Cuban Labor Code to be Amended
HAVANA TIMES — New changes that will favor the private sector on the island will be made to the Labor Code of Cuba, which is currently under review, reported the Prensa Latina news agency.
“We have the tools necessary to ensure the adequate protection for these workers,” said Vivian Aguilar, president of the highest labor court.
However Aguilar did not specify the new benefits of the code beyond the right to wages, rest, and social security protection.
To date, conflicts and complaints by workers in the private sector “have not been significant” and there’s no expectation that there will be numbers of claims by these workers in court, said Aguilar.
The number of private workers in Cuba could reach 600,000 this year, according to official calculations.
This is all good, but where is the law permitting and encouraging worker-owned industrial and commercial cooperatives?
It seems that the PCC is okay with the idea of domestic and foreign capitalists employing “adequately protected” Cuban workers. At the same time, it has trouble accepting the idea that workers ought to be able to own the means of production themselves through directly-owned cooperatives.