A Call for Puerto Rican Decolonization

An Interview with Lius Suarez

Luis Suarez is the secretary general of the Puerto Rican General Council of Workers, an umbrella organization representing eight unions and 25,000 workers, including teachers and health-care and communications workers. Suarez is also coordinator of the Committees of Labor Organizations (COS), an organization which unites all the unions on the island.

The press holds a big anti-union animus; it ignores labor activities which are favorable and presents only what is negative. Multinational Monitor: What percentage of workers in Puerto Rico are unionized?
Luis Suarez: Six percent of those who have the right to become union members and bargain collectively are unionized. If you include those who are organized even though they do not have the right by law to negotiate and go on strike, the number is closer to 15 percent. Employees of both the central government and municipalities do not have the right to organize and bargain collectively. But they are in fact organized. Health workers and teachers, for example, do not have the right to organize, but they are organized. The police have also been very active in the last year.
MM: In which industries are there officially recognized unions?
Suarez: What is left of agriculture; the tourist industry including hotels; the public corporations--those are government workers that do have the right to organize, such as the telephone workers, the electricity workers and the water company workers.
MM: What are the obstacles to further unionization in Puerto Rico?
Suarez: The main obstacles are the labor policies embodied in the Taft-Hartley Act, both the difficulties that the law itself poses and the way the National Labor Relations Board on the island interprets the law. Besides that, the press holds a big anti-union animus; it ignores labor activities which are favorable and presents only what is negative. A third factor is the lack of unity within the labor movement. We have been achieving some unity, but if we could achieve more, that would help our ability to organize workers.
MM: How does the Taft-Hartley Act especially affect Puerto Rican unions?
Suarez: The difficulties are the same as in the United States. But the difference is that when the Taft-Hartley Act was imposed on the American labor movement, the American labor movement had more than a century of history. The labor movement on the island [of Puerto Rico] was basically an agricultural labor movement, because the economy of the island was agricultural during the first five decades of this century. The Taft-Hartley Act was imposed at a time when we were just making the transition from an agricultural to an industrial economy.
It has made it very difficult for industrial workers to be organized. Even though companies cannot legally discharge anyone for union activities, of course management doesn't tell workers that is why they are being fired. But [if a company is found to violate this rule], the only remedy a worker can get is an economic remedy, which is insignificant and which management can easily absorb. Therefore, it is known that if you get involved in union activities or just defend your rights as a worker, you are a target and you could be dismissed at any time. They are not going to tell you that you are being dismissed because you claimed your rights, but that is the reality. And the high unemployment rate on the island gives management replacements for you as an employee.
MM: What is the unemployment rate?
Suarez: Officially, it is 15 percent. But that figure is arrived at by only taking into account those who are working or are actively looking for a job. A better figure of the unemployment rate on the island would consider two factors: first, the labor participation rate on the island is around 45 percent; second, over 60 percent of the population of the island is receiving food stamps, meaning that they are either totally unemployed or underemployed. That represents around 1.5 million people.
MM: What is the role of U.S. companies in the Puerto Rican economy?
Suarez: These corporations' production is for exportation, by and large. In the last two decades, the corporations have been changing from labor-intensive to capital-intensive manufacturing. The [new] corporations are in the pharmaceutical industry and the electronics industry. There is still also a food industry, canneries. But there has been a change, a shift.
The U.S. companies are making a lot of profit which is tax-free, for a period of 20 years under Puerto Rican law and for an unlimited period under U.S. federal law. To avoid paying taxes, they are required by law and regulation to deposit these profits in Puerto Rican banks. These funds are being used for consumer loans and are also being used for development projects of the Caribbean Basin Initiative.
MM: Are those loans helping Puerto Rico develop?
Suarez: They could help. But we don't see Puerto Rican capital being developed. So there is a continuous dependence on these funds. Additionally, a big part of these loans is being used for consumption and not really for development of the island.
In fact, the situation on the island is reaching a critical point. One indicator is that every year we are having more and more personal bankruptcies.... There is also a recent study commissioned by the U.S. House of Representatives which says that in order for Puerto Rico to maintain its economy at its current level, at least 20,000 persons will have to leave the island annually. The study says that without emigration, the unemployment rate would increase and the labor participation rate would go down.... It also says that the emigration which occurred between the 1950s and 1970s, which it estimates at 25 percent of the population, was by and large responsible for the economic boom of those decades....
MM: Are U.S. firms mostly locating in Puerto Rico to take advantage of the tax breaks?
Suarez: Definitely. Also the lower wages. The average wage on the island is half what it is in the United States, but the cost of living is as high or higher than in the United States. For example, a recent study on the cost of food on the island found that it is 15 to 20 percent higher than in the United States.
MM: How many of the workers in the U.S.-owned factories are unionized?
Suarez: Only one of more than one hundred pharmaceutical factories is unionized; the electronics industry is basically non-unionized; we have unionization in tuna processing and apparel and clothing, but it is a small fraction.
MM: How do the U.S. companies ensure such low levels of unionization?
