Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2017, published 107th ILC session (2018)

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

Article 1 of the Convention. Implementation of the employment policy as part of a coordinated economic and social policy. In its previous comments, the Committee asked the Government to indicate the manner in which the reassignment of state workers allows the persons concerned to engage in productive activities. However, the Committee notes that the Government does not provide any information on this matter in its report. The Committee also notes the Government’s statement that the employment policy referred to in its previous report is continuing and that in 2015 the unemployment rate was 2.4 per cent (2.6 per cent for women and 2.3 per cent for men). The Committee requests the Government to indicate the manner in which the reassignment of state workers allows the persons concerned to engage in productive and freely chosen activities. The Committee also requests the Government to send detailed information on the impact of the employment policy and the measures implemented, indicating to what extent they affect particular categories of workers such as women, young persons, persons with disabilities and “available and interrupted” workers affected by the restructuring of the state sector. The Committee also requests the Government to include up-to-date statistical information, disaggregated by sex, on the size and distribution of the workforce, the nature and scope of unemployment and underemployment, and labour market trends.

Small and medium-sized enterprises. Cooperatives. In reply to the Committee’s previous comments, the Government indicates that in 2015 there were 4,860,500 persons in employment, of which 499,000 were own-account workers, while 214,600 worked in agricultural cooperatives and 7,700 in non-agricultural cooperatives. However, the Government does not provide any information on the impact of these activities on the gross domestic product (GDP) of the country. The Committee requests the Government to continue providing information on the impact of the authorization to work on one’s own account and of the expansion of non-state modes of production, particularly agricultural cooperatives, to increase productivity, or of other initiatives that have been tried out to increase agricultural production.

Education and training. The Government indicates that measures are being maintained to coordinate education and training policies with employment and that in 2015 a total of 36,046 graduates from various levels of training gained access to the job market. The Committee requests the Government to provide more detailed information on the coordination of educational and vocational training policies with employment policies, particularly on how the supply of training is coordinated with the demand for knowledge and skills and labour market trends.

Mariel Special Development Zone (ZEDM). In reply to the direct request of 2014, the Government indicates that the main source of employment in the ZEDM is the construction sector, particularly the establishment of infrastructure and logistical services. The Committee requests the Government to continue sending information on the contribution of the ZEDM to the creation of productive and freely chosen employment, and on how worker protection in the ZEDM is ensured, especially with regard to particular categories of workers, such as women and young persons.

Article 3. Participation of the social partners. In reply to the Committee’s previous comments, the Government states that the basic elements of economic and social policy were subjected to an extensive process of prior consultation with representatives of the stakeholders and endorsed by the National Assembly of People’s Power. The Committee requests the Government to provide more detailed information on how the representatives of all the stakeholders express their views on the process of updating the economic model in relation to achieving the objectives of the Convention.