The highlight in the speech is the affirmation of the strategic position of the working class. The General Secretary and President emphasized: "There is no modern industry without a modern worker force". This is not only an assessment of the labor force, but also a development mindset. Industrialization and modernization is not only measured by the number of factories, industrial parks, production lines or investment capital, but by the quality of people - those who master technology, operate production, create productivity, quality and national competitiveness.
From that perspective, the speech sets out the requirement to build a new worker in the new era. Today's worker not only needs hardworking hands, but also needs knowledge, skills, discipline, industrial style, the ability to master technology and the spirit of innovation.
One requirement is that the Trade Union must take union members and workers as the center of all activities. The General Secretary and President clearly stated: "Trade Unions are born to represent, care for, and protect workers". Therefore, all programs, plans, and movements must answer very specific questions: what do workers get, what rights are protected, what difficulties are removed, what voices are listened to. This is a way to put the issue straight to the essence.
General Secretary and President To Lam also emphasized the "consideration of the grassroots level as the area that determines the vitality of the Trade Union organization"; "where there are workers, there must be a Trade Union"; "where the legitimate rights of workers are affected, where the Trade Union must have a voice". Grassroots Trade Unions (CĐCS) must be the place where workers come to when they have problems with contracts, salaries, insurance, labor safety, working conditions, housing, family life and essential daily issues.
From there, the requirement is that upper-level trade unions must strongly focus on grassroots levels, support grassroots trade unions in terms of legal matters, negotiation skills, dialogue, dispute resolution, communication, data and methods of mobilizing workers. Trade union officials must be close to workers, understand workers, hear workers' voices, speak workers' voices and dare to protect workers by law, dialogue and responsibility.
Another very important message is to build harmonious, stable, and progressive labor relations. The General Secretary and President emphasized: "When a business develops, employees must have jobs, income and better living conditions. If employees are assured, attached, and creative, the business will develop sustainably". This is a very modern view: Caring for employees is not a burden for businesses, but investing in productivity, brand and long-term development.
Therefore, the Trade Union must improve the capacity for dialogue at the workplace, prevent disputes early, from the grassroots level. Workers' reflections must be listened to before becoming grievances; small conflicts must be resolved before accumulating into hot spots. That is not only a method to protect workers, but also a method to maintain social stability, create a healthy, humane and sustainable development environment.
The speech also emphasized the requirement to build a modern, professional, digitized and transparent Trade Union. General Secretary and President To Lam stated clearly: "Digital Trade Unions are not just about having software to manage union members". Digital Trade Unions must help workers easily reflect petitions, receive legal advice, look up benefits, register for support; and at the same time help Trade Union organizations firmly grasp the situation, forecast disputes early, and take care of the right people, the right jobs, and at the right time. Digitization is to bring Trade Unions closer to workers, understand and serve workers better.
The speech of General Secretary and President To Lam at the 14th Vietnam Trade Union Congress is a profound reminder of a development truth: To make the country strong, there must be a strong working class; to make workers strong, there must be a strong Trade Union; to make the Trade Union strong, it must start from the trust of workers. When workers are listened to, protected, educated, cared for and enjoy worthy development achievements, they will become the greatest resource for the country to firmly move forward in the new era.
