Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2013, published 103rd ILC session (2014)

Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98) - Cuba (Ratification: 1952)

Comments from workers’ organizations. The Committee notes the comments of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), as well as the Government’s observations thereon.

Article 4 of the Convention. Promotion of collective bargaining. The Committee recalls that for several years it has been referring to the need to amend or repeal the following provisions of Legislative Decree No. 229 to bring them into conformity with the Convention:

• -section 14, which should be harmonized with section 8 of the new implementing regulations of the Legislative Decree, so as to avoid any confusion and to ensure that any disagreements during the process of drafting a collective agreement can be settled with the intervention of the authorities and the Central Organization of Workers of Cuba (CTC), only if both parties to the dispute so request. The Committee notes the Government’s indication in its report that, when seeking solutions to disagreements arising during the process of drafting collective agreements, the voluntary nature and total autonomy of the parties always prevails, for which reason no confusion has arisen in national practice, and that it is guaranteed that such disputes are settled through the intervention of the abovementioned bodies only if both parties to the dispute so request;
• -section 17 concerning the settlement of any disagreements which may arise during the process of drafting a collective agreement or, while it is in force, concerning the interpretation of or failure to comply with its clauses. The Committee recalls that it requested the Government to take the necessary measures to amend this section in order to ensure that where disputes arise between the parties in the process of collective bargaining, the interference or intervention of the authorities and the CTC is not imposed as an obligation and that, except in the public service and in essential services in the strict sense of the term, recourse to binding arbitration is possible only with the agreement of all the parties to the negotiations. The Committee notes that the Government indicates that since 2002 the National Labour Inspection Office has never discharged the function of arbitration;
• -section 11, which imposes a methodology on all trade unions for the discussion of draft collective agreements determined for that purpose by the CTC, which supplements the very detailed provisions on the manner in which agreements are to be concluded. The Committee recalls that it requested the Government to take the necessary measures to amend this section by deleting the explicit reference to the CTC and guaranteeing the autonomy of the bargaining parties; and
• -section 5, which provides that the National Labour Inspection Office shall approve the conclusion of collective labour agreements in the units provided for in the budget and in the production and service activities of bodies, sectors, branches or activities that share the same characteristics, when so agreed and requested by the head of the body and the secretary-general of the corresponding national federation. The Committee recalls its view that this situation is contrary to the principle of free and voluntary negotiation and that it requested the Government to take the necessary measures to repeal this section with a view to ensuring that full effect is given to the principle of free and voluntary negotiation. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that this provision is not general in scope, and that it only applies to small units of services that are in close proximity and with the same or similar characteristics in terms of conditions of work. The Government adds that this procedure is not compulsory, but that this possibility is allowed when it is analysed in common agreement and the parties so request on an exceptional basis.

The Committee finally notes that the Government provides information on the process of the formulation of a new Labour Code indicating that the issues raised by the Committee are under examination. The Committee hopes that the Labour Code will be adopted in the near future with a view to bringing the legislation into full conformity with the Convention.