Suarez: We have the Taft-Hartley Act, and the companies enforce strong policies to discourage unionization. They do it in terms of salary and some other benefits. They try to pay over the minimum wage on the island--of course that is not very difficult for them. It is a policy of giving the workers some benefits, but it is also a scare tactic: you don't have any job security, so you have to do everything to maintain your job. You cannot question. ... You don't have any security, so you have to please your boss because you can lose your job at any time. There are many outside who can replace you.
MM: What is the extent of state-run enterprises in Puerto Rico?
Suarez: There are public corporations to provide electricity, water and telephone services, as well as for the workers' insurance fund, housing and other areas.
MM: Are they facing privatization?
Suarez: The government has been raising the banner of privatization. A law was approved authorizing the privatization of the telephone company, but the government has not been able to sell it as of yet [because it cannot find a buyer who will meet its bidding specifications]. The telephone company is the most lucrative public corporation on the island, and there is strong opposition to the sale. In a couple of weeks, the Corporation of Urban Renewal, which has to do with public housing, is going to be closed; some of its functions are to be absorbed by the Department of Housing and others are going to be privatized. This is happening as a consequence of the changes in the law in the United States on housing and development projects whereby the public housing formerly administered by state agencies is going to be sold and administered by the owners of the projects. [As a result of the changes], close to 300 workers are going to be left in the street.
What is now coming out is that the public enterprises' fiscal problems are a result of mismanagement and corruption that have accumulated for a number of years. It is not that the government cannot be run properly, it is that it hasn't been. The main problem is not an excess of employees as a result of patronage, though that is a problem, but corruption. These corporations could be well run if there was a political consensus on the island that they shouldn't be used for politics.
MM: Where is the impetus for privatization coming from?
Suarez: The Chamber of Commerce and all the organizations that represent management on the island, and the government. Of course, we understand that this is a policy that has been discussed and decided on in Washington.
MM: What is the labor movement's position on privatization?
Suarez: There is strong opposition because our position is that especially in the services that need to be given to the population, privatization will not necessarily create more efficient operation. It will mean higher service costs, and eventually worker dismissals....
MM: How have unions responded to the proposed privatization of the telephone company?
Suarez: The whole labor movement opposes the privatization of the Puerto Rican telephone company. This company was privatized before, in the 1960s and early 1970s, and the service was deficient; now the company gives much better service. It is generating a lot of revenue, even though there is political patronage; it has vice presidents who are well paid, and many of these vice presidents are former politicians. Our position is that their positions should be done away with, which would make the company more productive. We also argue that the telephone industry is a strategic industry, and should not go into private hands.
MM: If it is privatized, will a foreign company take it over?
Suarez: Definitely. There is not enough capital on the island to buy the telephone company. It will be a foreign company. They are speaking about Southern Bell; Telefonica from Spain has also been one of the bidders. But it is going to be a foreign owner, no question about it.
MM: Can Puerto Rico's overall economic problems be addressed while it maintains its current political relationship with the United States?
Suarez: It must change the relationship, or even within the relationship, change the way of doing things. The problem is that, as of now, the economic development of the island is in line with what is best for U.S. companies. In that sense, the status of the island will have to be changed. Puerto Rico must at least be given the power to change that. Part of the problem is that right now we do not have the political power to make changes and free decisions that will really protect our economy.
We are supposed to have an open economy with the United States, but that is a fallacious assertion. It is open to the extent that it benefits U.S. interests. Let me give you an example. There are supposed to be no tax barriers between the United States and Puerto Rico because we are an open economy. But Puerto Rican rum has been taxed by the United States to make it more expensive and to protect the liquor producers in the United States. To justify that inequity, the taxes levied on the rum in the United States are given to the island. But if we were talking about a free exchange of goods, there would be no taxes.
MM: What is your position on the future of Puerto Rico, in terms of statehood or independence?
Suarez: My position is that the most important thing for the island is to engage in a true decolonization process, where we can solve the colonial problem and establish either an independent nation or a truly equal relationship with the United States. I don't favor statehood.
The real stress should be on decolonization. Until now, the changes on the island have been a pretense of decolonization, but the relationship [with the United States] has remained colonial in nature, with the supremacy and superiority of U.S. law in Puerto Rico and U.S. economic interests over Puerto Rico.
Of course, the official position is that we are not a colony, but that is not reality. The colonial problem has not been addressed. There is no consensus on the island because there are interests which favor commonwealth; they know this is a colony, but publicly they will not admit it.... There has been a lot of manipulation on the island by the political elite and mass media as to what the reality of the island is and what the reality outside of Puerto Rico is. For example, the leaders of the Popular Democratic Party told us in the 1950s that we were solving our colonial problem. In the U.S. Senate, these same leaders said that establishing of Free Associated State would not change the power of the United States in Puerto Rico. Of course that U. S. power has been proven in the decades that have elapsed since.
The political parties are not addressing the issue so as to really solve our colonial problem. That is the main problem in terms of politicians on the island. Since they want to come out winners, they will not acknowledge the real situation and they will not concentrate their efforts on solving our colonial problems. The United States knows that and takes advantage of divisions within the Puerto Rican political leadership to maintain colonial domination over the island.

