Recently, the Workers' Central Union of Cuba (CTC, Spanish acronym) recognized two workers from Las Tunas with the Hero of Labor Honorary Title. 

RECOGNITION FOR CONSTANCY

Orestes Benítez Fernández did not imagine that the performance of a lifetime of service, with the drive to create in adverse conditions and the attitude of focusing on solutions rather than obstacles, would make him worthy in 2021 of the highest title that not only a mechanic, but any worker in Cuba can hold, that of Hero of Labor of the Republic.

It was not the rewards that moved him to participate permanently in six sugar harvests, in the cleaning and sowing of sugarcane, and social works. Orestes accumulates an annual average of 370 hours of volunteer work, out of the conviction of being where he is most useful, and where his hands can contribute to the economy.

He is not only a worker of constancy. He has been able to combine ingenuity in his daily routines, putting into practice more than 14 innovations and rationalizations, presented at the Science and Technology Forum and which earned him the category of Relevant and Outstanding on several occasions. On his shoulders rests the conviction that he has saved his company more than one million pesos for this concept.

Benítez has the respect of the workers of the 14 de Junio workshops, where he currently works. His meritorious performance, beyond the schedules, has conferred him the National Vanguard Status for 11 consecutive years.

Throughout his career, he has stood out for his tenacity, punctuality, and optimum performance, which is reflected in his 157 percent over-fulfillment of his salary standard. His tasks have always met the expected quality parameters and, for the recovery and restoration of parts, he saves his company an estimated 19,800 pesos.

Besides standing out as a mechanic and innovator, since the early years of his life he has performed tasks related to the defense of the homeland and has solid values as a revolutionary.

He proudly keeps the Jesús Menéndez and 40th Anniversary of the Revolutionary Armed Forces medals, the Jesús Suárez Gayol and 28 de Septiembre Distinctions, as well as the Seals XXX Anniversary of the Fall in Combat of Che and his Comrades in Struggle, 60th Anniversary of the CTC and 19th Congress of the CTC. He has also received the Lázaro Peña Order in first, second, and third degrees.

THE TITAN OF THE "PACO CABRERA"

Odel Peña Vázquez has left a mark in the Comandante Paco Cabrera Metal Structures Company (Metunas in Spanish). For his exceptional performance, from those workshops, he is today awarded the star of Hero of Labor of the Republic of Cuba.

Back in 1983, he entered his job with the motivation of achieving, by dint of sacrifice, a career as a tinker. He has achieved so much that, in 37 years of continuous work, his attendance indicator has been one hundred percent, and he has worked between 10 and 12 hours a day with discipline, exigency, dedication, and exemplarity.

Those who know him define him as a quiet, honest man, who faces each day with determination, always contributing with the best ideas and solutions to guarantee productive continuity. Odel is a strong pillar in his area, and he is a reference for the training of new operators.

For more than 15 years he assumed responsibilities within the union movement, with outstanding results. Currently, he is a professor of the Elementary School of Labor Union, where he teaches subjects related to the operation of the National Association of Innovators and Rationalizers (ANIR, Spanish acronym). He participated as a delegate in the VIII, IX, and X Congresses of the National Union of Industry Workers and the XIX Congress of the Workers' Central Union of Cuba (CTC).

With his innovations, he has contributed to the improvement of the productive process of his workshop. He is a trainer of the Municipal Bureau of ANIR and has presented more than 13 works to the Forum of Science and Technology, aimed at responding to the problems of Metunas. Some of these inventions reached the Relevant and Outstanding category at the municipal, provincial, and national levels.

Odel accumulates an annual average of 940 hours of volunteer work and has made a particular effort in the manufacturing of priority works for the development of the country in the Tourism sector.

This giant has maintained for 21 consecutive years the National Vanguard Status. It holds the Jesús Menéndez and Hazaña Laboral medals, and several stamps for the anniversaries of the CTC. In addition, he has been awarded the Lazaro Peña Order in second and third degrees.