Discontinuous Workers in Matanzas: The Impact of the Energy Siege on Employment

Nearly ten thousand workers have become discontinuous (intermittently employed) in the province of Matanzas, caused by the energy siege imposed on the country by the United States government in an attempt to suffocate the people and, above all, to provoke a social outburst.

Under these conditions, the administrations of workplaces, with the participation of municipal administrative offices, are seeking offers to relocate those who are left vacant, so that families are not maximally affected.

Approximately 50 percent of those who have become unemployed have already been relocated, while a similar percentage did not accept the proposed job offers. Some of them requested permission to work as self-employed workers.

Workers who do not receive a job offer are provided with salary guarantee for a period, and those who do not accept offers must find work on their own. There are even entities that continue to pay salaries, violating established regulations.

Sectors that pay those who do not accept the proposed offers are violating the law. This occurs even in Agriculture, Azcuba, and Construction, agencies where there is a large number of vacant positions.

There may be specific cases where these workers are protected because their health or physical conditions do not allow them to occupy positions that require physical exertion, to give one example.

Likewise, those people who accept a new job but find themselves at a social disadvantage are also protected until their situation is restored. All movements require great attention, because a salary structure appropriate to the moment needs to be established.

For these reasons, the province has generated 426 complaints, which indicates that before each movement there must be a convincing effort and, above all, transparency.

This problem has not been created by the country or by the current labor system; it is the product of the criminal imposition of the blockade for more than 60 years, with the intensification of the energy siege recently imposed by the United States.