If the union doesn't give me a ticket, I won't dare go home for Tet.
Reporters from Lao Dong Newspaper were on two trains TN6 and SE 16 organized by the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor to record the journey of workers who have not been able to return home to celebrate Tet with their families for many years.
At 2:00 p.m. on January 20, we boarded Vietnam Railways train TN6 departing from Saigon station to Hanoi. On this train were many families of workers and their relatives going to the Central and Northern provinces.
In car number 3 where the workers' families live, luggage is neatly arranged on racks, the aisles are clear, and the air is cool. Ms. Tran Thi Nha - a worker at PouYuen Vietnam Co., Ltd. - said that the train has two-way air conditioning, so when the weather is hot, the cabin is still cool, and when the weather turns cold, the temperature in the train is increased appropriately. The staff on the train are very enthusiastic and attentive.
Then Ms. Nha said that her hometown is Yen Son district, Tuyen Quang province. In 1999, she went to Ho Chi Minh City to work at PouYuen Company. Since then, she has only returned to her hometown twice, once in November 2018 when her father passed away and once in 2019 when her brother got married for his son, and it has been 25 years since she has returned to her hometown to celebrate Tet with her family.
We asked her husband, Mr. Le Tan Loc: "Why haven't you encouraged your wife to return home to celebrate Tet with her family for all these years?". Mr. Loc honestly shared: "It's difficult, very difficult. Letting my wife go alone makes me sad, but the whole family can't afford to go."
Then Mr. Loc said, he works as a bricklayer, sometimes with work, sometimes without, on days with work, his current salary is about 500,000 VND, on days without work, he finds something else to earn whatever money he can. His two children are still young and in school, this year one has just graduated and started working, the other is still in 11th grade. Therefore, economic conditions do not allow the whole family to return to their hometown to celebrate Tet, although he himself also wishes to celebrate Tet in his wife's hometown once.
Listening to us, Ms. Nha added: "To be honest, if the union didn't give us tickets this year, we wouldn't dare go home to celebrate Tet, because just the travel expenses for 4 people round trip would cost about 30 million VND, not to mention other expenses."
At 1:00 a.m. on January 21, when the train entered Khanh Hoa province, in the hallway of the staff car, Mr. Dinh Tien Dung, Deputy Train Officer in charge of safety, said that at night, the train's staff took turns on duty to ensure the train's safety.
On the journey, Ms. Nguyen Thi Huong, a worker at PouYuen Vietnam Company, shared about her son who has had hemophilia since he was 9 months old and is now 14 years old. The treatment is expensive, requiring multiple blood transfusions and medication from abroad. Her and her husband's income is only enough to cover their frugality, so for the past 6 years, although she misses her parents in Lap Thach, Vinh Phuc, she has not been able to return home for Tet.
“Seeing my family’s situation, this year, the PouYuen Company’s union proposed that my family and I be given tickets to go on the “Union Train - Spring 2025” organized by the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor. It is true that only thanks to the union, we have the opportunity to reunite with our families during Tet,” Ms. Huong shared.
“I am very grateful to the union”
“Where is the train going?”, “Where is this place?”,... these are the questions that workers' families ask each other from time to time on train SE 16, one of the “Union Trains - Spring 2025” organized by the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor.
On this train, there are many families of workers from the Central provinces who come to Ho Chi Minh City to work, but with low salaries and the burden of daily life, for many years they have not been able to return home to celebrate Tet with their relatives.
At exactly 8:25 a.m. on January 20, train SE 16 departed Saigon station. The workers settled into their seats, holding in their hands gifts that they had prepared themselves and gifts from the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor. The train compartment began to become lively with laughter and conversations about their homeland among the workers.
With her husband and 3 children on the journey back to her hometown, Ms. Bui Thi Thuy (from Nghe An) said she was very excited, eagerly counting every minute to be reunited with her parents.
Two rows away, the family of four of Ms. Nguyen Thi Huong (from Nghe An) also said they just wished the train would go faster so they could see their loved ones soon.
“The children are growing up and expenses are increasing, so going home for Tet is becoming more and more out of reach. If the union hadn’t given us train tickets, my family would have had to celebrate Tet far from home,” Ms. Huong shared.
When this article was published, the “Union Trains - Spring 2025” had brought many children far away from home back to their families, where their grandparents and parents were waiting. This year's journey home was not only filled with gifts and cakes from the sweat and effort of the labor force, but also with the warmth of humanity and the affection of the Vietnam Trade Union, helping the dream of reunion on Tet holiday become a reality.
