Bringing playgrounds to workers
One weekend evening, after working at Hoa Khanh Industrial Park, Ms. Nguyen Thi Lan - a worker at a garment company, and a group of colleagues gathered in front of the TV screen to watch the program "Happy and Healthy After Work".
“Previously, after work, we usually only went back to our rented rooms to rest. Since this program was launched, many workers are very excited to follow it. The program is fun, close, and has many questions about labor law and workers' lives, so it is both entertainment and useful,” Ms. Lan shared.
Born in 2024, the gameshow "Happy and Healthy After Work" is produced by the Da Nang City Labor Federation in coordination with Da Nang Newspaper and Radio and Television.
This is a playground designed specifically for union members and city workers. Through competitions, games and exchanges, workers have access to knowledge of labor law, social insurance, occupational safety and health as well as life skills.
More importantly, the program creates a space for workers to appear on television, to share their career stories and spread positive energy after stressful working hours.
According to the assessment of many grassroots trade union officials, "Happy and Healthy After Work" is one of the rare creative communication models exclusively for workers today.
Connecting workers from boarding houses
If "Happy and healthy after work" brings joy after work, the model of "Self-managed worker group in boarding house areas" has become an important bridge between the Trade Union organization and workers in their place of residence.
In recent years, along with the development of industrial parks, tens of thousands of workers from many localities have come to Da Nang to work and live in boarding houses. This is also a group of workers who are prone to difficulties in accessing information, policies and care activities.
From that reality, the Da Nang City Labor Federation has built a model of Self-managed Workers' Groups in boarding houses. To date, the whole city has established 75 groups with nearly 15,000 workers participating.
At boarding houses, trade unions equip law bookshelves, televisions, mobile loudspeakers, support operating expenses and freely distribute Lao Dong Newspaper. Through self-management groups, workers are informed of policies and laws, participate in cultural and sports activities, exchanges and receive support when facing difficulties.
Not only are they a place for community activities, self-management groups also help trade unions grasp the thoughts and aspirations of workers quickly and more realistically.
The effectiveness of the model has been recognized when the Standing Committee of the Da Nang City Party Committee selected this as one of the 16 typical "Skillful Mass Mobilization" models that need to be further replicated in the coming time.
Mr. Le Van Dai - Standing Vice Chairman of the Da Nang City Labor Federation said that in the context of increasingly diverse life and needs of workers, trade union activities must also constantly innovate to meet practical requirements.
We determine that all activities must originate from the actual needs of union members and workers. Models such as "Happy and Healthy After-works" or "Workers' Self-Management Groups in Boarding Houses" are built to help the Trade Union organization get closer to workers. The effectiveness of the models shows that when truly listening to workers, the trade union will find a suitable way to do things and create a spreading effect," Mr. Dai said.
In the context that the Trade Union organization is continuing to innovate its operating methods, the unique models of the Da Nang Trade Union not only create immediate effectiveness but also suggest many new ways to improve the quality of trade union activities in the coming time.
