency of her income, a situation that was aggravated by being divorced with a daughter. Her response to an agreed production earned her 6,000 pesos in June, unfortunately something unusual.
Tenacity, despite everything
Furthermore, a new threat now arises for that workplace: the Spanish company Maralaico plans to open a new textile manufacturing workshop in the Mariel Special Development Zone, where it would pay up to 12,000 pesos and distribute two modules a month to its employees.
Of the seamstresses of the Martyrs of November 20, only one did not fill out the job application form.
Marisol Jáuregui has been in the old establishment located in Cabañas for 32 years. She masters all operations, both on flat and special machines. He doesn’t stop moving his hands for a second to get each piece ready. “I like working here, but I would like to earn more money,” she emphasizes.
“I suffer from seeing my workplace like this,” declares Irma Rodríguez, the head of that group.
Four of the nine air extractors do not work there, they require more lighting, and the mechanic, electrician and compressor premises, essential for cleaning the machines, remain closed due to the danger of collapse, or the very expensive laces break.
Despite everything, she is not dominated by pessimism. She insists on the tenacity of Saturdays and Sundays to fulfill her part in ensuring this school year, and refers to the new order of pants for polytechnic students and shirts for primary school students.
It talks about the act of love towards each garment, the unique melody of sewing machines, the magic of turning a simple fabric into something useful like a uniform… and the dreams that continue to be weaved day after day with colored threads.
Only five of the nine air extractors are working and require more lighting Some workshop facilities are very
deteriorated
#Wounds #threats #determination #workshop