In spite of energy contingencies in Matanzas, distance work is not applied very often.
The unions at the base must demand that this type of modality be «promoted in our province, where it has not yet been fully exploited».
The last Secretariat of the Cuban Workers’ Confederation (CTC) in Matanzas, the relevant monthly meeting, called attention to the low numbers of those who are working remotely and teleworking, a vital issue in times of the current energy contingency.
The report presented by the area of Economic Affairs noted that at the end of the first quarter of 2024 only 3,71 thousand employees were in the aforementioned variants, 1.2 percent of the working population.
Of those incorporated to telecommuting and teleworking, the lowest percentages are registered in the municipalities of Matanzas and Jovellanos; the worst performance corresponds to Unión de Reyes, with no person in these alternatives.
When presenting the point at the CTC Secretariat, Rogelio Leyva Castellanos insisted that the unions at the base should demand that «this type of modality be promoted in our province, where it has not yet been fully exploited», he reflected.
Leyva expressed that it is unfortunate that despite the advantages of greater efficiency, productivity and savings offered by telecommuting and teleworking, it is so little used, just in times of difficulties with transportation, fuel and power outages.
The position of the CTC of Matanzas coincides with the call made a few hours ago by the Ministry of Labor and Social Security (MTSS), which in its account on the social network Facebook encouraged to resort to these possibilities of work at home, in times of «necessary energy saving … Administrators, workers, country, everyone wins», it was assured.
The MTSS called on businessmen and trade union organizations to join in this endeavor. «Together we can contribute to saving electricity and adopt measures to neutralize the situation that affects us all,» the publication reiterated.
In several posts of this organization, it was considered that, due to their benefits, these variants should be in constant growth. It is the administrations that are in charge of complying with and perfecting its implementation and control, starting with defining the positions that by their nature and functions can use it, both as a permanent or partial modality, accompanied by a control system to measure the results and evaluate the effectiveness of its application.
The MTSS is responsible for proposing, directing and controlling the policy of the State and the Government on labor, occupational safety and health, social security and prevention, assistance and social work.
Telecommuting and teleworking reached their highest numbers in the times of Covid-19, more by necessity of isolation than by business culture, which is now needed for the good of the economy itself, of the economic actors and of the country.
Written by Eva Luna Acosta Armiñán.
