CUBA: FREE LABOR SURVEY SHOWS DISILLUSIONMENT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HAVANA 000548

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ELAB PHUM ECON CU
SUBJECT: CUBA: FREE LABOR SURVEY SHOWS DISILLUSIONMENT

REF: HAVANA 391

HAVANA 00000548 001.3 OF 002


SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED; HANDLE ACCORDINGLY


1. (SBU) Independent labor leaders Carmelo Diaz and Aurelio
Bachiller carried out a survey during April and May to
measure the acceptance and impact of Labor Resolutions 187
and 188, which went into effect on April 2. These were
originally announced by the Council of Ministers last Fall,
aimed at increasing productivity and discipline in the
workplace. As we reported reftel, the main thrust was on the
discipline side, without sufficient associated measures in,
for example, the transport sector, to enable employees to get
to work on time. Implementation was first set for January 1,
but then pushed back three months for many reasons, including
incomplete preparation and some examples of pushback from
within the official communist-run trade confederation (CTC).
Paragraph two is an unofficial translation of the results of
this survey.


2. (SBU) Havana, 23 May, 2007

Results of the National Survey regarding Resolutions 187 and
188 from the Ministry of Labor and Social Security.

1,552 Cuban workers were surveyed from the provinces of Pinar
del Rio, Havana, Havana City, Isle of Youth, Cienfuegos,
Ciego de Avila, Camaguey, Holguin, Las Tunas, and Santiago,
with the aim of eliciting the true sentiments of our workers
regarding these Resolutions and other related issues. The
survey includes responses to nine questions. One of the 1552
was nullified because it was filled out incorrectly
(explaining why the numbers add up to 99.9 percent):

1) Q: Do you know about Resolutions 187 and 188 from the
Ministry of Labor?

A: Yes 28.6 percent
No 62.3 percent
Partially 8.9 percent

2) Q: Can public transportation be depended upon to get you
to work on time?

A: No 99.9 percent


3) Q: Do quality and efficiency of work correlate to the
salary paid where you work?

A: No 99.9 percent


4) Q: Are the economic needs of your family taken care of by
the salary you earn?

A: No 99.9 percent


5) Q: Do you agree with the idea of GOC-provided incentives,
in the form of additional payments in hard currency and
packages of personal grooming articles, in exchange for
political participation and support for the "Battle of Ideas?"

A: No 99.9 percent


6) Q: Does your boss use state-provided transportation or
other state property for his own personal use?

A: Yes 80.01 percent
No 19.98 percent


7) Q: Do you agree that a worker should be fired for
carrying out activities at the workplace in defense of labor
and human rights?

A: No 99.9 percent


8) Q: Do you believe that political activities and
mobilizations interfere with work?

HAVANA 00000548 002.3 OF 002



A: Yes 93.7 percent
No 6.2 percent


9) Q: What role should Cuban labor unions play with regard
to the Resolutions?

A: Support fully 0 percent
Seek changes 25.98 percent
Reject them 74.01 percent.

Resolutions 187-188, promulgated on April 1, do not allow for
the possibility of real, objective labor freedom, since the
GOC explicitly prohibits independent trade unions and
requires that all Cuban workers affiliate with the CTC.

The GOC controls the labor market and decides salaries and
conditions of work; Resolutions 187-188 do not allow for the
right to strike; according to the GOC there is no need to
call for strikes since the official labor federation's
grievances are always guaranteed to be heard by the
authorities.

The GOC blocks any attempt to form independent labor unions,
quashing any attempt to express the true wishes of Cuban
workers. This survey was carried out with absolute
discretion, since any worker discovered participating could
have been fired from his job.


3. (SBU) Comment: Diaz and Bachiller told us they did not
limit the survey to members of the independent labor
federation (CONIC) that they lead, but rather to random
members of the workforce all over the island. That said, we
would expect that dissident voices make up a larger segment
of the survey than they do in the general population. The
questions in the survey also reflect CONIC's bias against the
GOC. Nonetheless, they confirm our previous assumptions
about the ineffectiveness and unpopularity of the labor
measures thus far. It is not a mystery even to the GOC that
large majorities of Cubans are dissatisfied with the public
transportation system or with low salaries. In a May 31
"Granma" article, Labor Minister Alfredo Morales Cartaya
spoke about the continuing transport problem and unevenness
of application of the labor measures throughout the country.
He admitted that the GOC has not done a good job of
disseminating the message to workers. The labor minister
said this in the spirit of "We're the GOC and we're here to
help," which is hardly the case. Our view, consistent with
the survey, is that the GOC uses working conditions, labor
unions and new labor laws as means of control.
PARMLY