Putting workers at the center
Da Nang is aiming to become a national center for innovation, high technology and startups. This process requires workers not only to have professional qualifications and skills but also to have industrial style, labor discipline, adaptability to new technologies and a desire to contribute.
That requirement also poses an increasingly high task for the Trade Union organization. In addition to taking care of jobs, wages, labor safety and protecting workers' rights, the Trade Union must also innovate the way of gathering and retaining union members, contributing to building a modern and strong working class.
Ms. Phan Thi Thuy Linh - Chairwoman of the Da Nang City Labor Federation said that the overarching solution in the coming time is to take union members and workers as the center of all Trade Union activities.
According to Ms. Linh, the Trade Union must strongly shift from the thinking of "organizing activities" to "serving union members and workers"; reduce administrative activities and widespread movements to spend more time and resources for grassroots levels and issues that workers really care about.
To do so, Trade Union levels must regularly survey and grasp the employment situation, income, housing, working conditions, thoughts and aspirations of workers. Issues arising need to be identified and handled early, right at the grassroots level, instead of waiting until they become disputes.
The City Labor Federation determines that the level of satisfaction, the ability to be cared for and protected, and the development opportunities of workers are important measures for the effectiveness of Trade Union activities.
The representative role must also be shown by specific results. Trade unions need to strengthen legal advice, legal support, and improve the capacity for dialogue, negotiation and mediation for grassroots cadres.
Building a long-term care ecosystem
In recent years, many programs such as "Tet Sum vay", "Trade Union Home", "Trade Union Meal", "Workers' Market", "Trade Union Member Welfare", "Workers' Month" organized by the Da Nang Trade Union have created an impression and promptly supported many union members and workers in difficult circumstances.
According to Ms. Phan Thi Thuy Linh, care activities in the coming time need to gradually shift from supporting immediate difficulties to helping workers stabilize their lives and develop for a long time.
From this orientation, the City Trade Union will pay more attention to worker housing, rent, cultural institutions, health care, union member children's education, vocational training, skills improvement and capital support for family economic development. In which, migrant workers, female workers, people in difficult circumstances and vulnerable labor groups need to be prioritized.
The Trade Union will also expand its activities in non-state sector enterprises, foreign-invested enterprises, industrial parks, boarding houses and areas with a large concentration of workers. The goal is to form a Trade Union organization in most units and enterprises with 20 or more employees.
Faced with the requirement of digital transformation, the Trade Union organization will strengthen online information channels, helping workers easily access policies on employment, wages, social insurance and related benefits. Along with providing information, there needs to be a mechanism to receive and quickly respond to union members' recommendations.
To perform these tasks, Trade Union officials must be close to workers, understand workers, speak the voice of workers and be able to solve specific problems.
Taking the legitimate rights and satisfaction of workers as a measure not only helps innovate Trade Union activities but also contributes to building trust, creating consensus, and forming a team of Da Nang workers with skills, discipline, responsibility and aspiration to rise up.
