Workers are owed wages and cannot contact the director
Reporting to Lao Dong Newspaper, dozens of workers and laborers at Dien Bien Cassava Starch Processing Factory (under DPP Tay Bac Company Limited - Na hom village, Na Tong commune, Dien Bien district) said that they have been owed wages for many months, and all efforts to contact the director have been in vain.
According to the proposal of the collective of workers working at Dien Bien Cassava Starch Processing Factory, from February 6 to March 13, 2025, the workers have completed the assigned work.
However, up to now, Mr. Ta Hong Diep - Director of DPP Tay Bac Company Limited (located at Team 5, Thanh Xuong Commune, Dien Bien District) has not yet paid more than 530 million VND in salary as agreed.
Talking with reporters, worker Lo Van Tinh ( Sam Mon commune, Dien Bien district) was owed nearly 27 million VND in salary, indignant: "We have contacted and submitted petitions many times to request salary payment but have not received any response. Even meeting or contacting Mr. Diep over the phone was not possible.
Mr. Tinh added that before the Lunar New Year 2025, the company still paid full wages to about 20 workers. But after Tet, when the factory went into production, the company recruited about 20 more local workers.
"By mid-March 2025, the factory will let workers take a break. Previously, the Company promised to make labor contracts and pay social insurance for the brothers, but it did not do so" - Mr. Tinh said.
In response to the workers' reaction (with a report on May 22), on May 26, Mr. Diep wrote a commitment to pay on May 29. However, up to now, 44 workers and laborers of the factory have not received their salaries.
Not only owed wages to workers
On May 29, a group of 13 other workers also submitted a petition to the Na Tong commune government about the Northwest DPP Company Limited not yet paying about 600 million VND. Of which, 300 million VND is spent on land clearance and cassava factory construction from October 1, 2024 to January 8, 2025 and about 300 million VND is spent on buying fresh cassava from people as raw materials from February 9 to March 8, 2025.
Thus, the total debt of this company recorded through the petitions has reached more than 1.1 billion VND.
Mr. Quang Thanh Nghia (Na O village, Na Tong commune) one of the 13 individuals above said: "We have worked directly with the factory leaders many times but have only received unclear payment appointments".
When the reporter was present at Dien Bien Cassava Starch Processing Factory, Mr. Nguyen Le Toan - claiming to be an accountant said that the company was looking for solutions. The unpaid wages are due to failed machinery, unsatisfactory production and low cassava prices.
Mr. Toan also said that when it was still operating in March 2025, the factory had about 50 workers, but currently there are only 7-8 people.
Talking by phone with reporters, Mr. Vi Van Bien - Chairman of Na Tong Commune People's Committee said that the commune has grasped the situation and instructed people to carry out procedures to claim their rights in accordance with legal procedures.
"We have directed the police, border guards and commune organizations to continue to propagate so that people do not gather in large numbers, to avoid causing disorder. The commune has also recommended that the factory must be responsible to the people" - Mr. Bien said.
The reporter tried to contact Mr. Ta Hong Diep by phone and text messages many times, but did not receive any response.
On October 19, 2023, the People's Committee of Dien Bien province signed a decision to lease an area of over 34,200 m2 of land in Na Tong commune, Dien Bien district to DPP Tay Bac Company Limited for non-agricultural production purposes (to build Dien Bien Cassava Starch Processing Factory). The term of land use for lease is 50 years, starting from October 18, 2023.
