Trabajo Decente? Decent Work from a Cuban perspective

Osnaide Izquierdo,Nina Jany

doi:10.18753/2297-8224-161

Abstract

In this article, we critically examine Cuban social and labour policies as attempts of a practical application of Decent Work principles in a state-socialist context. We start with an examination of past and present models of socio-economic development and labour relations in Cuba. This is followed by an overview of the main Cuban policy principles related to Decent Work, which we contrast with some developments in Cuban labour realities. To contextualize our analysis, we emphasize the conceptualizations of work, production and property, as well as the institutional logics that underly the Cuban labour models and policies. Finally, two policy areas are highlighted by way of example.

Highlights

In the 1944 Declaration of Philadelphia, a document that is often mentioned as a predecessor of the concept of decent work, the International Labour Organization (ILO 1944: 1) states as one of its fundamental principles that “labour is not a commodity”
The previous examination of labour policies and realities in Cuba has shown that the promotion of principles associated with the Decent Work Agenda is a necessary, but not sufficient prerequisite to realize conditions of decent work
Our goal was to highlight the relations of labour, production and property in the Cuban development model and the resultingpossibilities for workers to appropriate their work and the wealth it generates

Summary

Introduction

In the 1944 Declaration of Philadelphia, a document that is often mentioned as a predecessor of the concept of decent work, the International Labour Organization (ILO 1944: 1) states as one of its fundamental principles that “labour is not a commodity”. The ILO committed to extending these standards and to moving towards a broader conception of work, intending to include, for instance, informal labour and care work. This broader definition, as it is put forward by the ILO today, places slightly more emphasis on a social dimension of work. Drawing on former critiques of the decent work concept in this regard (e.g., Standing 2008, Izquierdo 2017), we in this article argue that work should be considered first and foremost as a social category. We suggest that to analyse the decency of labour policies and realities, it is important to consider the relations of labour, production and property underlying such policies

Objectives

Findings

Conclusion