Cuba extends hours of some state offices

Posted on Tue, Feb. 20, 2007

CUBA
Cuba extends hours of some state offices

HAVANA - (AP) -- Cuban officials are tackling problems such as child
care, poor lighting and insufficient transportation for workers so they
can keep some government offices open later, the Communist labor
newspaper reported Monday.

The goal is to have offices open at times when people can use them
before or after their own eight-hour workdays, taking advantage of an
expanding economy.

Trabajadores, published by Cuba's Communist Party labor federation,
reported that some notaries and civil registries in Havana are already
working until 8 p.m. and officials hope to expand hours at least some
days of the week at child care centers, primary schools, hair dressers
and workshops.

The effort is linked to a government campaign for greater discipline
among workers, with a crackdown on absenteeism, overlong lunch breaks,
sloppy work and theft.

Officials were working to overcome problems such as insufficient
lighting and transportation at night while supplying meals and child
care at different times for workers, Trabajadores reported.

The communist government has been gradually expanding services as its
economy recovers from the shortages of the early 1990s, caused by the
loss of Soviet bloc aid and trade that were once crucial.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/world/cuba/16737092.htm