Cuba’s union congress weighs role in sweeping economic reforms

Cuba’s only legal union opened its XXII congress in Havana with 759 delegates and a blunt question hanging over the Palace of Conventions: can the Central de Trabajadores de Cuba still shape the 176-point reform package, or is it being asked to ratify decisions already made? Only 198 delegates were present in person, while 561 joined by videoconference as the island’s energy crisis and transport problems made travel and logistics harder. President Miguel Díaz-Canel attended the session, underscoring how closely the leadership has tied labor politics to the new economic push.

The timing left little doubt about where the package stands. The Communist Party’s Central Committee reviewed it first, then the National Assembly ratified it on June 19, 2026, a week after Díaz-Canel announced it. Cuban authorities have organized the reforms into 23 strategic axes, and the list reaches deep into the parts of the economy that touch workers every day: private banking under Central Bank supervision, private nonbank microcredit institutions, more access to foreign-currency accounts, and the removal of restrictions on foreign-currency payments between foreign-capital firms and local suppliers. The package also contemplates bankruptcy, liquidation and restructuring procedures for companies, and the conversion of state firms into joint-stock companies, all of which could hit payrolls and employment stability.

Inside the congress, delegates pressed for a louder union role in economic planning, budget discussions and company oversight. That matters because they also said about 300 enterprises close each year with losses in agriculture, sugar, food, manufacturing, commerce and local production. The discussion went beyond broad support for reform and into the practical pressure points that have eroded wages and purchasing power across the island. More than 42,000 proposals from affiliates have been gathered since January 2024, giving the union a formal channel to funnel worker complaints and demands into the process, even if the state has already moved the main legislation forward.

The labor code debate shows the limits of that influence. The draft Labor Code is expected to go before the National Assembly in July, and earlier reporting on the text said it would add telework and digital disconnection while still leaving out a right to strike. Vice Prime Minister Oscar Pérez-Oliva told delegates the reforms were not neoliberal and not a return to capitalism, but a response to Cuba’s isolation and financial, commercial and banking pressure. For the CTC, that made the congress less a starting point than a test of how much room workers still have after the state has set the terms.