Workshop "Collecting opinions on draft regulations on organization and operation of grassroots trade unions" organized by the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor in Ho Chi Minh City on March 24.
The workshop was chaired by Mr. Tong Van Bang - Member of the Presidium, Head of the Labor Relations Department of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor - with the participation of more than 50 trade union officials in the Labor Federation and grassroots trade unions of southern provinces and cities.
Speaking at the conference, Mr. Tong Van Bang said that in reality, in labor relations, there are types with employers, and types without employers, but jobs and salaries still arise. Those are types where workers work on their own and have income.
According to reports from functional agencies, Vietnam currently has about 33 million to 35 million people of working age, of which about 20 million to 22 million workers are in the formal sector. The rest, if subtracting the number of workers in the agricultural sector, will have about 10 million people working in the commercial and informal sectors.
Therefore, it is necessary to gather this force into the organization to be managed, cared for, and contribute to the socio-economic development of Vietnam. Currently, the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor is managing 1,023 grassroots trade unions with nearly 85,700 trade union members.
Regulations on grassroots trade unions in Vietnamese law have been in place for about 20 years. In the context of major changes in the apparatus, organization, model of two-level local government and the Vietnam Trade Union organization, it is necessary to have opinions from practice to contribute to building regulations on the model and operation of grassroots trade unions in accordance with reality and legal regulations, avoiding form-based establishment where union members are not properly protected and cared for," Mr. Bang said.
The workshop also listened to the introduction of the draft regulations on grassroots trade unions of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor.
Mr. Le Tan Luu - Chairman of Binh Tan Technology Motorbike Taxi Union, Ho Chi Minh City - said that because the majority of union members are freelancers, income is unstable, and living time is limited, the work of gathering and managing union members still faces difficulties due to the flexible nature of the work, access to social insurance and health insurance is still facing many barriers, and there are currently not many specific policies specifically for technology workers.
Mr. Luu proposed that there should be a more flexible mechanism in organizing trade union activities, suitable to the specific characteristics of freelance labor, simplify participation procedures, and create conditions for workers to easily access and be attached to the trade union for a long time.
Some opinions at the workshop reflected that most union members are in difficult circumstances, so it is necessary to strengthen support from trade union organizations, support union members to borrow preferential capital to develop the family economy. At the same time, the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor has more specific guidance on flexible forms of union activities, suitable to the specific characteristics of workers who do not have labor relations.
