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

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

1. In its observation of 1991, the Committee took note of a communication from the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), dated 31 January 1991, which the Office transmitted to the Government in a letter dated 19 February 1991. In the above communication, the ICFTU alleged that effect was not given to the provisions of the Convention guaranteeing free choice of employment and the possibility for all workers to acquire qualifications and use them without discrimination.

2. The Committee takes note of the Government's report for the period ending 30 June 1991. The Government refers to Article 1, paragraph 3, of the Convention which states that employment policy "shall take due account of the stage and level of economic development and the mutual relationships between employment objectives and other economic and social objectives, and shall be pursued by methods that are appropriate to national conditions and practices". The Government states that owing to the present exceptional economic situation it has had to adopt a series of measures to reorganise the economy, designed to promote economic recovery while at the same time maintaining the levels of social development achieved, in health and education for example. The Government indicates that the various measures that have been tried include the adoption, in March 1990, of Resolution No. 4/91-CETSS, approving the Regulation on the employment and wages of redundant workers. The Regulations establish mechanisms for the relocation of workers affected by: (a) a reduction in the supply of fuel or technical and material supplies; (b) structural or institutional changes in the organisation of the State; (c) the elimination of jobs in order to rationalise the use of the workforce. The Government states that the implementation of Resolution No. 4/91-CETSS does not involve any discriminatory measures which would conflict with the objective of leaving no worker unemployed. The offer of new jobs and the relocation of the workers affected involves the administration, the trade unions and the committees established under Resolution No. 18/90-CETSS approving the Regulations on the admission of workers to employment, tenure and promotion, and the selection of trainees. These committees are responsible for evaluating the indicators to be taken into account for the movement of personnel or the admission of new workers.

3. In its previous comments, the Committee referred to Article 1, paragraph 2(b) and (c) of the Convention, which provide that employment policy shall aim at ensuring that work "is as productive as possible", that "there is freedom of choice of employment" and that there is "the fullest possible opportunity for each worker to qualify for, and to use his skills and endowments in a job for which he is well suited, irrespective of race, colour, sex, religion, political opinion, national extraction or social origin". In a context in which application of the Convention is difficult, the Committee can but insist that, while guaranteeing that no constraints are placed on persons obliging them to take up employment, employment policy must at the same time promote free choice of employment by enabling each worker to train for employment which can subsequently be freely chosen (paragraph 37 of the General Survey of 1991, Human Resources Development). The Committee repeats the request it made to the Government in 1989 and 1991 to indicate, in its next report, the specific employment policy measures adopted to overcome difficulties encountered in achieving the objectives of full, productive and freely chosen employment.

4. The Committee is addressing a direct request to the Government concerning more specific matters.