Observation (CEACR) - adopted 1991, published 78th ILC session (1991)

Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) - Cuba (Ratification: 1965)

Further to its previous comments, the Committee notes the information supplied by the Government in its report. It also notes the comments concerning the application of the Convention made by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) in its letter dated 31 January 1991, which were transmitted to the Government by a letter from the ILO dated 19 February 1991. The Committee hopes that the Government will forward its comments on the questions raised by the ICFTU so that the Committee can examine them at its next session.

The Committee recalls its previous comments, which concerned a series of legal texts and regulations under which access to training and employment, as well as the assessment of workers for the purposes of selection and assignment and to determine their merits and demerits, are dependent on the political attitude of the persons concerned.

The Committee notes, according to the Government's report, that most of the texts referred to in its previous comments have been repealed and replaced by more recent texts. It notes the new texts transmitted by the Government and the information that it supplied on this subject.

Access to training

1. The Government points out in particular that the academic index is the principal factor determining the position of each student in the list of candidates for admission to post-secondary studies (Resolution No. 53/90 of 30 March 1990, of the Ministry of Education) or to higher education (Resolution No. 1/89 of 18 March 1989, of the Ministry of Education) and that, in these Resolutions, as well as in Resolution No. 260/88 of 16 May 1988 of the Ministry of Education, no conditions are established of an ideological or political nature which could change the academic index for the purposes of the list of candidates.

The Committee notes with some concern that, when establishing the above lists of candidates, reference is made to candidates "who have received the approval of the school and the student collective" (Resolution No. 1/89, paragraph 2) and that a separation is made between "those who have received approval and those who have not, distributed according to the academic index" (Resolution No. 260/88, paragraph 5). The Committee would be grateful if the Government would indicate the criteria on which this approval is granted to candidates.

2. With reference to Resolution No. 138/90 of 22 March 1990, which establishes the conditions for admission to the "Manuel Ascunse Domenech" Teaching Unit, the requirements set out in paragraph 1 of the Resolution include those of "obtaining the approval of the student collective", "succeeding in the interview in which it is established that applicants fulfil the conditions that are required to opt for teaching careers" and of "being unconditionally and permanently ready to serve the revolution". It also notes (paragraph 9 of the Resolution) that the subcommittees that are responsible for conducting these interviews include representatives of students from the Federation of Students of Intermediate Teaching and from the Union of Young Communists.

The Committee also notes that Resolution No. 250/81, of 31 July 1981, of the Ministry of Higher Education (issuing the regulations respecting "directed courses"), as amended by Resolution No. 66/85 of 26 March 1985, although it no longer refers in section 7 to the "established political and moral conditions", nevertheless requires an attitude that conforms to the "moral principles" which, as in the case of the above political and moral conditions, have to be approved by the "administration or trade union chapter, or by the corresponding mass organisations".

The Committee would be grateful if the Government would indicate the measures that have been taken or are envisaged to ensure that the content and application of these provisions of Resolution No. 138/90 and of Resolution No. 250/81, as amended, cannot give rise to discrimination on the grounds of political opinion, which would be contrary to the requirements of the Convention.

Access to employment

3. With regard to access to employment, the Committee inquired in its previous comments as to the current situation regarding the application of the Resolution of the First Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba of 1975, which approved the policy respecting managerial staff, basing it, in particular, on political reliability and on the ideological and revolutionary firm conviction of the personnel concerned.

The Government states that the theses and resolutions of the Communist Party of Cuba are renewed or reaffirmed at each Party Congress and are given force in law by the texts of the national legislation; in the case of the policy on managerial staff, these texts are Legislative Decree No. 82 of 1984 and Decree No. 125 of 1984 issued under the above Legislative Decree, which make no reference to political elements that could be discriminatory.

In this connection, the Committee notes the list of the functions of the State under the system governed by the above two texts of 1984, which was supplied by the Government in its report in reply to the Committee's request. It notes that this list of functions, in addition to those of the central administration and the local authorities, includes those of managers of enterprises, groups of enterprises and departments of enterprises, and of the persons in charge of factories, workshops, brigades and teams.

The Committee also notes the document on the management structure of the education system, which was transmitted by the Government. It notes that the conditions that are required to hold a managerial position in the education system include the "unquantifiable conditions" set out in paragraph 1.2.2 of the document, which include the "spirit of collectivism" and "attachment to the masses and trust and respect of the masses".

