Cuba: Annual Survey of Violations of Trade Union Rights (2005)

Cuba: Annual Survey of Violations of Trade Union Rights (2005)

Population: 11,300,000 / Capital: Havana / ILO Core Conventions Ratified:
29 - 87 - 98 - 100 - 105 - 111 - 138

A number of union leaders sent to prison in 2003 remained there, and some
endured very bad conditions. One of them was released for health reasons but
remained under parole.

TRADE UNION RIGHTS IN LAW

A single union

The Cuban authorities only recognise a single national trade union centre,
the Central de Trabajadores Cubanos (CTC). The Labour Code, which was
published in 1985, does not provide for any genuine freedom of association.
The government explicitly prohibits independent trade unions, though it
claims there is no legal requirement for workers to join the CTC.

Collective bargaining

The Labour Code requires that in order to be valid legally, collective
agreements must be discussed and approved in workers' meetings and be
formally declared in writing and signed by the parties. Any modifications or
additions must be approved in workers' meetings and signed by the parties,
i.e. the employing body as well as the trade union organisation.

The state controls the employment market and decides on pay and working
conditions in the state sector. In the private sector, the 1995 Foreign
Investment Law requires foreign investors to contract workers through state
employment agencies. The investors pay the agencies in dollars, but the
agencies pay the workers the equivalent figure in pesos, pocketing up to 95
per cent of their salaries.

There is no legislation covering the right to strike. According to the
government there is no need to call strikes since the demands of official
trade union organisations will always be heard by the authorities.

The government has still failed to act on promises to reform the Labour
Code.


TRADE UNION RIGHTS IN PRACTICE

No independent trade union activity possible

Any attempts to form free trade unions are obstructed by the government,
chiefly via the restrictions set out in the Associations Act (Ley de
Asociaciones). Anyone who engages in independent trade union activity runs
the risk of being persecuted and losing their job. Workers are required to
keep an eye on their colleagues and report any "dissident" activity.
Independent labour activists are periodically arrested, harassed, threatened
with prosecution and pressurised into going into exile.

Those organisations that do exist are unable to represent workers
effectively. As they are not recognised, they cannot engage in collective
bargaining nor take strike action. Workers are not able to exercise their
rights or to take part in peaceful marches or demonstrations in support of
their demands. Independent organisations have been set up by dissidents
opposed to the Castro regime, and though they do defend union rights their
main concern is fighting the regime and promoting respect of general human
rights. Their offices have been searched, their equipment confiscated and
their communications intercepted. Some of these unions have been infiltrated
by state security agents.


VIOLATIONS IN 2004

Mistreatment and threats against union leaders imprisoned in 2003

Information in Cuba is strictly controlled by the state, which makes
thorough verification difficult. However, in the course of the year, several
disturbing reports were received concerning, notably, the treatment of
imprisoned trade union activists.

In April 2003, seven free trade union leaders were jailed together with 66
dissidents who oppose the Castro regime. The medical condition of some of
them got much worse in 2004, so some were put on medical parole, which means
they will have to serve out their sentences at home or in the hospitals
where they are staying.

In June 2004, Iván Hernández Carrillo, a member of the national executive
committee of CONIC (Confederación Obrera Nacional Independiente de Cuba)
sentenced to 25 years in prison, was denied the medical treatment he needed
against hypertension. The medicines that members of his family had handed
over to the officials at the Holguín provincial prison were only given to
him 2 weeks later. In August, Carillo was moved from Holguín to the "Cuba
Sí" prison, in reprisal for a letter signed by some other political
prisoners criticising the inhuman treatment they were receiving. Carillo was
subjected to the toughest regime. He was kept in solitary confinement and
allowed family visits every four months; then, on June 3, the authorities
banned his family access except on official visiting days. Since he was
imprisoned along with common criminals, Carillo received a number of death
threats, but the prison authorities refused to listen to his pleas for
protection. As a means of protest against the awful conditions, Carrillo
went on hunger strike four times.

The General Secretary of the Democratic Workers' Confederation
(Confederación de Trabajadores Democráticos de Cuba, CTDC), Nelson Molinet,
refused to accept the rehabilitation programme imposed on prisoners; as a
result he was held in a punishment cell for over 60 days and then forced to
move to a homosexual wing. Later he was transferred to a section for common
criminals, where his belongings were stolen and he was assaulted and
threatened with death, however the complaints he made were ignored by the
prison authorities. His family were not allowed to visit him, nor could he
receive any sanitary articles or food. He was not permitted to send or
receive letters. Since the beginning of his internment, Nelson Molinet has
lost over 30 kilos.

Miguel Galván Gutiérrez, a Deputy Director of the CNCSL, who was sentenced
to 26 years in prison, was also subjected to mistreatment throughout the
year. On May 5 he was moved to a special unit for common criminals sentenced
to life terms for murder, although he himself had been charged with alleged
"contempt". He was threatened, beaten up and held in solitary confinement
for two months in 2004. He is suffering from a bone disease in the legs and
was refused special orthopaedic treatment, despite asking for it after
suffering severe pain in the spinal column. His sight worsened considerably
and his poor dental condition was also ignored. What is more, on September
29, a group of guards took away his mattress for no reason, thereby
aggravating his physical condition and suffering.

Harassment of relatives of imprisoned trade unionists

On March 31 2004, Carmelo Díaz Fernández's wife, Dulce María Amador, was
ordered to strip and kneel down as a precondition for visiting her husband.
Since she refused to do so, she was not allowed to see him. A few days
earlier, at an international press conference on Cuban television, the Cuban
Chancellor Pérez Roque had broadcast a number of interviews with family
members of the imprisoned trade unionists, including the wife of Carmelo
Díaz Fernández; their statements had been edited and Dulce Amador had
protested against this manipulation.

On October 6 2004, Darelys Velásquez Falcón, the wife of Héctor Raúl Valle,
Vice-President of the CDTC and serving a 12-year prison sentence, was
summoned by the State Security forces and ordered to give up her efforts to
obtain the release of her husband. They threatened her with moving Héctor
Raúl Valle to a prison in a distant province. Mrs. Falcón had already been
threatened with arrest if she continued her activities.

Trade unionist released for health reasons

On June 18, medical parole was granted to Carmelo Díaz Fernández, President
of the USC (Unión Sindical Cristiana) and a Deputy Director of the labour
and trade union support centre (Centro Nacional de Capacitación Sindical y
Laboral, CNCSL), who had originally been given a 16-year jail sentence. The
medical condition of Carmelo Díaz, (who had cardiovascular problems)
worsened during his detention in the special cubicles at Guanajay prison.

Trade unionist receives death threat

Lázaro González Adán, a CONIC delegate, was arrested in October and accused
of "contempt" by the political police. The authorities in Sibanicú (Camagüey
province) entered his home, arrested him and beat him up in front of his
family. Earlier, his neighbours had been encouraged to stone him and his
family. His son was also beaten up after trying to escape. In July, when
returning from a trip, he had found a death threat posted under the front
door. He had previously also received repeated death threats from the
Sibanicú police chief, whilst being held under arrest.

Free trade unionist harassed

On November 5, the General Secretary of the CONIC-affiliated Independent
Union of light industry workers (Sindicato Independiente de Trabajadores de
la Industria Ligera), Aurelio Bachiller Álvarez, was called in by the Havana
police. They kept him for two hours, trying to convince him to give up his
trade union activities, which the authorities considered to be illegal and,
they alleged, to be promoting North American anti-Cuban policy.

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