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The Cuban economist Pedro Monreal published a scathing analysis this Saturday regarding measure #8 of the package of 176 economic reforms approved by the National Assembly on June 18 and 19, labeling it "anti-worker" and pointing out that it turns workers in state enterprises into "lambs for sacrifice."
Monreal, who posts under the title "The State as Such," focused his criticism on the salary mechanism established by this measure: wages will no longer depend on the ability, quality, or quantity of work performed, but rather on the "economic-financial capacity" of each company, with the defining initiative in the hands of the management.
The official document from the regime states that "salary levels, negotiated with workers and with the participation of the Union, will depend on the economic-financial capacity of the companies." For Monreal, this wording hides a trap: "It's a game with loaded dice: it does not balance the rights of workers and employers within an economy governed by market rules. It also does not acknowledge democratic counterbalancing mechanisms for workers in the labor sphere."
The economist notes that the measure even abandons the principles that the regime claims to uphold. "For the 'Cuban-style socialism', it seems there is not a drop left of the 'Critique of the Gotha Program', where Marx formulated the idea of 'from each according to his ability; to each according to his work'," he wrote, referring to the classic text of Marxism.
Monreal's criticism goes beyond salary policies and addresses a structural deficit in the Cuban system: the absence of basic labor rights. "A balanced 'reform' that is compatible with social justice must recognize the right to strike and the right to form independent unions. There is no basis in international law to justify this 'oversight' of 'Cuban-style socialism,'" he stated.
To support this argument, the economist recalls that Cuba has been a founding member of the International Labour Organization (ILO) since 1919, and that this organization considers the right to strike an essential corollary of the freedom of association. Additionally, Cuba ratified ILO Convention 87 on trade union freedom in 1952, formally committing to guarantee that right.
In practice, however, that commitment does not exist. In Cuba, only the Central de Trabajadores de Cuba (CTC) operates, a unique labor organization that is subordinate to the Communist Party. Independent unions are not allowed, and the right to strike is not recognized in national legislation. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has documented the practical non-existence of that right on the Island.
Monreal also points out an internal contradiction within the very package of measures. While measure #8 creates conditions for the exploitation of state workers, measure #36 from the same package explicitly condemns "indiscriminate exploitation." "Perhaps the official stance is that the exploitation resulting from measure #8 does not count as the 'indiscriminate exploitation' condemned in measure #36. It's concerning when those in power contradict themselves, deceive, and expect to be thanked," wrote the economist.
The analysis by Monreal takes place within the context of the most significant structural reform that the regime has announced since the Special Period of the 1990s. Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz presented the package to the National Assembly, which included measures such as the authorization of private banking, the transformation of state-owned enterprises into joint-stock companies, and the opening up to foreign investment. Marrero himself acknowledged before the deputies that the implementation will generate "contradictions".
The implementation of the package requires modifying more than 148 legal provisions and approving 32 new regulations. While the regime presents the measures as a historic opening, critical voices like that of Monreal warn that without real labor rights, any economic reform will continue to place its costs on workers. "Trade union freedom is an extension of basic civil rights," concluded the economist in his analysis published this Saturday on social media.
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