Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2012, published 102nd ILC session (2013)

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Cuba (Ratification: 1954)

Article 1 of the Convention. Work of equal value. For a number of years, the Committee has been referring to the fact that section 99 of the 1984 Labour Code provides that workers shall receive equal pay for equal work without distinction whatsoever, including on the basis of sex, and that it is narrower than the principle established in the Convention. The Committee notes that the Government repeats that the established criteria are still in force, that the legislation covers gender equality and that the provisions of the Convention are applied in practice. The Government also states that in order to promote the principle of the Convention there are education and training programmes for judges, lawyers and law enforcement personnel. Furthermore, the National Union of Jurists of Cuba and the Federation of Cuban Women signed a joint work agreement for the provision of courses for legal practitioners and members of multidisciplinary teams; for the approval of a postgraduate course on gender and the law and for the inclusion of a module on the subject in the Gender Studies Master’s Degree of the Women’s Chair of the University of Havana. While noting this information, the Committee nevertheless points out in this connection that the concept of “work of equal value” is at the core of the fundamental right of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value, and the promotion of gender equality. Legislation that contains narrower provisions hinders progress in eradicating gender-based pay discrimination (see General Survey on the fundamental Conventions concerning rights at work, 2012, paragraphs 673 and 679). The Committee asks the Government to give full legislative expression to the principle of equal remuneration for work of equal value so that it covers not only situations where men and women perform the same work but also encompasses work that is of an entirely different nature, which is nevertheless of equal value. Please continue to provide information on the measures adopted to raise awareness of the principle of the Convention.

The Committee is raising other points in a request addressed directly to the Government.