Effect given to the recommendations of the committee and the Governing Body - Report No 305, November 1996

Case No 1628 (Cuba) - Complaint date: 28-FEB-92 - Closed

Effect given to the recommendations of the Committee and the Governing Body

1. 26. When the Committee examined this case at its meeting in May 1993 (see 287th Report, paras. 268-282) it requested the Government to make an immediate pronouncement on the registration of the General Union of Cuban Workers (UGTC) - which according to the Government is now called the Union of Cuban Workers (USTC) - and to keep it informed of any measures adopted in this respect. In a communication dated 16 December 1993, the Government had criticized the recommendations made by the Committee and indicated, in particular, that the case lacked legal objectivity because the request initially made by Mr. Rafael Gutierrez Santos to the Minister of Justice (request for registration of a so-called trade union organization) was abandoned by a letter of 1 April 1992, which had been transmitted to the Committee. At its meeting in March 1994, the Committee took note of the Government's observations and decided to transmit them to the complainant organization so that it might provide any comments or information that it considered to be useful in this respect, and in particular, any documents proving effectively the request for registration of the organization concerned. (See 292nd Report, para. 21.)
2. 27. In its communication of 30 June 1995, the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) pointed out that, during the events which shook Cuba in the summer of 1994, thousands of Cuban citizens left the island, including Mr. Rafael Gutierrez Santos, president of the USTC. Recognition of the USTC as a trade union organization has still not been granted. Nevertheless, the activities of the organization have not been paralysed and its members elected a new executive committee on 13 September 1994. Furthermore, the ICFTU states that Mr. Rafael Gutierrez Santos had not requested the withdrawal of his request for registration, but had simply informed the Government of the change in the organization's name. In its communication of 31 May 1996, the ICFTU indicated that the USTC has still not been recognized, although it is prospering and has affiliates in many provinces of the country. The USTC claims to have 3,000 members. The ICFTU adds that Mr. Pedro Rubio Balbun, president of the USTC, has been the victim of a search by the Policy Police at his home, which is also the headquarters of the organization, and of a seizure of all documentation and of the basic resources indispensable to the proper functioning of the trade union organization.
3. 28. In its communication of 12 September 1996, the Government states that, after analysing the contents of the two communications submitted by the complainant organization and after having undertaken relevant inquiries, it appears that the persons mentioned as leaders of the organization called "Union of Cuban Workers" do not qualify as unionists. This so-called trade union organization is not present in any work centre in the country and its officers have not been elected by any workers' collective. This situation leads one to believe that the Committee should limit itself to the contents of Convention No. 87 on freedom of association and the right to organize which protects workers in the exercise of their trade union rights and not persons who invoke the Convention, without fulfilling the minimum requirements for exercising a true trade union activity, by using a false image of unionists towards other ends. The Government recalls the provisions of the Labour Code which guarantee the right of workers to form unions without previous authorization, the right of assembly and the right to freely express one's opinions.
4. 29. Furthermore, it was not possible to verify the truth of the search of the domicile mentioned in the ICFTU communications. The police services have no trace of such a search and no complaint has been made in this regard. As the arguments of the ICFTU are not well founded, the Committee should not artificially pursue the treatment of this case since it does not concern a trade union activity covered by Convention No. 87.
5. 30. The Committee takes note of the information provided by the Government which does not contain any elements likely to modify the conclusions which it has made in its previous reports. The Committee deplores the fact that, since 1992, the USTC has not been legally recognized by the authorities, a matter which has nothing to do with its degree of representativeness. It insists that this independent organization, outside of the existing recognized trade union structure, be registered and allowed to function fully without discrimination. The Committee observes with concern that another case concerning Cuba (No. 1805) examined in this report also concerns the denial of recognition of an independent trade union organization. The Committee refers to the conclusions formulated in this case and in particular to the comments of the Committee of Experts requesting the Government "to guarantee in law and practice the right of all workers and employers, without distinction whatsoever, to establish independent organizations of their own choosing, outside any existing recognized trade union structure if they so desire (Article 2 of Convention No. 87) and the right to elect their representatives in full freedom (Article 3 of Convention No. 87)." (See Report III (Part A), ILC, 82nd Session, 1995, page 163.)