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

Hours of Work (Industry) Convention, 1919 (No. 1) - Cuba (Ratification: 1934)

Further to its previous comments, the Committee notes the information communicated by the Government in its report. It notes the adoption of resolution No. 13/91 of 23 October 1991.

Articles 2(b) and (c) and 3 of the Convention. The Committee notes from the report that construction brigades are based on the voluntary participation of workers and that the working day - in order to respond to needs which are vital for development - is of 12 hours for these brigades. Resolution No. 20/88 authorizes a ten-hour day in the construction sector, and this is also the length of the working day for microbrigades. The Government has explicitly recognized that, in these cases, the limits set by Article 2(b) and (c) have been exceeded. The Government has stated that the country is passing through a special period, and that the conditions of work to which it has referred are not applied in practice. Instead of the ten hours a day provided for, the working day is of eight hours or even less. Even when the working day is reduced for lack of materials, wages (compared to the previous rates) have not been affected.

The Committee also notes that resolution No. 13/91 of 23 October 1991 provides, in Part IV, that the working day is of eight hours, with a 44-hour week or 190.6 hours a month. In some cases the working day is reduced to seven hours (Part II(c) and (d)). The reductions in the hours result in remuneration at 70 per cent of the fixed wage (Part III).

This system, which depends on the circumstances of the "special period", is temporary, and the normal working day should be re-established as soon as conditions allow (Part VI).

The Committee notes that it was because of particular circumstances that labour standards of eight hours a day and 44 hours a week were adopted. It hopes that the Government will be able to take measures to reorganize these hours as soon as there is a return to a normal situation, in order to ensure that its law and practice are in conformity with the Convention.

In particular, the authority given in Article 2(b) to exceed the hours set should not be for more than one hour; i.e., under the conditions laid down by this provision the limit may be raised to nine hours a day, but higher limits would not appear to be acceptable under the Convention.

The Committee requests the Government to communicate all appropriate information on this question.

Article 4. Further to its previous direct request, the Committee again requests the Government to communicate information on the system of continuous team work as provided for in section 70 of the Labour Code, and to send copies of any regulations which may have been adopted under this provision.

Article 6. Further to its previous direct request, the Committee again requests the Government to communicate information on the system for remuneration for overtime provided for in Chapter IV of the Labour Code, and in particular to communicate any regulations which may have been adopted under this Chapter.