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Just a few days before the 22nd Congress of the Central Workers' Union of Cuba (CTC), an official government newspaper publicly acknowledged that wages remain the primary source of discontent among Cuban workers, a problem that has persisted for years without resolution and has led to the mass exodus of skilled professionals from strategic sectors.
The recognition appears in an article published by the state newspaper Invasor, the official organ of the Communist Party in Ciego de Ávila, titled Getting the Salary on Track, where it is acknowledged that deficiencies in the remuneration system continue to impact productivity, job stability, and the purchasing power of workers.
The publication includes statements from Edilberto Acosta Ramos, a union leader with four decades of experience in the railway sector, who candidly describes the consequences of low incomes in the country.
"The salary issues lead to serious consequences such as demotivation, workplace indiscipline, and the exodus of skilled and experienced individuals to entities or other management forms where they receive higher income," he stated.
Acosta Ramos warned that the loss of skilled workers particularly impacts specialized sectors such as railways.
"A train driver is not trained in just a few working days, and we are losing skilled labor not only in the railways," he pointed out.
The union leader also questioned one of the principles that the Cuban labor system has officially defended for decades.
"Payment is not always based on the quantity, quality, and complexity of the work," he stated, delivering a direct critique of the state wage model.
The very Invasor acknowledges that this issue had already been discussed during the CTC Congress held in 2019 and that, seven years later, it still lacks an effective solution.
The statements were made at the Ferroazuc Base Business Unit, regarded as one of the most efficient in the country within the Union of Railways of Cuba. However, the halt of the 2025-2026 sugar harvest has rendered much of its workshops and locomotives inactive, forcing workers to be reassigned to other roles.
"The transportation of other loads on rails does not provide enough for payment to our collective; we need to seek alternatives," acknowledged Acosta Ramos.
Concerns about salaries also dominate union discussions in the province. According to the article, four of the seven issues categorized as "worrisome and recurring" are directly related to workers' incomes: the loss of purchasing power due to inflation, delays in payments due to a lack of bank liquidity, the scarcity of ATMs, and the decline in the production of goods and services.
The figures help to explain the discomfort. The official average salary in Cuba closed 2025 at 6,930 pesos per month, equivalent to just over a handful of dollars at the informal exchange rate. Meanwhile, a recent study by economist Javier Pérez Capdevila estimated that a person needs around 96,060 pesos per month to cover basic expenses for food, housing, and other essential goods.
The gap between income and the cost of living has led to a growing exodus of workers from the state sector. Education began the 2025-2026 school year with more than 24,000 teaching positions vacant; the healthcare system lost over 24,000 workers; and thousands of employees also left the electricity sector in search of better-paying jobs.
In this context, the 22nd Congress of the CTC will take place on June 26 and 27 via videoconference from all provinces, with physical presence limited to Havana. The authorities justified the format citing the economic difficulties of the country and the need to act with "austerity and rationality."
Days before the meeting, Miguel Díaz-Canel announced new measures aimed at easing payment systems in state enterprises and removing some salary caps. However, the reforms do not provide an immediate response for workers in the budget sector, where a significant portion of public employment in Cuba is concentrated.
The conclusion of the Invasor article summarizes a problem that even the official press now acknowledges as impossible to conceal.
"It is necessary to steer the salary and other missteps that the workers' Congress may direct," wrote Acosta Ramos, in a phrase that reflects the growing discontent of Cuban workers in the face of incomes increasingly disconnected from the real cost of living.
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