Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2014, published 104th ILC session (2015)

Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122) - Cuba (Ratification: 1971)

Article 1 of the Convention. Implementation of an employment policy within the framework of a coordinated economic and social policy. With reference to its 2011 direct request, the Committee notes the Government’s statement in its report received in July 2014 indicating that the updating of the economic model does not affect the application of the Convention. The Government observes that employment is being maintained in the state sector and that a system of employment is applied in the non-state sector which includes: agricultural production cooperatives, credit and service cooperatives; basic cooperative production units; land users and own-account workers. The Committee notes that at the end of 2013 own-account work was carried out by 447,835 persons, which is triple the figure for those engaged in non-state employment. The Government provides data with its report from the National Statistical Office indicating that, at the end of 2013, employment covered 4,918,800 workers (women represent 37.4 per cent of employed persons) and that the unemployment rate was 3.3 per cent, with the rate for women being 3.5 per cent and that for men, 3.1 per cent. The Committee notes Decision No. 34/2011 of 6 September 2011 through which the Minister of Labour issued Regulations on the labour and wage measures applicable to available and interrupted workers. The Committee invites the Government to continue providing information on the manner in which the reallocation of state workers enables the persons concerned to engage in productive activities. The Committee also invites the Government to include up to-date information on the situation, level and trends of the labour market, with an indication of how they affect specific categories of workers, such as women, young persons and available and interrupted workers affected by the reorganization of the state sector.

Small and medium-sized enterprises. Cooperatives. The Government recalls in its report that authorization to engage in own-account work is not recent, but that the innovative aspect is related to the scope of the activities and the introduction of greater facilities for exercising such activities. The Committee notes that the products and services from own-account work and other forms of non-state activities contribute to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The Government adds that, in this manner, effect is given to the concept of decent work. The Committee invites the Government to continue providing information on the impact on national GDP of authorization to engage in own-account work, and particularly the contribution made by agricultural production cooperatives and other initiatives taken to increase agricultural production.

Education and training. The Government continues to provide certain data on the participation of workers in post-graduate education. The Committee invites the Government to provide information on the measures adopted to coordinate education and training policies with employment.

Article 3. Participation of the social partners. The Government states that there was a transparent process of dialogue with the population which was reflected in the national consensus on the characteristics to be followed by the economic and social model of the country, which involves maintaining the achievement of the objectives of full, productive and freely chosen employment. The Committee invites the Government to provide updated information demonstrating how the representatives of all the interested parties have given their views on the process of updating the economic model in relation to the achievement of the objectives of the Convention.

The Committee notes the observations made by the Independent Trade Union Coalition of Cuba (CSIC) in August 2014 on the activities of state employment agencies in the recruitment of workers to be employed in the Mariel Special Development Zone and the reply received from the Government in November 2014. The Government indicates that employment agencies do not operate in the Mariel Special Development Zone, but rather enterprises which are obliged to ensure compliance with the applicable labour legislation. The Committee invites the Government to continue to provide information on the contribution of the Mariel Special Development Zone to the generation of productive and freely chosen employment.