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Report of violations of the ILO's International Labor Standars by the government of Cuba Chapter IV The Effects of Economic Policies of the Government on Salaries and Employment Policies Salaries At the beginning of the 1980's, the face of employment and salaries was characterized by what the government defined as a general reorganization of the salary system. A general salary reform plan conceived for application during a five year, period from 1981 to 1985. It's objective, to decisively improve the economic sector by incrementally achieving productivity and therefore improve efficiency in the economy. The plan didn't function as the emphasis as always had been on pursuing the already failed socialist principals of distribution while trying to fix the employment issues based on an arbitrary quantity and quality of work quota increments set by the government. The salary scale contended with the existence of a unique structural system that contemplates twenty-three groups with salaries ranging from a minimum of [$100 pesos] a maximum of [$450 pesos] monthly. Those specifications (a system designed and fostered by the Soviets), creates a predetermined and substantial salary differential between one group and another. The State defines all the conditions of salary remuneration essentially imposing strong arm, tactics, due to a higher elevation of centralization. From the technical perspective, the excessive level of uniformity provides no margin for identification of individual grades of contributions and constitutes a destimulating factor for workers. Workers are aware that their economic situation will continue to be difficult, as basic needs are not met. In the majority of cases the salary that is paid is not a material response for goods and services created. An over dimensionalized system has been maintained over the years to sustain an artificially high level of employment. This incongruency, has completely halted the financial progress and given way to the accelerated devaluation of the salaries acquisitive power, favoring a strong growth of inflation and drastically raising levels of poverty. The limited salaries paid has in essence, proportionalized manual labor. A majority of which requires great physical effort under adverse working conditions, (like that of agricultural workers), and which are not properly esteemed. This inefficient economic has salary structure has caused on occasions mass exodus of qualified personnel from the country and reduced the chances for a full work force in vital sectors in the impoverished economy. At the present moment, the designers of the economic policies are facing the point of crisis. Salaries are not reaching workers, measures for curing financial ills are a failure and inflation continues to gallop. If the desire is to achieve increments of efficiency, the rational process of the work force must be accelerated closing the gap of pay equal-to-equal work. External debts constitute strong pressure over the government as it gets dangerously close to the maximum level of exposure possible from creditors. Necessities are accumulating and discontentment continues to grow. In 1994, when the "special period" began, a substitute form of stimulation takes effect. Currency is converted into essential goods in the hopes of rescuing the economic motivation of workers. As a result the hard currency lost its stimulus effect and acquisitive powers. This method of compensation was being to be applied in those sectors connected to foreign investments and which entailed monetary expenditures. These systems create social segments of society that can be considered privileged although in reality these workers are subject to intense pressures and must, unconditionally surrender themselves to the system as a prerequisite for working within it. All of these forms of compensation are strictly conditioned to the laborers compliance to certain rules and regulations. They are not permitted absences or tardiness regardless of the reason. They must avail themselves to the whim of the administrators even if their desires are not work oriented. Before placing a worker as a replacement in a position the administration has to lower the pay scale and increase the levels of productivity and responsibilities expected. Salaries paid cannot exceed five percent of the national pay scale. The politics of employment is regulated by an accord signed on May 24th 1996 by the Executive Committee of the Counsel of Ministers, which precisely details guidelines for incorporating specific enterprises in accepting alternatives to currency for the production stimuli. The accord says, "Vigilantly maintaining the concept that the system of convertible pesos [substitute currencies] is not considered a part of the salary, but is awarded if the collective economic results meet the goals set forth. In order to be eligible for this compensation the standard predetermined regulations will be adhered to without flexibility." "The financing of currencies for the stimulation in convertible pesos will be sustained by the efficiency of each entity. It must be valued jealously so workers do not see the stimulation of currency as part of their fixed salary, but should be associated as an economic result which requires a determined will for meeting goals." Other privileged workers, (who's salary base is lower than the country's average), are those in the tourist industry. They are considered privileged because they have access to hard currency (tips in dollars). To attain one of these positions one has to be well connected to the government. The Minister of Tourism has publicly stated that work in the tourism sector is for revolutionaries. One curious fact to make note of, is that a portion of the employees gratuities are promised by union representatives