Observation (CEACR) - adopted 1989, published 76th ILC session (1989)

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Cuba (Ratification: 1952)

In its previous observation, the Committee pointed out that the Labour Code, which came into force in 1985, continued to refer expressly to the Central Organisation of Workers of Cuba (particulary in section 15) and that Legislative Decree No. 67 of 19 April 1983 conferred on this organisation the monopoly of representing the workers of the country before the State Committee on Labour and Social Security of the Ministry of Labour (section 61).

In its report, the Government states that section 15 of the Labour Code does not mention by name the Central Organisation of Workers of Cuba (CTC), as it is named in section 1 of the by-laws of that organisation. The above section 15 cannot be interpreted out of the general context expressed in that legal provision, since the reference to the Central Organisation of Workers in that section does not imply the institutionalisation of the Central Organisation of Workers of Cuba (CTC), or the creation or maintenance of a single trade union system. The Government states in its report that the reference to the Central Organisation of Workers in section 15 of the Labour Code reaffirms and gives effect, within the Cuban legal system, to a principle set out in Article 3 of the Convention and does not institutionalise or maintain a "trade union monopoly" as it is termed by the Committee of Experts. The Government reiterates that the wish for unity in the trade union movement does not stem from the law but is a historical fact, strengthened and consolidated by the workers themselves in their revolutionary and trade union struggles which commenced in the first workers' congresses at the end of the last century, prior to any law or to Convention No. 87.

In its report, the Government states that section 61 of Legislative Decree No. 67 of 1983, when considered in isolation, does not convey the scope of the forms of workers' participation in the decision-making process at all levels, which stimulates and protects labour legislation as a whole. As a practice that is protected and encouraged by many provisions in the Labour Code and its supplementary legislation, the various directorates and departments that carry out the functions of the State Committee on Labour and Social Security consult the national trade unions when taking decisions that affect the interests of the workers. The Central Organisation of Workers of Cuba (CTC) is not an exclusive and restricted association, as it is wished to be implied by describing it as a "trade union monopoly", since it is composed of 17 national trade unions. In turn, the CTC and the 17 national branch trade unions are composed of provincial and municipal committees with a total of 58,569 trade union sections and 2,576 trade union offices, in which 98 per cent of the workers throughout the country are gathered together.

The Committee once again takes note of these statements, particularly as regards the development and practices of the trade union movement in Cuba, but must point out that the national legislation, in sections 15, 16 and 18 of the Labour Code, refers by name to the "Central Organisation of Workers", in the singular form, which in itself constitutes recognition in the legislation of the single trade union system.

The Committee recalls that in its 1983 General Survey on Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining it indicated in paragraph 137 that, even in a case where a de facto monopoly exists as a consequence of all the workers having grouped together, legislation should not institutionalise this factual situation. Even in a situation where, at some point in the history of a nation, all workers have preferred to unify the trade union movement, they should, however, be able to safeguard their freedom to set up, should they so wish in the future, unions outside the established trade union structure.

The Committee therefore once again requests the Government to indicate the measures that are under consideration in order to eliminate from the legislation the numerous references to a single trade union central organisation, called the "Central Organisation of Workers" in the Act, and to enable the workers to create unions of their own choosing, distinct from the existing union structure, if they so wish.