Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1992, published 79th ILC session (1992)

Protection of Wages Convention, 1949 (No. 95) - Cuba (Ratification: 1952)

As regards the comments dated 31 January 1991 by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) concerning the application of this Convention and the practice of the state enterprise CUBATECNICA, the Government's report includes the following information as well as a copy of the contract between CUBATECNICA and the young workers: the Government states that young workers were sent to the German Democratic Republic to work there with a view to improving their qualifications on the basis of a bilateral agreement between the governments. The contract prescribes that the young worker should remit to Cuba 60 per cent of the difference between the monthly income and the amount deemed necessary for the maintenance of the worker in the country. The latter amount in the German Democratic Republic was 350 marks, which was equal to the amount Cuban students in the same country were granted, according to the Government. The young worker, in pursuance of the contract, authorises CUBATECNICA to draw money from his or her bank account to compensate the cost it assumed for the worker, and can control the account only after having paid the debt to CUBATECNICA. The Government also states that the exchange rate applied in this connection was that fixed by the National Bank of Cuba corresponding to the rate in force in the transactions between the two countries.

The Committee notes this information. It would point out that, although Article 6 of the Convention does not apply to this case since CUBATECNICA is not the employer of the young worker, provisions such as Article 3 (payment in legal tender) and Article 12(1) (regular payment) are intended to ensure that the worker receives the wages as a whole in a manner in which they are immediately disposable to the worker. The Committee requests the Government to indicate whether young workers are at present sent abroad under the contract with CUBATECNICA and, if so, to provide detailed information on the practice.