More than 30 years of seniority, income of 3.2 million VND/month
At ethnic minority boarding schools (PTDTNT), catering staff are a special part, bearing great and indispensable responsibilities when they have to take care of each meal every day, ensuring the health of children of ethnic minorities.
Their work lasts from 7 am to nearly 7 pm, heavy pressure and no weekends. However, in the southern communes of Quang Tri province, the sudden change in contract form from January 2026 is disrupting the lives of the catering staff.
Ms. Tran Thi Le (born 1977, residing in Vinh Linh commune), who has been attached to the kitchen of Vinh Linh Ethnic Minority Boarding School for 31 years, is a heartbreaking case. After decades of dedication, by 2025, Ms. Le was signed a contract under Decree 111/2022/ND-CP (contract 111) with a salary of more than 8.6 million VND/month. However, from January 2026, contract 111 was terminated, she had to re-sign a service contract with the school, causing the salary to decrease to just over 4.7 million VND/month.
After deducting the compulsory social insurance (BHXH) contribution, the actual amount received from this woman with more than 30 years of seniority is only a meager 3.2 million VND.
More worryingly, the new contract stipulates a salary period of 9 months/school year. Meaning that in the 3 summer months, Ms. Le had absolutely no income and had to pay insurance herself. To maintain her life through this summer, she had to wade into Nam Dong Ha ward to complete procedures to enjoy unemployment insurance benefits.
Similarly, Ms. Le Thi An (born 1971), a nursing staff at Gio Linh Ethnic Minority Boarding School with 26 years of seniority, also fell into a similar situation. From the highest salary of more than 7.6 million VND/month in 2025, Ms. An's actual income has now decreased to more than 3.2 million VND/month after deducting insurance. In the context that her husband does not have a stable job and her two children are in high school, the main source of income is cut short, causing her family to fall into poverty.
Finding ways to remove difficulties for workers
According to research, this difficult situation is surrounding 23 catering staff at ethnic minority boarding schools in Dakrong, Vinh Linh, Gio Linh and Huong Hoa communes. Problems arose from the beginning of 2026 when localities applied a salary payment plan based on the standard of cooking support of Decree 66/2025/ND-CP (each 45 students received 1 support level of 4,738,500 VND/month, for a period of no more than 9 months/year). At Dakrong Ethnic Minority Boarding School, Ms. Cai Thi Tam (born 1971) and other colleagues were simultaneously terminated from contract 111, pushing income to the bottom level.
Faced with the difficult situation of workers, Huong Hiep Commune People's Committee has sought ways to support by deducting budget to pay social insurance for 3 months of summer vacation, and at the same time supporting additional funds to increase the actual monthly receipt level in the school year to 5 million VND/person. However, this is only a temporary plan of a locality and cannot completely solve the long-term benefits for catering staff.
Due to the serious impact on life, the collective of catering staff sent an urgent petition to the Provincial People's Committee and functional sectors.
It is known that Vice Chairman of Quang Tri Provincial People's Committee Le Van Bao has directed relevant units to urgently find out and soon advise on solutions to ensure the rights of the above-mentioned catering staff.
