Employmentweb_low

EmploymEnT, woRk, and hEalTh inEqualiTiEs - a global perspective
economic sectors provide opportunities of extra income in CuC and
foreign currencies (i.e. tourism), access to strong currency (CuC) by
means of formal employment is still limited. In general, the existence
of two currencies and the deformations of the relationship between
wages and prices determined that salaries have lost their
correspondence with important aspects of peoples’ quality of life, as
well as their correspondence with the amount and quality of the work
done. This situation has conditioned many formal workers to
participate in additional informal economic activities in order to
increase their income.
Employment is guaranteed for all citizens fit to work and there is
no temporary employment or precarious jobs. There is no child
labour, slavery or bonded labour in Cuba. In Cuba, job vacancies are
filled by candidates whose abilities are suited to the position.
Termination of an employment contract by the employer must be
legally justifiable (retirement, total or partial disablement with no
possibility of internal transfer to another job, or being demonstrably
unsuitable for the job are some legal reasons for termination). When
an employee is terminated, for whatever reason, he or she is
compensated and the employer may also be obligated to guarantee
placement in another job. The Cuban Workers’ union, a consortium
of all unions, has legislative initiative and is also a source of material
rights, since it has the right to promote changes in legislation. These
and other topics are discussed at workers' congresses. The unions'
chief responsibilities are to represent workers and to negotiate
collective wage agreements.
Cuban social security is universal, providing coverage for all
workers and their families against occupation-derived risks. The
entire population is covered by the national Health system. all
health services are free for the whole population. The social security
system is made up of both long-term economic subsidies and shortterm
ones borne by the employer. These subsidies provide coverage
for workers and their families in conditions of retirement, death of
the spouse, disability and others. In 2006, social security had
1,533,230 beneficiaries and the total expenditure was 3,783 million
pesos. pensions for old-age, total disability or death accounted for
90.43 per cent of this expenditure; accident and illness subsidies for
5.56 per cent; partial disability pensions for 0.08 per cent; the
category "other expenditure," which covers maternity leave,
accounted for 3.68 per cent; and "complementary expenditure," 0.08
per cent.
Except for occupational diseases, which generally correspond to
working conditions and exposure to specific risks, there is no evidence
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