Timely support for workers to overcome the consequences of natural disasters
At Hang Kenh Company, everyone knows the difficult situation of Ms. Le Thi Hang, a worker in the Forming Department. Ms. Hang herself has a heart disease, her husband has been working far away and has been out of contact for a decade. Ms. Hang works alone to support her mother-in-law and daughter. Ms. Hang's daughter had to drop out of school, waiting until she was old enough to work to help her mother.
In the recent storm No. 3, the 40m2 level 4 house of Ms. Hang's family in Dong Nham village, Quoc Tuan commune, An Lao district had its roof blown off, the walls cracked and peeled, and the furniture in the house was damaged. Unable to repair the house, Ms. Hang's family still had to live in the house with its roof blown off and covered up temporarily, with danger lurking every day.
Faced with Ms. Hang’s difficulties, the grassroots union proposed that the higher-level union support the cost of repairing Ms. Hang’s house damaged by storm No. 3. After the assessment, the Hai Phong City Labor Federation decided to award 50 million VND to help Ms. Hang’s family rebuild their house after the storm and stabilize their lives soon. Receiving the gift from the Hai Phong City Labor Federation, Ms. Hang could not hold back her tears.
“After the storm, I almost collapsed because life was already difficult, and now it was even more difficult. I was very touched because during the most difficult times, the union encouraged and supported me, giving me more confidence and motivation to rise up,” Ms. Hang said emotionally.
Also on the afternoon of September 26, the Hai Phong City Labor Federation visited and presented funds to support the repair of the house damaged by storm No. 3 to Ms. Phung Thi Ha (a garment worker at Sao Vang Company). Ms. Ha's situation is quite difficult as her husband passed away early, leaving her to raise two children who are still in school age. The already dilapidated level 4 house of Ms. Ha and her children had its entire roof blown off and the plaster walls peeled off due to storm No. 3, the repair cost is about 30 million VND. "Without the support of the union, it would take a long time for my family to repair the house and escape the dilapidation after the storm" - Ms. Ha shared.
Hundreds of workers receive support for home repairs
It is known that Ms. Hang and Ms. Ha are 2 of more than 150 workers in difficult circumstances, whose houses were severely damaged after storm No. 3. In order to promptly care for and encourage workers, the Hai Phong City Labor Federation visited and subsidized union members and workers in difficult circumstances with a level of 1.3 to 2 million VND/case.
The Hai Phong City Labor Federation also provided financial support for workers to repair their houses affected by storm No. 3 with a support level of 30 million VND/house. In cases where the house is collapsed, completely damaged and cannot be repaired and must be rebuilt, the City Labor Federation will provide 50 million VND/case, taken from the City Labor Union Shelter Fund. It is expected that 100 workers in difficult circumstances whose houses were damaged by the storm will be supported. By September 26, localities had organized appraisals and awarded funds to 14 cases with a total of 440 million VND.
In addition to the support from the Trade Union Shelter Fund, the Poor Workers' Fund of the Hai Phong City Labor Federation supported 105 union members with emergency loans to repair houses and overcome the consequences of the storm with an amount of more than 4 billion VND.
According to Ms. Tran Thi Nhi - Director of the Capital Assistance Fund, the Fund is still receiving documents, reviewing and assessing cases of union members and employees who need to borrow capital to overcome the consequences of storm No. 3, and is expected to continue to disburse about 10 billion VND. Along with that, the Fund visited and presented gifts to 100 union members who were severely affected by storm No. 3 with a budget of 200 million VND.
