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Viewing cable 07HAVANA548, CUBA: FREE LABOR SURVEY SHOWS DISILLUSIONMENT

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
07HAVANA548 2007-06-05 13:02 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY US Interests Section Havana
VZCZCXRO5989
RR RUEHAG RUEHDF RUEHIK RUEHLZ RUEHROV
DE RUEHUB #0548/01 1561302
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 051302Z JUN 07 ZDK
FM USINT HAVANA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1813
INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE
RUEHWH/WESTERN HEMISPHERIC AFFAIRS DIPL POSTS
RUEHSW/AMEMBASSY BERN 0118
RUEHROV/AMEMBASSY VATICAN 0100
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RUEHUNV/USMISSION UNVIE VIENNA
RUCOGCA/COMNAVBASE GUANTANAMO BAY CU
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 0128
RUMIAAA/USCINCSO MIAMI FL
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