In the context of the press entering a period of fierce competition with social networks, the construction of a separate electronic information portal for the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor (VGCL) is a strategic step, contributing to modernizing trade union activities, while proactively communicating policies and reflecting the thoughts of workers in the digital environment.
The first difficult days
In 2015, when the concept of "Electronic Information Portal" was still quite new among mass organizations in Vietnam, the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor began implementing a project to build a modern, authoritative information platform to connect with millions of union members and workers nationwide.
It is a strategic, bold but necessary step to move trade union activities out of traditional documents and newsletters, to move towards online communication, instant updates, and reaching the masses.
In its early days, the Vietnam Trade Union Electronic Information Portal was just a simple news site, modestly located on the internal network system of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor. The interface is rudimentary, the column is small, the main content is documents, announcements and a few short activity reports.
At that time, there were only three or four people who edited the content, were in charge of techniques, photos, and even the editing of administrative documents. S thick news, rare photo sources, and limited updated information flows often cause the portal to fall into a state of "running slowly".
However, the turning point came when the Portal began receiving and posting content from Lao Dong Newspaper - a newspaper with a professional team and rich sources of information. The in-depth, authoritative and timely updated articles from Lao Dong Newspaper have helped improve the quality of the entire website, expand its influence, and attract readers back.
I still remember the first time I brought a legal analysis article from Lao Dong Newspaper to the Portal. The reading is tripled after just one morning. At that time, we understood that: It was not only a step forward in content, but a signal that the door had begun to open, bringing the voice of the trade union closer to the workers - Mr. Nguyen Manh Chi - Deputy Head of the Management Department of the Vietnam Trade Union - shared.
Strong transformation
If the first stage is a step to shape an official communication platform of the Trade Union organization in the online environment, the biggest turning point in the development journey of the Vietnam Trade Union Electronic Information Portal is the merger into Lao Dong Newspaper.
After merging into Lao Dong Newspaper, the Vietnam Trade Union Portal has the opportunity to make a breakthrough in technology, content and organizational model.
A full-time working group was established, including experienced reporters, editors, and technicians. The content management system is rebuilt, the interface is designed in a minimalist direction, easy to access for workers
One of the most impressive highlights of this period is the advent of Chatbot AI for trade union legal consultancy. This is an automatic interactive tool, integrated on the interface of the Vietnam Trade Union Information and Communications Center. In the context of the digital transformation taking place strongly in all fields, the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor has placed great trust and expectation in the AI chatbot Legal Consulting as a pioneering and innovative step in supporting and protecting workers' rights.
With just a few clicks, workers can look up information about maternity leave, unemployment benefits, benefits when illegally fired...
without having to send handwritten letters or call the authorities.Not only that, the new version of the Trade Union Portal integrates the ability to translate into 5 languages: Vietnamese, English, Korean, Japanese and Spanish.This is an important step forward, expanding access to information for Vietnamese union members and workers living and working around the world.
Mr. Nguyen Manh Chi, who has been involved in the credit institution for more than 10 years, said: "I used to think that as long as workers knew about this portal, they would be happy. But now, I hope the Portal will become a place that workers can trust to go to when they need information, when they have questions, or simply see their own voice being appreciated".
The special thing is that this chatbot system is "trained" from the legal content data warehouse that the team of editors and reporters of the Information and Communications Committee and Lao Dong Newspaper diligently built, corrected and continuously updated according to the new law.
As a member of the AI building group Legal consulting, the Information Technology department of Lao Dong Newspaper said: "We do not want chatbots to be just a machine tool. Each line of its answers must be easy to understand, legal, and as close as the way a union official talks to the workers".
Not stopping there, the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor under the operation of Lao Dong Newspaper is gradually developing into a digital communication ecosystem: Friendly mobile interface, integrated with social network sharing; news items quickly reflecting hot events about trade union workers; or short videos, videos, vivid multimedia graphics to meet the "digital" tastes of young people.
Ms. Cu Thi Tham - Head of the Management Board of the Vietnam Trade Union Electronic Information Portal - said: "For many years, the Vietnam Trade Union Portal has strived to fulfill its role as the official information channel of the Trade Union organization.
However, to keep up with technology trends and meet the increasing needs of workers, we understand that we cannot rely solely on traditional methods. Integrating AI chatbot for legal advice is a remarkable development step, demonstrating the determination to comprehensively transform digitally".
Today, when opening the Vietnam Trade Union Portal, readers no longer see dry pages of text, but a lively information space where the voices of workers are listened to, where legal knowledge is shared, where technology serves fairly.
That change does not come from a leap, but is a journey of perseverance, enthusiasm and respect for workers as the center of all improvements. That is also a strong commitment of union journalists in the digital transformation era: "Today, although not far away, technology is not indifferent".
