Wage incentive is not working well in Matanzas’ tourism industry.

-… we also make additional payment for permanence, which helps to stimulate the stability of the workforce in our groups. For example, for more than 20 years of work, they have a 35 percent salary increase».

Despite the fact that at the end of last May it was being applied by 36 out of 42 basic business units (UEB), Decree 87/2023 (D87) is not working well in Varadero, judging by the report presented at the Matanzas province chapter of the National Conference of the Hotel and Tourism Workers Union.

Approved to establish in a decentralized manner the organization of the workers’ wage system, increase productive and efficiency levels, D87 «navigates» in murky waters in this strategic sector, where its optimal functioning is desirable.

One of the problems of its materialization is associated with the fact that the plans maintain a growing trend per directive, which sometimes turns them into figures of necessity, not always objective or achievable.

Another aspect against it has to do with the differentiation that D87 has for tourism, measuring the plan by growth and not by compliance, an aspect that today becomes an aggravating factor and causes many UEBs to abandon its implementation and go back to Resolution 29 of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security (R29MTSS).

Judging by the analysis of the Provincial Union of Hotel and Tourism Workers (SPTHT), the individual distribution of funds continues to benefit employees with a higher salary scale, which does not always correspond to the higher contribution, an aspect that, despite being pointed out, is reiterated and has not been resolved in the actual updating of the regulations.

This behavior denies the principle that whoever creates the most wealth earns the most, a contradiction that is present, even though it is up to the administrative and union management to resolve this dichotomy.

In the midst of these irregularities, the good example of the Meliá Las Antillas hotel, where D87 finds a safe channel, is very encouraging. There, the design of the salary scale allowed to go from a minimum salary of 2,200 pesos to 4,500 pesos.

Yoel Luis Hernández Lantigua, director of the Cubanacán facility, ponders the benefits of the legal regulation, which has given them the possibility of «incorporating a new rate for night work, which affects a high number of workers in the hotel industry.»

The payment for scientific degrees was also raised, adds Hernández Lantigua. «The master’s degree is now paid at one thousand CUP, instead of the 440 CUP provided for in R29MTSS, and we also make additional payment for permanence, which helps stimulate the stability of the workforce in our collectives. For example, the 74 active founders, for having more than 20 years of work, have a 35 percent salary increase».

For Yarisleidys Torriente, secretary general of the SPTH, she considers that from now on «we must contribute to revitalize the principle of socialist distribution, defending as a policy that workers’ income be linked to economic results and their contributions.»

The D87, today under review for improvement, makes it clear that the organization of the wage system to be approved, must consider the organizational and management structure, the design and evaluation of jobs and guarantee several principles.

Equity: Jobs of similar complexity correspond to similar salary, without discrimination of any kind; Differentiation: The salary takes into account the complexity of the work, the conditions of the position, the suitability demonstrated and the individual contribution; Proportionality: The salary is paid according to the amount of work performed and the actual time worked; and Dynamics: The salary is set in correspondence with the results of the company.

The salary fixed to the worker cannot be lower than the minimum established in the country and also cannot be lower than the basic salary applied before the implementation of the new organization of the salary system, as long as the same activity continues to be performed.

Written by Eva Luna Acosta Armiñán.