to be "donated voluntarily". According to the CTC to help with the costs of the maintaining an infant and maternity program and to help with the fight against Cancer. This is an evident form of government, Party and union control of this sector's workers. The government has gone so far as calculating the expected percentages of monetary contributions to be made by these employees, that if they don't receive will subject the employee to dismissal, as positions in the tourism sector are considered lucrative. In the last three years the fixed exchange rate set forth by the National Bank of Cuba gives an estimated twenty-two pesos for every dollar. This indicates that more than three million Cuban workers earn a little bit over ten dollars a month. The average Cuban worker earns a salary less than that of an agricultural worker from any Central American country. At the moment, the salary situation may suffer another change with the introduction of a new policy in state run companies mixed with the "System of Company Perfectionism of the Armed Forces". This is a strategic move to incorporate military personnel, in otherwise civilian administrative positions. In its first phases the labor system is currently undergoing the process of change in leadership in more than three hundred-and-sixty selected entities. This structure has more than sixteen subsystem components related to corporate goals that are based in a decree entitled, "The general basis of Corporate Perfectionism in Cuban State Companies". This is not a serious solution to the problems, but a formula to seriously elongate the decline process of Cuba's catastrophic economic situation Salaries of Foreign Exchange Workers Due to Cuba by being considered a high risk for investors salaries charged to entities with mixed (foreign/State) capital is in general determined not to exceed the pay scale of others areas such as the Caribbean and Central America. To make offers more stimulating investors are guaranteed a competitive edge. The maximum salary of employees working in foreign entities is 700, Cuban pesos and the investor is responsible for covering all of the predetermined salary scale. This amount is based on the salaries as directed by the Ministers of Salary and Social Securities, which breaks down in the following manner: 100% Salary Scale plus 30% additional pays (base coefficients, distant and late night shifts), 30% for the intensity of the work, plus 60% for social benefits, which empowers the Cuban employment agency) plus 10%. This is a total of 230%. The policies established by the government for foreign exchange, contradict ILO's 95th Convention for the Protection of Wages: · Article 5: o "Wages shall be paid directly to workers concerned..." · Article 6: o "Employers shall be prohibited from limiting in any manner the freedom of the worker to dispose of his wages." The fact that the Cuban government charges investors for workers wages in currencies with the highest acquisitive power and in a quantity higher than that which is paid to workers denotes the level of discrimination that exists in this type of institution. The Granma daily, published March 26, 2001, the results of the work year as examined by the counselors widened direction office of the Foreign Investments Ministry. This report titled Marta Lomas provides information and analysis up to the closing of the month of December of 392 active international economic (investor/State) partnerships (333 in Cuba and 59 abroad). There have also been 53 signed Promotional & Reciprocal Investments Protection Agreements. During the first couple of months in 2001, 8 of agreements were signed with Belarus, Austria, Yugoslavia, Zambia, Peru, Paraguay, Denmark, and Croatia. The emphasis was on the "International Collaborators" workers who help meet the needs for technical assistance. The report revealed that in 2000, 8,968 workers from varying sectors worked abroad [1,811 more than in 1999]. 54% of the increment coming from the Integral Health Program, with 2,623 doctors, nurses, and technicians being loaned to 17 countries, the majority being concentrated in Haiti with 725 of which 599 are part of the IHP. "International Collaborators" only receive 10% of the salary the foreign employer pays the Cuban government for their services. To avoid massive desertions of personnel, passports are confiscated by administrators, as soon as they arrive at the workplace destination. Independent studies estimate that there are about 195,000 workers in companies tied to Foreign Investments. A document titled, " To the Foreign Investors", was ratified in Cuba on July 16th, 1998, by more than 30 independent organizations. It clearly states the position to be assumed by the Cuban public and its work force when dealing with the foreign investors as soon as a democratic government is reestablished in Cuba. Considering that Cuban workers are paid 5% of what the government is charging for their labor and level of commitment these investors have with the non-democratic government, they have been cataloged as traitors of the Cuban workers creators and collaborators of the extreme levels of exploitation they are submitted to. To its merit this document also recognizes foreign investors by considering that they truly represent a possible option for the best interest of the Cuban workers and proposes the immediate acceptance of the "Highest Principals". Recently in a meeting concerning the Cuban economy, Carlos Lage stated, "The economy has reported an increase of 4.7 % since 1995." and predicted that this year there would be a growth in the Gross National Product. Ultimately, he referred to what he qualified as, "discrete levels of improvement in the lives of the population and the salary being received by the workers of the island." The existence of independent investigative economists, journalists, and