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

Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) - Cuba (Ratification: 1965)

The Committee refers to its previous comments and to the observation concerning the Convention which is being directed to the Government this year. The Committee notes that the Government has not supplied any information in response to the questions raised in its previous direct request which reads as follows:

Access to training

1. The Committee notes that Resolution No. 53/90, of 30 March 1990, of the Ministry of Education, respecting the establishment of lists of candidates for post-elementary secondary education, provides in section 9 that provincial directorates of education and elementary secondary establishments shall seek the support of the Union of Young Communists and the "José Martí" Pioneer Organisation, when establishing their procedure and shall take all appropriate measures to maintain "rigorously the principles underlying the system governing the list of candidates during all the years that it has been applied". The Committee would be grateful if the Government would supply information on the effect given in practice to these provisions respecting the establishment of the list of candidates.

2. The Committee refers to Resolution No. 331/87 which repealed, among other instruments, Resolution No. 327/82 of 9 November 1982, to which it referred in its previous comments. It notes that Resolution No. 331/87 states in its preamble that it is necessary to repeal a series of regulations which cover, in some cases, organisational matters and in other cases, matters of an administrative nature, and that the matters covered by those regulations that remain in force have been covered in subsequent regulations. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would state in this connection whether the requirement of fulfilling the political and ideological conditions specified in Resolution No. 327/82 has remained in force.

3. The Government states that Resolution No. 4 of 15 July 1980 was repealed by Resolution No. 238/81 of 24 July 1981. The Committee notes that the text of Resolution No. 238/81, which was transmitted by the Government, repeals resolution No. 4 of 5 January 1980. The Committee also wishes to point out that Resolution No. 418, of 23 September 1985, of the Ministry of Higher Education, to which it referred in its previous comments, was published in the Official Gazette of 4 November 1985 and concerned new admissions and the continued attendance of students in the "Sergio Pérez" preparatory faculty of the "Pablo Lafargue" Higher Teaching Institute.

4. The Government states that Resolution No. 702, of 29 December 1981, of the Ministry of Education is not in force and that the assignment of graduates is carried out according to the procedure set out in Chapter IV of the rules for the application of the employment policy, adopted by Resolution No. 51/88 of 12 December 1988. The Committee notes that, by virtue of section 4 of Resolution No. 51/88, many resolutions are to be repealed, although Resolution No. 702 is not among them. It also notes that Chapter IV of the above rules lays down the contracts which must be concluded with graduates by bodies that are provided with those graduates through the centralised authority (sections 109 and 110), and requiring organs of the central administration and of the local authorities, and mass organisations must conclude, in September each year, contracts with the graduates who are assigned to them (section 111). The Committee notes, however, that Chapter IV of the rules does not appear to include provisions respecting the distribution and assignment of graduates or the criteria taken into account for this purpose; by virtue of Resolution No. 702 of 1981, these criteria also include political and ideological aspects.

5. The Committee refers to its comments on Resolution No. 50 of 21 September 1987 (inclusion of the political and ideological scope of the work performed in the evaluation of the performance of journalists). The Committee notes the Government's statement that these comments have been noted and that any amendment of the provisions in question will be reported to the Committee. The Committee requests the Government to indicate the measures that have been taken or are envisaged to guarantee equality of opportunity and treatment to workers in journalism, in accordance with the Convention.