Observation (CEACR) - adopted 1993, published 80th ILC session (1993)

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

The Committee takes note of the Government's report, the discussions at the Conference Committee in 1992 and the provisional conclusions of the Committee on Freedom of Association concerning Case No. 1628 (284th Report, approved by the Governing Body at its 254th Session (November 1992)).

(a) For many years the Committee has stressed the need to remove the reference to the Central Organization of Workers (CTC) from the legislation, in order to guarantee fully the right of workers and their organizations to establish organizations of their own choosing (Articles 2 and 5 of the Convention), particularly central organizations.

The Committee notes the observations made by a Government representative at the Conference Committee, which were confirmed by the Government in its report, to the effect that the right to establish and join organizations is established by law (section 13 of the Labour Code) and recognized in practice by all productive sectors, and the National Constitution guarantees the rights of assembly, demonstration and association to all workers (Article 54). The Committee none the less points out that the Committee on Freedom of Association, at its meeting of November 1992, examined allegations by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions concerning the failure of the Ministry of Justice to reply to the General Union of Cuban Workers' (UGTC) request for registration and recognition of its legal personality; the above Committee asked the Government to send its observations on this matter without delay, taking into account Article 2 of the Convention, and stressed that the right of workers to establish organizations of their own choosing implies, in particular, the effective possibility of forming, in a climate of full security, organizations independent both of those which exist already and of any particular party (see 284th Report, Case No. 1628 (Cuba), paras. 1011 and 1029).

The Committee notes with interest the amendments to the National Constitution: the reference to the Central Organization of Workers has been removed from Article 7 which now makes the general statement that the socialist State of Cuba recognizes and stimulates the social and mass organizations which have risen from the historic process of the struggles of the people; and Article 99 which entitled the general secretary of the Central Organization of Workers to participate in the sessions of the Council of Ministers has been repealed. The Committee also notes from the Government's report that the amendments to the National Constitution have significant implications for a whole set of existing laws - including the Labour Code - which are to be reviewed and amended to bring them into line with the Constitution once the appropriate consultations have been held with the trade unions.

The Committee therefore expresses the firm hope that all the trade union legislation will be harmonized with the amended National Constitution and, in particular, that the Labour Code and other legal texts will be amended in the near future so as to omit any reference to a single central workers' organization. It also hopes, in view of the conclusions of the Committee on Freedom of Association, that full effect will be given in practice to the right of workers, should they so wish, to establish freely, in a climate of full security, trade union organizations independent both of those which exist already and of any policitical party, in accordance with Article 2 of the Convention. The Committee asks the Government to keep it informed of any progress made in these matters.

(b) In its previous observations, the Committee also referred to comments made by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions concerning the elections of trade union leaders by the Communist Party and not by the workers. In reference to this point, a Government representative informed the Conference Committee in 1992 that when part of the management of the Central Organization of Workers was replaced recently, members from the working class were elected. In addition, according to the Government's report, any worker may be nominated and elected as a trade union leader as soon as he enters into a labour relationship.

While taking due note of this information, the Committee reminds the Government that although the Preamble to the Statutes of the CTC states that the trade union movement is not part of the state apparatus and that the CTC and the unions are not organizations of the Party, at the same time, the CTC and the unions openly and consciously recognize the leadership of the Party as being the vanguard and highest organization of the working class, endorse and follow the policy of the Party and act in accordance with the principles of democratic centralism.

The Committee recalls paragraph 5 of the resolution concerning the independence of the trade union movement, adopted by the International Labour Conference in 1952, which stipulates that: "When trade unions, in accordance with national law and practice of their respective countries and at the decision of their members decide to establish relations with a political party or to undertake constitutional political action as a means towards the advancement of their economic and social objectives, such political relations or actions should not be of such a nature as to compromise the continuance of the trade union movement or its social and economic functions irrespective of political changes in the country."

The Committee considers that a system in which there is a single party and a single central trade union organization and where the statutes of such an organization establish the objective of following the policy of the Party is likely to lead to excessive interference in trade union independence and the election of trade union leaders, is inconsistent with Article 3 of the Convention. In these circumstances, the Committee asks the Government to keep it informed of any developments in the relations between the Cuban Communist Party and the Central Organization of Workers.