Carmelo Mesa-Lago

Cuba's economic counter‐reform (rectificatión): Causes, policies and effects

Cuba has experienced more frequent shifts in its types of economic organization than most post‐revolutionary regimes. The current ‘rectification process’ can be explained principally by ideological and political factors: a desire to ‘rescue’ the revolution and to retain Castros own power. This policy is in part an attempt to cope with some economic problems, although its effect to date is negative rather than positive. Moreover, its general thrust is in the opposite direction to the current reforms in Eastern Europe, and this has led to friction between Havana and Moscow. If Soviet perestroika succeeds, it is bound to lead to further shifts in Cuban economic policy.

Economic Significance of Unpaid Labor in Socialist Cuba

Evaluates the significance of unpaid labor to the economy of Cuba, a socialist country. Types of unpaid labor in Cuba; Discussion of the economic advantages and disadvantages of unpaid labor; Role of unpaid labor in solving the agricultural labor shortage. (Abstract copyright EBSCO.)

Labor policy and practices in Spain : a study of employer-employee relations under the Franco regime

This book examines trade union structure, labor conflicts and the right to strike, and the collective bargaining system in Spain today. The change of Francos authoritarian regime in the field of labor relations toward increasing liberalization is the leitmotif of the study. Fred Witney is presently a professor of economics at Indiana University. He spent six months in Spain studying his subject. Sources of information were readings and interviews with government and trade union officials, as well as with university professors and labor relations personnel. Most of the material consulted was in Spanish, and the comprehensiveness of his investigation is reflected in the numerous footnotes and the extensive bibliography, which includes all important books, outstanding articles in technical journals, and even chronicles published in newspapers. His research covers the period 1958 through the end of 1964, although some previous background is briefly treated and occasional information up to mid-1965 is also provided. The historical antecedents and bases of the present situation are traced: the heritage of authoritarianism, the falangist ideology of Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera, and the political institutions of a totalitarian state combined with a neo-liberal, capitalist economy. The functions of the two main Spanish legal bodies are explained. Unfortunately, it is obvious that the author did not consult a recent report from the International Commission of Jurists concerning the current political situation in Spain which would have proven valuable (The Rule of Law in Spain, Geneva, International Commission of Jurists, 1962). The term trade union is carefully avoided by the author. He believes that present Spanish syndical organization is sui generis because (a) vertical syndicates group together within the same body employers and employees, the former integrating the so-called economic section and the latter the social section; (b) syndical membership is virtually compulsory (92 percent of the labor force is unionized); (c) there is only one syndical faction; (d) syndical organization is a creature of the state devoted to carrying out the labor policy of the government; (e) the solitary party-Falange-has control over the syndical structure; (f) syndical officials are appointed by the government or elected, but the author considers that in practice there are no democratic elections. Witneys conclusion is that an independent and free trade union system is nonexistent in Spain. Since 1938, strikes had been considered a crime (sedition) against the state and hence were illegal. The series of strikes which hit the northern region of Spain, mainly Asturias, in 1962-1964, however, have brought about certain changes. Since 1962, there is the legal possibility for workers to present a collective complaint to employers with the right to appeal to the Ministry of Labor for conciliation and compulsory arbitration. In the summer of 1965, the Labor Committee of the Spanish Cortes recommended a revision of Article 222 of the Penal Code in order to legalize strikes which pursue trade union objectives, although maintaining as illegal those with political aims. Witney stresses the difficulty in distinguishing between these and the absence of a legal definition. In November 1965 after Witneys book was published, the Justice Commission of the Spanish Cortes granted its approval to the government draft of revision. Politically inspired strikes or those which could harm national production are still considered seditious, but criminal sanctions are now not applied to strikes conducted for straight economic and social rea-

The Labor Sector and Socialist Distribution in Cuba.

migration of foreign labor or the promotion of the farm-to-city movement-but these reserves are progressively drying out. Another alternative is capital-deepening investment, but curiously enough this substitute is barely mentioned. Kindlebergers approach probably can be explained by his lack of concern over the end of supergrowth which he anticipates. In his opinion, growthmanship-that is, economic growth as an ultimate end-is antagonistic to social welfare and, more specifically, to an equitable distribution of income, and the transition to a more moderate plateau of growth should allow Europeans to tackle major societal problems, on top of which he puts full employment. While it would be brash in a brief review to offer a definite judgment on such a very thorough and reflective work, I would like to submit some observations on the French case, which convey perhaps less disagreement than uncertainty. (In any case, Kindleberger admits that France is the most striking exception to the Lewis model among the fast growers in Europe.) One cannot help being struck by the fact that the slowdown of French economic growth took place when the labor supply was being positively affected by the influx into the labor market of the larger postwar cohorts, so that unemployment worsened at the same time that manpower supply became elastic again. Therefore we need to ask-not only about France but also about other European countries-whether the end of supergrowth is only explainable in terms of the labor situation, or whether a new style of economic policy is being implemented gradually, with price stability having more importance as a policy goal than full employment. If this is so, the long-term future will be less determined by manpower variables and more by what the policymakers consider as economically sound in terms of balanced growth. The May crisis has shown, among other things, that full employment is a deeply felt concern among the public. If maintaining full employment becomes once more a priority target, the shift from capital-widening