The proposal to increase the regional minimum wage by an average of 7.8% from January 1, 2027 is receiving consensus from many grassroots trade union officials at enterprises with many workers.
Mr. Nguyen Huy Sang - Chairman of the Trade Union of Yamaha Motor Vietnam Parts Production Co., Ltd. - assessed that the proposal to adjust the regional minimum wage from the beginning of 2027 is necessary and urgent in the current context.
According to Mr. Sang, the regional minimum wage is the basis for businesses to build and adjust salary scales, payrolls and basic salary levels for employees.
When the basic salary increases, many benefits associated with salary are also improved, such as contribution levels, social insurance benefits, unemployment insurance, health insurance, as well as allowances and subsidies at businesses that are applying calculations based on the basic salary or minimum wage," Mr. Sang analyzed.
Meanwhile, Mr. Phan Thanh Hai - Chairman of the Trade Union of Meiko Electronics Vietnam Co., Ltd. (Hanoi) - said that the proposed average adjustment of 7.8% is suitable for the actual lives of workers today.
I completely agree with the proposal to increase the regional minimum wage by 7.8%. After many years of working in trade unions at enterprises with many workers, I realize that the living costs of workers have increased significantly, from rent, electricity, water, food to tuition fees, childcare. Meanwhile, the income of many workers still needs to be balanced very closely to be sufficient to cover living expenses," Mr. Hai shared.
According to him, adjusting the regional minimum wage will help workers improve their income, and at the same time create more motivation for them to feel secure in working, sticking with businesses and improving labor productivity. This is also the basis for businesses to continue to improve the salary scale and table system in the coming time.
This adjustment level both contributes to improving the lives of workers and creates conditions for businesses to have time to prepare financial plans, production, and business," Mr. Hai said.
Every year, the Trade Union coordinates with the business leadership to organize periodic dialogues, grasp the thoughts and aspirations of union members, especially recommendations related to salaries, bonuses and welfare regimes.
On that basis, the Trade Union proposes adjustment plans suitable to the production and business situation as well as the actual life of workers.
Not only concerned with basic wages, we also propose that businesses consider adjusting allowances, attendance support, travel support, housing, meals and other welfare regimes to contribute to improving real income for workers," Mr. Hai said.
According to Mr. Hai, effective collective dialogue and negotiation are always important solutions to build harmonious, stable and progressive labor relations in enterprises.
Therefore, the adjustment of the regional minimum wage will be more effective when it is further concretized by businesses and trade union organizations with salary and welfare policies suitable to production and business conditions and the needs of workers.
From a business perspective, Mr. Nguyen Van Tuan - owner of Tuan Duyen Garment Enterprise (Ninh Binh) - said that increasing the regional minimum wage will "pull" up the company's social insurance contribution costs.
However, because businesses pay salaries based on products, the income of workers depends on skills and is almost always higher than the regional minimum wage.
Therefore, Mr. Tuan completely agrees with the proposal to increase the minimum wage so that workers can be more assured about future social security regimes.
