Building a "Digital Trade Union ecosystem
I strongly agree with the goal of digitizing union member data mentioned in the Draft Report of the Executive Committee of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor (XIII term) at the XIV Congress of the Vietnam Trade Union, term 2026-2031. However, in my opinion, digital transformation in the Trade Union organization should not only stop at administrative data management.
More necessary is to build an integrated "Digital Trade Union ecosystem", where union members, workers, and laborers can just operate on their phones to access welfare packages, receive legal advice from AI, or participate in job exchanges connected by the Trade Union.
If done well, this ecosystem will help shorten the time to resolve procedures to support union members, workers, and laborers when facing difficulties and natural disasters, and at the same time contribute to forming a force of "digital workers" to adapt to the requirements of the 4.0 industrial revolution. In my opinion, this is not only a trend but also an urgent requirement for laborers not to be left behind in the national digital transformation process.
Worker housing must be a true living space
Another issue that workers are very concerned about today is housing. I highly appreciate the policy of investing in building social housing and Trade Union facilities for workers. However, for policies to truly go into life, the Trade Union organization needs to play a stronger role in coordinating with localities to remove difficulties in land funds and investment procedures.
In my opinion, Trade Union institutions should not just be simple accommodation but must become a living space with full amenities for union members, workers, and laborers, including kindergartens, playgrounds, medical facilities and other essential services. For localities that cannot allocate land funds to build social housing, I propose to study a mechanism to support rent directly from Trade Union financial sources to help workers reduce the pressure of living expenses in the short term.
Improving the quality of collective labor agreements
To make the Trade Union organization truly a representative of workers, in my opinion, the quality of collective labor agreements (CLAs) needs to continue to be improved in a more substantive direction.
Currently, in some places, collective labor agreements are still formalistic and have not created many outstanding benefits for workers compared to legal regulations. I think there needs to be a mechanism to assess the level of employee satisfaction after signing.
The content of negotiations must focus on practical issues such as salaries, bonuses, child care benefits and life support policies. In particular, labor productivity must be closely linked to workers' income. Initiatives and improvements that benefit businesses need to be transformed into corresponding income increases through collective negotiation.
Need a "shield" for grassroots trade union officials
Another very important issue is the mechanism to protect grassroots trade union officials outside the state sector.
In reality, Trade Union officials at enterprises often face a lot of pressure when standing out to represent and protect the rights of employees. Therefore, in my opinion, it is necessary to study appropriate legal and financial support mechanisms so that this team can operate with peace of mind. If grassroots Trade Unions want to be strong, first of all, Trade Union officials must be brave enough and protected to perform their representative role well.
Believing that the recommendations stemming from the practical activities of grassroots trade unions will contribute to helping the 14th Congress of the Vietnam Trade Union have a closer perspective on the lives of workers. The biggest expectation of union members, workers, and laborers today is a modern, flexible, understanding and truly accompanying trade union organization in all circumstances.
I believe that with appropriate policies in the new term, the Vietnam Trade Union organization will continue to affirm its role and position in the new development stage of the country.
Le Vo Huu Hanh (Chairman of the Grassroots Trade Union of Freeview Industrial Co., Ltd. - Dong Thap)
