Mar 29, 2007, 02:18 PM
Hey, here's a good idea! Have the slaves work harder and longer to increase productivity.....just like China!
BRILLIANT!!
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March 26, 2007, 4:33PM
Cuba Campaigns for Work Discipline Laws
By ANDREA RODRIGUEZ Associated Press Writer
© 2007 The Associated Press
HAVANA — Senior Cuban officials are analyzing a pair of new labor laws taking affect next month as the island's official media cranks up a campaign about the rules aimed at beefing up work productivity.
The official Communist Party Granma on Monday devoted its back page Monday to the upcoming regulations, which many workers complain are too strict and impossible to follow. State TV in recent days has aired messages about the need for the new regulations.
Cabinet Secretary Carlos Lage oversaw a meeting by senior Cuban officials last Thursday and Friday examining the regulations taking effect on April 1, Granma newspaper said. Parliament speaker Ricardo Alarcon also attended, along with numerous government ministers.
Contained in two resolutions known as 187 and 188, the package of new rules call for workers to arrive at work on time, work their scheduled hours, and remain at work during their scheduled shifts. Workers are also explicitly prohibited from taking any kind of personal payment from third parties for information or any other service.
The regulations also call for government offices to stay open longer so Cubans can handle necessary government paperwork such as getting a driver's license or processing housing documents without missing work.
Granma quoted Labor Minister Alfredo Morales as saying that most workplaces have already adopted some of the new regulations and many are already open longer hours.
The communist newspaper acknowledged that many workers face additional problems that will make it hard to comply with the new regulations, such as unreliable and crowded public transport and limited hours for child care.
Although minimum government salaries were increased significantly in recent years, the current average monthly pay is around $15.
Most Cubans pay no rent, enjoy free health care and education, and pay very little for heavily subsidized transportation and utilities and a basic food basket covering about 40 percent of dietary needs.
But their still-small salaries do not go far, especially since most other things they need to buy are available only at high prices in foreign currency stores.
Cuban worker productivity plunged during the island's economic crisis in the 1990s, brought on by the loss of its former Soviet partners.
Now, Cuban workers "will have to change their life habits," party official Lina Pedraza told Granma newspaper.
BRILLIANT!!
__________________________________________________
March 26, 2007, 4:33PM
Cuba Campaigns for Work Discipline Laws
By ANDREA RODRIGUEZ Associated Press Writer
© 2007 The Associated Press
HAVANA — Senior Cuban officials are analyzing a pair of new labor laws taking affect next month as the island's official media cranks up a campaign about the rules aimed at beefing up work productivity.
The official Communist Party Granma on Monday devoted its back page Monday to the upcoming regulations, which many workers complain are too strict and impossible to follow. State TV in recent days has aired messages about the need for the new regulations.
Cabinet Secretary Carlos Lage oversaw a meeting by senior Cuban officials last Thursday and Friday examining the regulations taking effect on April 1, Granma newspaper said. Parliament speaker Ricardo Alarcon also attended, along with numerous government ministers.
Contained in two resolutions known as 187 and 188, the package of new rules call for workers to arrive at work on time, work their scheduled hours, and remain at work during their scheduled shifts. Workers are also explicitly prohibited from taking any kind of personal payment from third parties for information or any other service.
The regulations also call for government offices to stay open longer so Cubans can handle necessary government paperwork such as getting a driver's license or processing housing documents without missing work.
Granma quoted Labor Minister Alfredo Morales as saying that most workplaces have already adopted some of the new regulations and many are already open longer hours.
The communist newspaper acknowledged that many workers face additional problems that will make it hard to comply with the new regulations, such as unreliable and crowded public transport and limited hours for child care.
Although minimum government salaries were increased significantly in recent years, the current average monthly pay is around $15.
Most Cubans pay no rent, enjoy free health care and education, and pay very little for heavily subsidized transportation and utilities and a basic food basket covering about 40 percent of dietary needs.
But their still-small salaries do not go far, especially since most other things they need to buy are available only at high prices in foreign currency stores.
Cuban worker productivity plunged during the island's economic crisis in the 1990s, brought on by the loss of its former Soviet partners.
Now, Cuban workers "will have to change their life habits," party official Lina Pedraza told Granma newspaper.