It is known that if you get involved in union actities or just defend your rights as a worker, you are a target and could be dismissed at any time.

Only one of more than one hundred [U.S.-owned] pharmaceutical factories is unionized; the electonics industry is basically non-unionized; we have unionization in tuna processing and apparel and clothing, but it is a small fraction.

You don't have any job security, so you have to do everything to maintain your job. You cannot question... You have to please your boss because you can lose your job at any time. There are many outside who can replace you.

...as of now, the economic development of the island is in line with what is best for U.S. companies... Puerto Rico must at least be given the power to change that.

...the relationship [with the U.S.] has remained colonizal in nature, with the supremecy and superiority of U.S. law in Puetro Rico and U.S. economic interests over Puerto Rico.

Table of Contents

The press holds a big anti-union animus; it ignores labor activities which are favorable and presents only what is negative.	Multinational Monitor: What percentage of workers in Puerto Rico are unionized? Luis Suarez: Six percent of those who have the right to become union members and bargain collectively are unionized. If you include those who are organized even though they do not have the right by law to negotiate and go on strike, the number is closer to 15 percent. Employees of both the central government and municipalities do not have the right to organize and bargain collectively. But they are in fact organized. Health workers and teachers, for example, do not have the right to organize, but they are organized. The police have also been very active in the last year. MM: In which industries are there officially recognized unions? Suarez: What is left of agriculture; the tourist industry including hotels; the public corporations--those are government workers that do have the right to organize, such as the telephone workers, the electricity workers and the water company workers. MM: What are the obstacles to further unionization in Puerto Rico? Suarez: The main obstacles are the labor policies embodied in the Taft-Hartley Act, both the difficulties that the law itself poses and the way the National Labor Relations Board on the island interprets the law. Besides that, the press holds a big anti-union animus; it ignores labor activities which are favorable and presents only what is negative. A third factor is the lack of unity within the labor movement. We have been achieving some unity, but if we could achieve more, that would help our ability to organize workers. MM: How does the Taft-Hartley Act especially affect Puerto Rican unions? Suarez: The difficulties are the same as in the United States. But the difference is that when the Taft-Hartley Act was imposed on the American labor movement, the American labor movement had more than a century of history. The labor movement on the island [of Puerto Rico] was basically an agricultural labor movement, because the economy of the island was agricultural during the first five decades of this century. The Taft-Hartley Act was imposed at a time when we were just making the transition from an agricultural to an industrial economy. It has made it very difficult for industrial workers to be organized. Even though companies cannot legally discharge anyone for union activities, of course management doesn't tell workers that is why they are being fired. But [if a company is found to violate this rule], the only remedy a worker can get is an economic remedy, which is insignificant and which management can easily absorb. Therefore, it is known that if you get involved in union activities or just defend your rights as a worker, you are a target and you could be dismissed at any time. They are not going to tell you that you are being dismissed because you claimed your rights, but that is the reality. And the high unemployment rate on the island gives management replacements for you as an employee. MM: What is the unemployment rate? Suarez: Officially, it is 15 percent. But that figure is arrived at by only taking into account those who are working or are actively looking for a job. A better figure of the unemployment rate on the island would consider two factors: first, the labor participation rate on the island is around 45 percent; second, over 60 percent of the population of the island is receiving food stamps, meaning that they are either totally unemployed or underemployed. That represents around 1.5 million people. MM: What is the role of U.S. companies in the Puerto Rican economy? Suarez: These corporations' production is for exportation, by and large. In the last two decades, the corporations have been changing from labor-intensive to capital-intensive manufacturing. The [new] corporations are in the pharmaceutical industry and the electronics industry. There is still also a food industry, canneries. But there has been a change, a shift. The U.S. companies are making a lot of profit which is tax-free, for a period of 20 years under