Cuba’s New, Disquieting Labor Law

Cuba's New, Disquieting Labor Law

August 9, 2013

Rogelio Manuel Diaz Moreno



HAVANA TIMES — It took me a while, but I've finally finished my notes on

the bill for the new Labor Law they'll soon be forcing on Cubans. My

impressions can be summed up with one word: yikes!



As written, the bill is unconstitutional, discriminatory and downright

deceitful. When you make a claim of this nature, of course, you have to

be able to prove it.



The bill's very first article reads: "The right to employment (…) is

guaranteed in conformity with the political, social and economic tenets

laid out in the Constitution of the Republic of Cuba. The right to

employment is regulated by the present Law and complementary legislation."



The document in question, however, explicitly contradicts Cuba's current

Constitution on at least two accounts. To begin with, Article 14 of the

Constitution – whose days are surely numbered, but hasn't been revoked

yet – prohibits any relations based on the exploitation of man by man in

Cuba.



This doesn't stop the bill from considering certain economic activities

by local private enterprises acceptable. This, which may strike some as

a positive development and others as a step backwards, is simply an

incongruous law which violates the Constitution and, at the same time,

claims to adhere to it.



Secondly, the paragraphs devoted to public holidays and festivities

include the 25th of December and Good Friday among the country's

non-working days. Though any day I can party instead of work is a good

day for me, I can't help but be aware that these two holidays stem from

a specific religion – Christianity. Now, I have nothing against

Christianity, but Article 8 of the Constitution establishes that, in

Cuba, religious institutions are separate from the State and that the

country's different creeds and religions are considered equal before the

law.



This means that the bill is in contradiction with the secular nature of

the State and discriminates among religions, for one is accorded two

holidays and the others none. For instance, practitioners of Afro-Cuban

religions could demand that the 17th of December, when the divinity

Babalu Aye is honored, be declared a national holiday. But no. It seems

that, to get a holiday, you need to have someone as important as the

Pope visit the country from time to time.



The bill, therefore, does not respect the Constitution, though it claims

to do so. One of the ways in which it violates the Constitution is by

discriminating among individuals with different religious beliefs. This

is simply unconstitutional, discriminatory and deceitful.



The bill is at its most hypocritical point, however, when it claims to

acknowledge and respect Cuba's long-standing trade-union traditions. I

wonder how many libertarian trade-unionists are offended by such nerve.

I wonder how many workers (those who are Cuban, not extraterrestrial)

believe that the government will authorize the existence of unions that

do not respond to strict, centralized control and training.



I would now like to return to Cuba's new private enterprises and their

salaried employees. Again, it is not my intention to demonize a

development which, quite obviously, responds to historical and economic

necessities. What I do consider cause for concern is a series of

potential future developments. Bear in mind that this new law could be

Cuba's effective labor legislation for the next 10, maybe 20 years.



By then, as many of us fear, the capitalist economy will be much more

firmly entrenched in our country than it is today. Private companies

will have grown and consolidated themselves.



Looking at how the bill is written, I've noticed that most of the

obligations set down for employers seem to apply almost exclusively to

the public or State sector. One doesn't get a clear sense as to whether

alternative employers, private capitalists, that is, have to grant their

employees these same rights.



Right now, given the miniscule salaries paid by the State, this fact may

not worry people that much (nothing could be worse than a State salary).

But, in the future, when the by then not so incipient private enterprise

sector employs one or two million Cubans, this blessed Labor Law could

well become the envy of the worst exploiters who have ever existed.



By way of an example, look at how so many labor rights are explicitly

regulated for State companies and how no explanation as to whether these

rights are applicable in the private sector is given. For State

companies, the bill stipulates collectively-mediated contracts. For

private businesses, contracts are determined individually by the employers.



And, if any prole laboring in the private sector gets a little unruly,

the bosses can invoke paragraph b) of Article 67 and terminate the work

agreement (at the request of one of the parties) without thereby

incurring any obligation towards the former employee. The infamous

Walmart has a harder time laying people off than the new Cuban

exploiters will.



Such is the monstrosity placed before us. And the Cuban Workers'

Federation (CTC) – or, better, its leadership – is promoting it with all

of the enthusiasm that it can muster.



Source: "Cuba's New, Disquieting Labor Law Is a Big Concern" -

http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=97654