Jewish community leaders in Cubc are irate at the fact that the Association of Diamond Industries, composed of Jewish refugees from Belgium, has inserted a full-page advertisement in local newspapers giving the names and the salaries of Jewish technicians and experts employed in the diamond industry in this country.
The advertisement is aimed at convincing the public that the salaries of the Jewish technicians, who are highly skilled, must be reduced in order to comply with the government’s order that Cubans who recently entered the industry, mostly as diamond polishers, are to receive higher wages.
Higher wages for the native workers in the industry were fixed last week under a Presidential decree which resulted in settlement of the strike called by the Cuban emplyees in an effort to secure the same wages as the Jewish workers. Before the strike was proclaimed the native workers received from $60 to $80 a week, which is more than they receive in any other occupation.
Many of the Jewish technicians have stopped work in a demonstration against the efforts of the Association of Diamond Industries to have their wages reduced. On the other hand, the Association is now seeking an audience with the President in (##) to present its arguments to him. Members of the Association threaten to cease operations when their present supply of raw materials is exhausted.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