Puerto Rican law and for an unlimited period under U.S. federal law. To avoid paying taxes, they are required by law and regulation to deposit these profits in Puerto Rican banks. These funds are being used for consumer loans and are also being used for development projects of the Caribbean Basin Initiative. MM: Are those loans helping Puerto Rico develop? Suarez: They could help. But we don't see Puerto Rican capital being developed. So there is a continuous dependence on these funds. Additionally, a big part of these loans is being used for consumption and not really for development of the island. In fact, the situation on the island is reaching a critical point. One indicator is that every year we are having more and more personal bankruptcies.... There is also a recent study commissioned by the U.S. House of Representatives which says that in order for Puerto Rico to maintain its economy at its current level, at least 20,000 persons will have to leave the island annually. The study says that without emigration, the unemployment rate would increase and the labor participation rate would go down.... It also says that the emigration which occurred between the 1950s and 1970s, which it estimates at 25 percent of the population, was by and large responsible for the economic boom of those decades.... MM: Are U.S. firms mostly locating in Puerto Rico to take advantage of the tax breaks? Suarez: Definitely. Also the lower wages. The average wage on the island is half what it is in the United States, but the cost of living is as high or higher than in the United States. For example, a recent study on the cost of food on the island found that it is 15 to 20 percent higher than in the United States. MM: How many of the workers in the U.S.-owned factories are unionized? Suarez: Only one of more than one hundred pharmaceutical factories is unionized; the electronics industry is basically non-unionized; we have unionization in tuna processing and apparel and clothing, but it is a small fraction. MM: How do the U.S. companies ensure such low levels of unionization? Suarez: We have the Taft-Hartley Act, and the companies enforce strong policies to discourage unionization. They do it in terms of salary and some other benefits. They try to pay over the minimum wage on the island--of course that is not very difficult for them. It is a policy of giving the workers some benefits, but it is also a scare tactic: you don't have any job security, so you have to do everything to maintain your job. You cannot question. ... You don't have any security, so you have to please your boss because you can lose your job at any time. There are many outside who can replace you. MM: What is the extent of state-run enterprises in Puerto Rico? Suarez: There are public corporations to provide electricity, water and telephone services, as well as for the workers' insurance fund, housing and other areas. MM: Are they facing privatization? Suarez: The government has been raising the banner of privatization. A law was approved authorizing the privatization of the telephone company, but the government has not been able to sell it as of yet [because it cannot find a buyer who will meet its bidding specifications]. The telephone company is the most lucrative public corporation on the island, and there is strong opposition to the sale. In a couple of weeks, the Corporation of Urban Renewal, which has to do with public housing, is going to be closed; some of its functions are to be absorbed by the Department of Housing and others are going to be privatized. This is happening as a consequence of the changes in the law in the United States on housing and development projects whereby the public housing formerly administered by state agencies is going to be sold and administered by the owners of the projects. [As a result of the changes], close to 300 workers are going to be left in the street. What is now coming out is that the public enterprises' fiscal problems are a result of mismanagement and corruption that have accumulated for a number of years. It is not that the government cannot be run properly, it is that it hasn't been. The main problem is not an excess of employees as a result of patronage, though that is a problem, but corruption. These corporations could be well run if there was a political consensus on the island that they shouldn't be used for politics. MM: Where is the impetus for privatization coming from? Suarez: The Chamber of Commerce and all the organizations that represent management on the island, and the government. Of course, we understand that this is a policy that has been discussed and decided on in Washington. MM: What is the labor movement's position on privatization? Suarez: There is strong opposition because our position is that especially in the services that need to be given to the population, privatization will not necessarily create more efficient operation. It will mean higher service costs, and eventually worker dismissals.... MM: How have unions responded to the proposed privatization of the telephone company? Suarez: The whole labor