At the Conference on union member development, establishment of grassroots trade unions in the first 6 months of 2026 and adjustment of targets for 2026 recently organized by the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor, Mr. Thach Van Chung - Chairman of the Bac Ninh Provincial Labor Federation said that Bac Ninh is the first locality to proactively propose and pilot the admission of union members who are foreign workers after the Trade Union Law (amended) takes effect from July 1, 2025.
According to Mr. Chung, right from May 2025, based on the provisions of the Trade Union Law and the Charter of the Vietnam Trade Union, the Provincial Labor Federation has reported to the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor to request a pilot policy. To date, Bac Ninh has admitted about 1,200 union members who are foreign workers.
He believes that developing union members who are foreigners is an inevitable requirement in the context of the foreign-invested enterprise sector (FDI) increasingly developing.
The admission of union members who are foreign workers not only aims to expand the scope of gathering workers but also contributes to ensuring stable labor relations and maintaining workers' security in industrial parks," Mr. Chung emphasized.
According to the Chairman of the Bac Ninh Provincial Labor Federation, before deployment, the locality has closely coordinated with the police force and functional agencies to fully assess factors related to security, order as well as legal basis.
He cited Resolution No. 10-NQ/TW of the Politburo on economic development with foreign investment capital and new policies of the Party on economic development with foreign investment capital to affirm that the admission of foreign workers into trade union organizations is in line with the current development orientation.
The Party's viewpoint is very clear. The FDI economy is an important part of the Vietnamese economy. Therefore, trade union organizations also need to have solutions to gather, represent and protect the labor force in this sector," he said.
To implement effectively, Bac Ninh has built a fairly detailed database on foreign workers in the area.
The Provincial Labor Federation also specifically classifies the number of enterprises with over 20 foreign workers and under 20 foreign workers to develop appropriate mobilization plans.
To develop union members who are foreigners, it is necessary to firmly grasp the data, know where they work, what nationality they have, what group they belong to and what labor relations they have. This is a job that requires very close coordination between the trade union and the police, social insurance, internal affairs sector, tax authorities and industrial park management boards," Mr. Chung shared.
From practical implementation, Bac Ninh identified 5 main groups of difficulties, including: foreign workers who do not clearly understand the role of trade union organizations; labor that is frequently fluctuating; language and cultural barriers; difficulties in care and settlement; along with some businesses not fully aware of the responsibility of paying trade union dues.
To overcome this, the Provincial Labor Federation has directed grassroots trade unions to develop multilingual propaganda materials; assign officials with foreign language skills to participate in grassroots trade union activities; apply digital platforms such as Zalo, WeChat for propaganda; and at the same time strengthen dialogue and share cases of foreign union members being supported by trade unions to create trust.
According to Mr. Chung, the most important factor is to win the consensus of FDI business owners.
If businesses understand the role of trade unions, mobilizing workers to participate will be much more convenient. We spend a lot of time meeting and directly dialoguing with business leaders to create companionship," he said.
In addition, he also proposed that the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor soon issue unified guidelines on the development and management of union members who are foreign workers, especially regulations related to trade union finance and care work.
