Observation (CEACR) - adoptée 2003, publiée 92ème session CIT (2004)

The Committee notes the Government’s report and its reply in which it rejects the comments made by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) referring to the non-existence of collective bargaining in Cuba and the Government’s control over working conditions in the state sector.

The Committee also notes the Government’s information concerning the promulgation of Legislative Decree No. 229 respecting collective labour agreements, dated 1 April 2002, and its implementing regulations, by means of Resolution No. 27/2002.

1. Article 4 of the Convention. The Committee notes that section 14 of the Legislative Decree No. 229 provides that "discrepancies which arise in the process of formulating a draft collective labour agreement between the administration or its representative, on the one hand, and the trade union organization or its representative, on the other, shall be resolved by the respective superior levels as rapidly as possible, and with the participation of those affected". This section is supplemented by section 8 of the implementing regulations, which provides that "discrepancies which arise in the process of formulating, modifying (...) collective labour agreements, if the necessary measures are not adopted for their resolution, shall be submitted to the immediately superior level of the administration and the trade union organization determined by the corresponding national trade union, for such bodies to facilitate together the corresponding solution within a period of up to 30 working days". The Committee also notes that section 17 of the Legislative Decree provides that "discrepancies which arise in the process of formulating, modifying, revising or during the period in which the collective labour agreement is in force, after the exhaustion of the conciliation procedure (...) shall be submitted to arbitration by the National Labour Inspection Office with the participation of the Confederation of Workers of Cuba and the interested parties. The decision that is adopted is binding". Sections 9 and 10 of the implementing regulations further specify the provisions of section 17 of the Legislative Decree.

The Committee notes that these provisions constitute interference in the activities of the parties to the negotiations by the administrative authority or the higher level trade union organization in establishing the content of the collective agreement or resolving discrepancies which arise between the parties, in violation of the principles of the Convention. The Committee also emphasizes that, in general, the imposition of compulsory arbitration, whether at the request of only one of the parties or at the initiative of the authorities, is contrary to the principle of voluntary negotiation set forth in the Convention, and therefore to the principle of the autonomy of the parties to negotiations.

The Committee requests the Government to take measures with a view to amending the legislation so that the parties to the negotiations resolve their own differences during collective bargaining without external interference and so that recourse to arbitration with binding effect is only possible with the agreement of the parties to the negotiations.

2. The Committee requests the Government to provide detailed information in its next report on the collective agreements concluded in recent years, the parties signing the agreements, the subjects addressed and the number of workers covered.

The Committee is addressing a request directly to the Government on other matters.