movement opposes the privatization of the Puerto Rican telephone company. This company was privatized before, in the 1960s and early 1970s, and the service was deficient; now the company gives much better service. It is generating a lot of revenue, even though there is political patronage; it has vice presidents who are well paid, and many of these vice presidents are former politicians. Our position is that their positions should be done away with, which would make the company more productive. We also argue that the telephone industry is a strategic industry, and should not go into private hands. MM: If it is privatized, will a foreign company take it over? Suarez: Definitely. There is not enough capital on the island to buy the telephone company. It will be a foreign company. They are speaking about Southern Bell; Telefonica from Spain has also been one of the bidders. But it is going to be a foreign owner, no question about it. MM: Can Puerto Rico's overall economic problems be addressed while it maintains its current political relationship with the United States? Suarez: It must change the relationship, or even within the relationship, change the way of doing things. The problem is that, as of now, the economic development of the island is in line with what is best for U.S. companies. In that sense, the status of the island will have to be changed. Puerto Rico must at least be given the power to change that. Part of the problem is that right now we do not have the political power to make changes and free decisions that will really protect our economy. We are supposed to have an open economy with the United States, but that is a fallacious assertion. It is open to the extent that it benefits U.S. interests. Let me give you an example. There are supposed to be no tax barriers between the United States and Puerto Rico because we are an open economy. But Puerto Rican rum has been taxed by the United States to make it more expensive and to protect the liquor producers in the United States. To justify that inequity, the taxes levied on the rum in the United States are given to the island. But if we were talking about a free exchange of goods, there would be no taxes. MM: What is your position on the future of Puerto Rico, in terms of statehood or independence? Suarez: My position is that the most important thing for the island is to engage in a true decolonization process, where we can solve the colonial problem and establish either an independent nation or a truly equal relationship with the United States. I don't favor statehood. The real stress should be on decolonization. Until now, the changes on the island have been a pretense of decolonization, but the relationship [with the United States] has remained colonial in nature, with the supremacy and superiority of U.S. law in Puerto Rico and U.S. economic interests over Puerto Rico. Of course, the official position is that we are not a colony, but that is not reality. The colonial problem has not been addressed. There is no consensus on the island because there are interests which favor commonwealth; they know this is a colony, but publicly they will not admit it.... There has been a lot of manipulation on the island by the political elite and mass media as to what the reality of the island is and what the reality outside of Puerto Rico is. For example, the leaders of the Popular Democratic Party told us in the 1950s that we were solving our colonial problem. In the U.S. Senate, these same leaders said that establishing of Free Associated State would not change the power of the United States in Puerto Rico. Of course that U. S. power has been proven in the decades that have elapsed since. The political parties are not addressing the issue so as to really solve our colonial problem. That is the main problem in terms of politicians on the island. Since they want to come out winners, they will not acknowledge the real situation and they will not concentrate their efforts on solving our colonial problems. The United States knows that and takes advantage of divisions within the Puerto Rican political leadership to maintain colonial domination over the island.
It is known that if you get involved in union actities or just defend your rights as a worker, you are a target and could be dismissed at any time.
Only one of more than one hundred [U.S.-owned] pharmaceutical factories is unionized; the electonics industry is basically non-unionized; we have unionization in tuna processing and apparel and clothing, but it is a small fraction.
You don't have any job security, so you have to do everything to maintain your job. You cannot question... You have to please your boss because you can lose your job at any time. There are many outside who can replace you.
...as of now, the economic development of the island is in line with what is best for U.S. companies... Puerto Rico must at least be given the power to change that.
...the relationship [with the U.S.] has remained colonizal in nature, with the supremecy and superiority of U.S. law in Puetro Rico and U.S. economic interests over Puerto Rico.