unions make it clear that although statistics made public by the government assuring economic growth, the measurements against which the population appraises its situation is different. The Cuban government is a master of statistical manipulation the results are the mirrored fruits of their expectations and not reality. Calculating economic growth based on prices a decade old gives little credibility to statistics. The Ministry of Economics acknowledges, errors in the publicly recognized standard of measurements. The governments desire to grow at any and all costs while not admitting that the plans for development are elaborated on ideological policies rather than on economic realities appears to be the primary reason for Cuba's failing economy. The Employment Situation In Cuba Based on official estimates, the 1980's decade was characterized by the coming of age of approximately 1 million juvenile workers born in the 1960's. The solution to finding them work was what the government called broadening of productive capacities and services. During the five year period from 1986 – 1990 15,000,000 pesos were paid, these youths. In the early part of the decade incremented growth goals of the Gross National Product were attained, with the constant injection of Soviet financing. Acceptable levels of productivity and efficiency processes allowed investors to widen their scope of investment. The process of prioritizing political objectives, to maintain an unproductive workforce is a detriment to the effective utilization of the same. This mistaken policy permits the proliferation of superfluous employment, intensifying the phenomenon of tumescent factories that are also a socialist sub-employer. This whole situation has been reflected over the course of many years in a deliberate fall and deterioration of productivity and lowered renderings of basic funds. The decline of basic funds was so severe that at the end of 1987 and again in 1989, a part of the investments was allocated to compensate these renderings The expectations without limits of the foreign investors in the Cuban economy, has taken its toll on employment. One example is: The largest textile factory in Latin America was built in Cuba and at the beginning of 1988 it was supposed to produce an average of 80 million meters of fabrics, an unattainable sum. This factory employed more that 15,000 workers, it utilized more public bus transportation than the whole city of Santiago, Cuba. The plant managers also forgot to mention that this factory was probaly the most inefficient in the world. In actuality, more than 70% of the workers were left without jobs and the textile industry in the city of Santiago was left a Slippers factory, a shoe repair shop, and other ideas concocted of reconverting the plant to whatever suited a light industry. By 1991, the sub-employment rate, which became manifest at the end of the previous decade had already increased, leaving a concealed but true unemployment rate. The unemployment crisis continues to grow. The unemployment rates were at about 7.5% from 1994 to 1998. This seemingly low number only takes into account people who go to the City Employment Director to be inscribed for programs and who solicit government work. Evidently, the unemployment calculation, just like the Cuban economy, is not a reliable source of information. In 2001, the unemployment rate is placed at anywhere from 18% to 20% of the economically active population. At the moment, the number young adults that have a higher level of culture and who generally live in the capital cities of the provinces characterize the unemployment situation of today. Until a there is a radical change in economic policies, a vicious cycle is maintained of not substantially increasing productivity. Middle class salaries increase on occasion more than the economic policies. The circulation of money within the population will not be diminished, therefore, reducing the effect of the already miserably low salary the workers earn. This ultimately causes a negative effect in productivity. Basic employment, artificially created and sustained at any and all cost to productivity in the Cuban economy created the following: o An excessive abundance of mid-level management. o High degrees of productivity fluctuation and absenteeism. o Undisciplined laborers and technicians. o Unproductiveness o Corruption o Salaries that rank below poverty level. The sugar cane and other agricultural sectors, which are not sources of employment for displaced workers due to the process of "Industrial Perfectionism" is a paradigm of the inefficiencies in the utilization of productive recourses. The number of agricultural workers, including the so-called Basic Units of Cooperative Production, is estimated a 1,129,000 workers. According to the FAO statistics, which the Cuban government never refers to for information, states that the Cuban agriculture demonstrates an outcome that is lower than the lowest global levels and is inferior to the levels in Haiti. It is distressing to observe how over the course of 42 years of constant economic experimentation, Cuban agriculture has evolved in this mortifying way. One of the problems is created when there is a reorganization of employment. Produced by governmentally operated companies that function under the "Process of Industrial Perfectionism" umbrella. The constant restructuring creates uncertainties in the workers. Resolutions released by the Ministry of Work, Financing and Prices, relates "that the salary and condition of workers who's, work results exceed the expectations of the process of nationalizing the work force, do not result in problematic realities." In an essence workers are not compensated for extra or overtime work and the government doesn't acknowledge this as a significant issue. There is no unemployment compensation in