Hoping for more new policies to create conditions for workers
These days, the atmosphere towards the 14th Party Congress is spreading throughout the Northwest region. From the central streets of Lao Cai to remote and border villages in Lai Chau, flags, flowers, banners and banners celebrating the Congress are all brilliant.
At lunch break in the ore processing workshop of the mining enterprise, Mr. Lu A Pao (H'Mong in Si Ma Cai commune, Lao Cai province) and a group of workers exchanged about changes in wages and social welfare. For workers and laborers in the Northwest highlands, the Party Congress is where they send very specific aspirations: Having stable jobs, enough income to live on, children being educated and a better future.
Mr. Lu A Pao has been a miner for nearly 8 years. Previously, his family mainly lived on corn and rice fields, with shortages all year round. When the mine area went into operation, Mr. Pao went down the mountain to work as a worker, earning a monthly salary and being covered by social insurance.
We hope that after the 14th Party Congress, there will be more new policies to create conditions for workers to have stable jobs and improve their income...", Mr. Pao shared.
Not only in Lao Cai, but also in industrial parks and agro-forestry processing plants in Lai Chau, the atmosphere towards the Party Congress also spreads in a very unique way. Trade union meetings and short, easy-to-understand propaganda sessions are organized right at workshops and construction sites. The content focuses on issues related to workers' lives.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Hanh, a worker at a wood processing factory, said: "We are informed by the trade union about the Congress, about policies related to workers. Hearing that, I feel that I am also being cared for and listened to.
Expectations for the Congress
It is easy to see that the expectations of Northwest workers towards the Party Congress all originate from the reality of life. Many people have experienced unemployment when businesses reduce production, or have to work far away due to lack of local jobs.
We hope that the Party and State will continue to have policies to attract businesses to the highlands, but it must go hand in hand with ensuring the rights of workers," said Mr. Lo A Su (Thai ethnicity), a worker at an agricultural product processing facility in Moc Chau Industrial Park, Son La province. According to Mr. Su, having a factory right in the locality helps ethnic minority workers not have to leave their homeland, both have income and take care of their families.
Besides jobs and income, housing and social welfare are also issues that many workers are concerned about. "Workers' salaries are enough to cover living expenses, but buying a house is very difficult. I hope that in the near future there will be more social housing for workers, especially in mountainous communes," Mr. Su added.
For young workers, the story of training, improving skills, and adapting to digital transformation is also mentioned more often. “We hope the Congress will continue to have policies for workers to learn a trade, improve skills, especially ethnic minority workers. Having skills is enough to be assured to stick with them for a long time,” Ms. Vu Thi Mai said.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Bich Nhiem - Chairwoman of Lao Cai Provincial Labor Federation shared: In the journey of propagating the Party Congress, the role of the Trade Union organization is clearly shown in businesses: Not only propagating and disseminating policies, the trade union is also a place to listen to and gather opinions and recommendations from workers to reflect to superiors.
According to Ms. Nhiem, in many units, grassroots trade unions also organize to collect opinions from union members and workers on pressing issues, thereby summarizing and proposing recommendations in the process of building the Congress document. This makes workers feel more clearly their role and position in overall development.