The Committee recalls that the Resolution of the First Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba, which is referred to above, called for the establishment of a list of functions which includes fundamental functions, including those of the State, which must be controlled by the Party. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would state whether the list of functions that was transmitted in the report corresponds with the list called for by the above Resolution. It wishes to draw the Government's attention in this connection to the comments that it made in paragraphs 60 and 126 of its 1983 General Survey on Equality in Employment and Occupation respecting discrimination based on political opinion in jobs in economic sectors and in the public service. The Committee emphasises in particular that political opinion should only be taken into account if this is actually justified by the inherent requirements of the jobs or functions concerned.

4. The Committee referred in its previous comments to Ministerial Resolution No. 235/82, of 12 June 1982, laying down the rules for the inspection system of the Ministry of Education, which requires of inspectors a political and moral conduct that is in keeping with the principles and aims of the socialist State (section 46(a)). It notes that Resolution No. 235/82 was repealed by Resolution No. 590/86 of 4 December 1986. The Committee notes that the rules for the inspection system established by Resolution No. 590/86 require, as regards both objectives and methods of inspection, that criteria such as an analysis that is always made "from the point of view of the policy of the Communist Party of Cuba" (section 2) or evaluation that takes into account "the political, ideological and scientific content" (section 8) be used when assessing the effectiveness of the teaching and education process and the results obtained. The Committee considers that these criteria may result in discrimination based on political opinion in the education of schoolchildren and students, in the employment of inspectors, in the assessment of their work as well as that of the work of teachers who are inspected.

The Committee would be grateful if the Government would supply information on the effect given in practice to these provisions in the inspection of the education system. It hopes in any case that the Government will take the appropriate measures to ensure the conformity of the national law and practice with the Convention.

5. With reference to Legislative Decree No. 34, of 12 March 1980, which authorises the dismissal of certain staff members in higher education establishments for conduct including activities contrary to socialist morality and the ideological principles of society, the Government states that its application is a rare exception and that its effect has been reduced by Joint Resolution No. 2, of 20 December 1989, of the Ministers of Education and Higher Education, which deals with the rehabilitation of educational workers to whom Legislative Decree No. 34 of 1980 has been applied. The Government also states that it has noted the Committee's observation for an examination of these aspects of the Legislative Decree if the latter is amended.

The Committee hopes that the legislation will be brought into conformity with the Convention on this point and requests the Government to supply information on the effect given in practice to the provisions of Legislative Decree No. 34 of 1980 and of Resolution No. 2 of 1989, and to supply the text of this latter Resolution.

Evaluation of workers

6. The Committee notes the Government's statement that Resolution No. 2173, of 2 November 1983, concerning the updating of data (including data on political integration) contained in the work record is no longer in force since its application was limited to the census of skilled labour carried out in 1985. The Committee recalls that, according to section 61 of the Labour Code, the work record is the document which contains the entries and record of the work history of the worker, and that the work unit is responsible for establishing, updating and keeping the work record for each staff member. The Committee therefore infers that the data on political integration that was updated for the 1985 census will remain in the work record and could serve as grounds for discrimination based on political opinion.

The Committee notes in this connection the information supplied by the Government concerning Resolution No. 51/88 of 12 December 1988, issuing the rules for the implementation of the employment policy, and particularly Chapter VI of the rules, which cover the work record. It notes that section 129 of the rules reproduces the provisions of section 61 of the Labour Code referred to above.

The Committee also notes that, by virtue of section 130 of the above rules, the contents of the work record must include the following documents: "(e) copies of evaluation certificates" and "(i) work-related merits; (j) relevant non-work-related merits; (k) work-related demerits". The Committee refers in this connection to Resolution No. 590/80, of 11 December 1980, of the State Committee on Labour and Social Security. It notes that, according to section 5 of Resolution No. 590/80, "work-related merits" are considered to include "(d) being selected to undertake an international mission and maintaining an attitude that conforms to the principle of proletarian internationalism while undertaking the mission". The Committee also notes that, by virtue of section 6 of the same Resolution, the work record may also include notification of distinctions which do not constitue work-related merits, but which are awarded, among others, by mass organisations or official institutions and which bear witness to the "revolutionary attitude of the worker outside his workplace".

The Committee requests the Government to indicate whether it intends to modify the above provisions of the national legislation in order to ensure their conformity with the Convention in respect of the elimination of all discrimination based on political opinion.

7. The Committee is addressing a request directly to the Government on other points related to the questions that have been raised.