"The Cuban Council of State passed on June 26th, 2009, a new Decree-Law number 268 entitled: "Reform of the Labor Regime" which was published by the daily Granma newspaper as an Official Note reproduced in full below. The law allows for workers to have more than one job and for students to work in part-time jobs. It also frees up enterprises in Havana to hire workers from other provinces directly instead of them having to be hired through the state employment agency."
This "labor reform" is now being lauded as "evidence" of Raul Castro's economic liberalization.
Doesn't it sound great?
Here's the play on words.
In Cuba, only the state can hire. Therefore, this new law only allows workers to have more than one state job. However, there's already a shortage of state jobs, so there's no extra work for those who seek it. Plus, there's no incentive (or hours in a day) for a Cuban laborer to have another state job (and get paid a handful more of worthless Cuban pesos), as it wouldn't improve their purchasing power (Cubans need convertible currency, not worthless Cuban pesos) or improve their living conditions.
But wait, it gets better.
The announcement states that "enterprises in Havana" can know hire directly in other provinces instead of through the state employment agency. They forget to mention that private business activity (or at least the kind that needs to hire workers) in Cuba is illegal. Therefore, the "enterprises in Havana" are owned by the state. As a result, the state is essentially taking over another function of the state.
At this rate, Cubans should be able to afford those rice cookers the Castro regime "legalized" last year by 2025.
