Cuba plans 3-month severance package

Cuba on Tuesday said state workers who lose their jobs in massive government layoffs, slated for the next six months, will receive an offer of alternative work, and can appeal to labour authorities if they are not happy with it.

For those who cannot find new work immediately, the state will pay severance of 60 per cent of their salary for up to three months, depending on their seniority, according to an article in the Communist Party newspaper Granma.

"Cuba will leave no one defenseless," reads the red-letter headline above the article.

No senior Cuban official, including President Raul Castro, has spoken publicly about the layoffs since they were announced on September 14. He wants to lay off one million workers over five years.

When it first announced the layoffs, Cuba said it was also reforming the economy to allow for more private enterprise.

Cuba employs some 84 per cent of the workforce, paying workers about US$20 a month in return for free education and health care, and nearly free housing, transportation and basic food.

- AP