Cuba, when an employee's contract ends so does all source of income. Only the workers who are laid-off due to the "perfectionism process" are guaranteed 60% of the contracted salary during a determined period of time In practice and based on the constant reports received from Cuba on a daily basis. Each time that a process of strange persuasion is put in place "to remedy", "to nationalize", "to perfect", "reorganize", etc. workers that oppose the system or are simply not wanted or needed by the system are displaced. All members of the country's work force, any one who fails, gets sick, too old, too political or humanitarian, men women and children alike are without labor rights. Sectors, like the Tourist Industry, are subject to even further discrimination persons will remain jobless for not having a "professional demeanor" or for "Being Black". There are strong concerns facing Cuban workers.
Without a doubt socialist economic principals have failed in Cuba as they have everywhere else. The economy is spiraling out of control and in many sectors of society has already crashed. The government's current integration of administration and armed forces is a move to further entrench itself. The independent labor movement seeks a constructive working relationship with Capitalists in a future democratic Cuba. Investors will no doubt contribute to the economic recuperation of the country. Democratic representation is the predecessor to the creation of dignified employment, and living standards for all sectors of Cuban society. CONCLUSIONSThis report shows that the government of the Republic of Cuba consciously violates the fundamental conventions of the International Labor Organization. They have offered no convincing response when inquired regarding these violations. The Cuban government's contempt towards human and labor rights is evident, which is all the more reason it should be pressured to change. Free human rights and labor organizations should denounce these aggressive policies, which are contrary to the international standards of civilized labor rights. The advancement of democracy and independent unions in Cuba is unattainable within the current process, though its cultivation is essential for the development a solid union structure. Economic motivation along with equal representation must reach all sectors of society in all corners of the country. The diversity of the free trade organizations, of which there are currently approximately 62 groups, could immediately ease unemployment on a short-term basis. These organizations have to work diligently to guarantee a cohesive unity despite their diversity. It is very clear that the Cuban government is interested in dividing and conquering this movement. It is still easier to discredit perceived adversaries by branding them as counterrevolutionaries working for the mafia in Miami than it is to admit failure and change. The efforts to divulge this information should be increased. What Cuba's independent labor movement does for its workers and what it is subjected to by the government should be known internationally. Another limitation of the independent labor movement in Cuba is its lack of affiliation to international labor organizations, be it the Inter-American Labor Organization, (affiliated to the CTC before 1959), or to the "CLAT" (Latin America Workers Union). The CLAT has taken stride in this direction affiliating and supporting the efforts of the "CUTC" (Cuban Workers Unitary Council). This affiliation without doubt has favored the work of this "CUTC". The Inter-American Labor Organization shows no interest nor does it have a coherent policy in reference to the dilemma of the Cuban workers. It is urgent for the International Labor Organization and others to evaluate the human and labor violations that occur daily in Cuba, as per the International Employment Standards. It is necessary to further inquire and investigate what is happening to Cuban workers. It is with the vigil help from abroad that the Cuban economy will begin to recuperate itself. RECOMMENDATIONS1)It is evident that the lack of financial recourse is a hindering factor of the evolution of free trade unions within Cuba. For this reason it is of the utmost importance to find sources of funding which would contribute to creation and development of the independent labor movement. 2)To officially recognize designate and teach independent labor leaders from the principle opposition groups the International Standards of Labor. To provide them with the tools and materials necessary to further teach workers of these Standards. This could be achieved through ILO (International Labor Organization) and its regional infrastructure. 3)Independent labor organizations within Cuba should inform workers of ILO's fundamental conventions. 4)Expand radio programming directed at the Cuban workers, realizing an economic labor analysis taking into account the State/Employer aspect and divulging ongoing results. 5)Cuba's independent labor unions must continue to insist the Ministry of Justice give a formal response to their solicitude for legalization. 6)Reports and documents on the reality of Cuban workers should be made known at regional events. 7)Independent Labor Unions should focus their efforts on the recuperation of lost economic and labor rights, such as: a.Freedoms to Organize and Associate. b.Cost of Living/Wage Increases c.Improved Health and Safety Standards d.The creation of a Labor Collective, according to international parameters. 8)U. S. needs to verify what has happened to the thousands of Cuban workers repatriated as part of the migratory accords. The U.S. and International Human Rights Organizations should formally insist the Cuban government cease the hostility campaign waged on certain workers when they are returned.
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