A survey by the Independent Trade Union Association of Cuba exposes serious deficiencies in occupational safety and health, such as the lack of protection equipment and the persistence of child labor.
Madrid, Spain.- The Independent Trade Union Association (ASIC) presented this week the Results of a national survey on occupational health and safety (SST), made between April and June 2025, which reveals a critical panorama for the workers of the island.
The report, prepared together with the Cuban Association of Autonomous and Entrepreneurs (Acta), was based on 444 surveys applied in different provinces, mostly to employees of the non -state and self -employment.
According to the results, more than 95% of the participants said they did not trust the state institutions responsible for ensuring labor security, considering that they do not offer guarantees or effective protection. “We did not expect other results. The vast majority does not trust state institutions and agencies because they offer no guarantees or protection of their workers,” he told Martí News The Secretary General of the ASIC, Iván Hernández Carrillo.
Among the main findings of the study, the following stand out:
- 82% have never received training in occupational safety and health.
- 52.5% lack personal protective equipment.
- 28.8% report work stress and psychosocial overload.
- 18% identify critical deficiencies in infrastructure and hygiene.
- 83% perceive an accident increase during transfers to work, linked to the poor state of roads and vehicles, lack of signage and exhaustion for long days without rest.
The report also alerts about the persistence of child labor in “schools in the field” programs, where adolescents are forced to carry out agricultural and cleaning under political and social pressure. This practice, says ASIC, constitutes a form of forced labor contrary to international childhood protection agreements.
Regarding union representation, 57% of respondents do not belong to any organization, and only 12% are affiliated with independent unions. ASIC stresses that this weak unionization limits the capacity of collective defense of workers in the face of adverse working conditions.
International called
In its conclusions, the report qualifies the situation as a “circle of vulnerability” generated by labor overload, stress, lack of resources and the absence of safety investment. In response, the trade union organization proposes to the Cuban State the creation of a national work safety and health program, with clear goals, defined budget and independent supervision mechanisms.
In addition, it requests the intervention of international organizations such as ILO, PAHO/WHO and OAS, to require Havana to fulfill their international commitments on occupational labor and health rights.
Labor accidents in Cuba
This week it transpired that a worker from the thermoelectric plant Antonio Maceo (Renté), in Santiago de Cuba, It was seriously injured after the rupture of a steam pipe at 10 atmospheres in unit 5 of the plant. The man suffered burns in 89% of his body and, in the middle of panic, fell down a ladder of more than five meters, which caused a strong cranial trauma.
Thermoelectric workers explained that maintenance are done “empty -handed, with nothing, absolutely nothing.”
According to the report Work protection. Selected indicators, In 2024 934 occupational accidents were registered In Cuba, for a total of 975 injured workers and 52 deaths.
