More remote work and private sector participation, but without the right to strike or independent unions. This could succinctly summarize the Law 189 Labor Code in Cuba, unanimously approved - as it could only be - by the National Assembly of People's Power in July.
The reform updates labor legislation for the first time in more than a decade and adjusts part of the legal framework to realities that already existed on the Island, such as the expansion of the private sector, telecommuting, and multiple job holding.
However, the text keeps intact some of the most questioned pillars of the Cuban labor model: it still does not recognize the right to strike, preserves the union monopoly of the Central de Trabajadores de Cuba (CTC), and does not provide real solutions to the loss of purchasing power of wages.
The new regulation replaces Law 116 of 2013, which has been in effect since 2014, and will take effect 90 days after its publication in the Official Gazette. During this period, entities must modify contracts, disciplinary regulations, and collective agreements to comply with the new legal framework.
The State acknowledges an economy that has already changed
One of the most significant changes is the legal recognition of the non-state sector as a permanent part of the Cuban labor system.
The Code establishes a unified legal framework for micro, small, and medium enterprises (mipymes), cooperatives, self-employed workers, and other authorized forms of management. This decision comes at a time when the country has already created more than 11,000 private companies since 2021, and a sector that generates over 31% of national employment.
The legislation also officially incorporates the figure of the self-employed worker, granting them the ability to claim violations of their rights in court, while at the same time imposing tax obligations, social security duties, and regulatory compliance.
In practice, the reform moves away from viewing the private sector as a temporary exception and acknowledges an economic transformation that has been occurring for years outside the official narrative.
Remote work, flexible hours, and digital disconnection
Among the most notable developments is the regulation of telework, which includes a new concept in Cuba: the opportunity to continue working from abroad when the employer deems it appropriate and the job characteristics allow for it.
This job continuity will require a modification of the contract and will depend on the interest of the employing entity, so it does not constitute an automatic right for those traveling outside the country.
The Code also relaxes work hours, facilitates multiple job holdings, and for the first time recognizes the right to digital disconnection, prohibiting workers from being contacted outside of their working hours, during vacations, leaves of absence, or days off, except in exceptional situations related to production or services.
Those who hold multiple jobs can work a maximum of 13 hours a day across all their positions.
Changes for graduates and new business obligations
The reform also reduces the mandatory social service for university graduates from three years to two and opens the possibility of fulfilling it in private entities under certain conditions.
In the non-state sector, there is another development: employers of small and medium-sized enterprises, cooperatives, and private businesses will be required to hire and finance unemployment insurance for their workers, an obligation that did not previously exist.
The text also incorporates principles of equal pay for work of equal value, protection against workplace harassment, non-discrimination, and an expansion of benefits for parents and other family caregivers.
Salaries that still do not reach
Despite these changes, the economic reality of workers remains virtually unchanged.
The minimum wage will increase to 3,210 Cuban pesos per month, while the average state salary currently hovers around 6,506 pesos, an amount that equates to approximately between 14 and 17 dollars at the informal exchange rate, and which remains insufficient to cover basic needs in a context marked by inflation and scarcity.
The very exposition of motives of the project recognizes a striking limitation: "the issuance of the bill has no economic consequences resulting from the application of the proposals," an admission that highlights that the reform reorganizes labor relations but does not address the economic precariousness faced by the majority of workers.
It also does not establish mandatory mechanisms that guarantee the principle of a sufficient remuneration to meet basic needs, as the minimum wage will continue to be set centrally by the Council of Ministers.
Blackouts now have a legal response
The legislation also incorporates a legal response to an increasingly common reality in Cuba: the shutdown of workplaces due to the energy crisis.
Through Decree 149/2026, the government establishes that workers classified as interrupted due to power outages or lack of fuel will receive only 60% of their salary while they remain inactive.
More than addressing the electricity crisis, the measure institutionalizes a wage reduction resulting from the deterioration of the country's own productive system.
Terminations with limited severance pay
Another significant change affects state payrolls.
The Code eliminates the position of available worker and authorizes entities to eliminate positions for economic, technological, or structural reasons, including the permanent elimination of roles.
Those who cannot be relocated will receive a compensation equivalent to six basic salaries, paid in a lump sum.
The very statement of reasoning explicitly acknowledges that previous mechanisms for temporary relocation are being eliminated, thereby allowing for greater flexibility in reducing personnel.
The strike remains prohibited
The most criticized aspect of the new Code is not what it includes, but what it keeps out of the text.
The law still does not recognize the right to strike, a lack that had already raised questions during the public consultation held prior to its approval.
It also does not introduce effective trade union freedom.
Although the document mentions collective negotiation, worker participation, and labor representation, all of these mechanisms remain subordinate to the Central de Workers of Cuba (CTC), the only officially recognized trade union closely linked to the Communist Party.
In practice, workers still cannot freely create or join independent unions, a situation that distances the country from widely recognized international standards regarding labor rights.
The criticisms come from outside the official system
The objections do not come solely from independent analysts.
In May, the Cultural Rights Observatory reported that the right to work continues to be violated through paralegal subterfuge and accused the CTC of acting as an accomplice to political power instead of representing the interests of workers.
A few weeks later, the Independent Trade Union Association of Cuba submitted a comprehensive list of demands to the National Assembly, calling for labor freedom, economic justice, and democratic reforms, but those requests were not reflected in the final approved text.
A modernization with clear limits
The new Labor Code reflects an increasingly evident contradiction within the Cuban model.
While acknowledging the growth of the private sector, it regulates international remote work, relaxes work hours, and incorporates modern concepts like digital disconnection, it keeps intact the mechanisms of political control over workers' representation.
The reform updates the functioning of the labor market but leaves central issues for millions of Cubans unanswered: insufficient wages, lack of union pluralism, legal inability to strike, and a constant deterioration of living conditions that the text itself acknowledges without providing effective tools to reverse it.
According to the regime, that package is part of the announced package of 176 economic and social transformations, of which 90.9% had already been approved by the date of the session.
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