Not choosing formal dialogues, Mr. Trinh Bao Chau - Deputy Director, Chairman of the Grassroots Trade Union (CĐCS) of An Giang Lottery Company Limited - always starts by listening to employees (NLĐ) every day. This closeness has created a foundation for collective negotiations to become substantive, contributing to building harmonious and stable labor relations, and at the same time creating motivation for sustainable business development.
To negotiate successfully, first of all, you must know what employees are thinking and needing. If you only meet at the conference, many issues will become late. I always remind the Trade Union Executive Committee to proactively come to employees first, listen to them from very normal things in daily work," Mr. Chau shared.
From that point of view, in addition to periodic dialogues, the grassroots trade union maintains many exchange channels through trade union groups, professional meetings, briefings, Zalo groups and direct meetings. Reflections on salaries, working conditions, occupational safety and health, welfare regimes or any difficulties in the working process are recorded, classified and carefully studied before being included in the content of exchange with employers.
According to Mr. Chau, what determines the quality of a dialogue is not the duration or number of speeches, but the preparation of the Trade Union organization. "It is impossible to enter the negotiating table with only general reflections. Each recommendation must have legal basis, data, impact assessment and most importantly, must propose appropriate solutions. When the Trade Union prepares carefully, businesses can also easily share and find common ground," Mr. Chau expressed.
Thanks to that approach, in the period 2023-2025, An Giang Lottery Company Limited organized 9 periodic dialogues and 1 thematic dialogue on salary scales and tables. Many recommendations of employees were agreed upon and resolved immediately during the dialogue process. Contents that needed more time were clearly informed of the causes, implementation roadmap and monitored until completion.
The Trade Union must maintain credibility. Workers do not expect everything to be resolved immediately, but they need to see their opinions respected and have someone follow them to the end. When trust has been built, negotiation will be much more convenient," Mr. Chau shared.
It is worth noting that An Giang Lottery One Member Limited Liability Company only has about 70 employees but for many years has always maintained high production and business efficiency in the regional lottery system. For Mr. Chau, the success of a collective negotiation is not only measured by the number of signed terms but also by specific changes in the lives of employees. Therefore, before each term of signing a collective labor agreement, the Trade Union Executive Committee surveys the needs of union members, studies legal regulations, and assesses the financial capacity of the enterprise to select truly necessary contents to put into negotiation.
We always ask ourselves: if we are employees, what do we want most? When we answer that question, the negotiation will go in the right direction and receive the consensus of the business," Mr. Chau shared his opinion.
When trade union officials know how to listen, know how to prepare and know how to accompany, each negotiation will bring more practical values to employees, and at the same time contribute to building a stable and sustainable business.
Many policies that are more beneficial than the provisions of law have been included in the Collective Labor Agreement such as: types of insurance; periodic health check-ups; seasonal flu vaccination; annual vacations; giving gifts on holidays, Tet, birthdays; supporting funerals and weddings; periodic rewards twice a year... 100% of employees at the company have stable jobs, and average income has increased over the years.
