Shifting thinking from short-term care to sustainable care for workers

Discussing long-term support programs for workers in particularly difficult circumstances

When discussing the Trade Union representing, caring for and protecting the legitimate and lawful rights and interests of union members and workers in the new situation, many trade union officials are concerned about the situation that many union members and workers in particularly difficult circumstances need more support, not just receiving visits on holidays and Tet.

Mr. Nguyen Anh Ngoc - Chairman of the grassroots trade union of Canon Vietnam Co., Ltd. reflected the reality that many workers in particularly difficult circumstances are visited and supported by the trade union during holidays and Tet, but for workers with dangerous diseases, more support is needed because medical examination and treatment costs are very high and expensive. Therefore, Mr. Ngoc proposed that the Trade Union organization should have longer-term support for this group.

This is completely consistent with the solution of building and implementing stable and long-term welfare programs to care for union members and workers, especially those in difficult circumstances, suffering from dangerous diseases, occupational diseases, labor accidents, and people with achievements in production labor; researching and implementing feasible solutions to care for practical benefits for informal sector workers.

Innovate methods of mobilizing resources to implement welfare care in a diverse, flexible, sustainable, and proactive direction. Deploy occupational safety and health work in the direction of preventing and controlling risks, promoting building a safe culture in the workplace. Promote care and protection for female workers, promote gender equality; accompany female union members to build warm, happy, progressive, civilized families, prevent and combat domestic violence; organize activities to care for children of union members and workers.

Taking care of union members and workers in accordance with the new situation also lies in shifting thinking from short-term care to sustainable care. The Vietnam Textile and Garment Trade Union has more than 110,000 union members, female workers accounting for 71%. Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Hoan - Head of Policy, Law and Labor Relations Department of the Vietnam Textile and Garment Trade Union said that from 2023 to now, the total care budget in the whole system is more than 201 billion VND; over 600,000 union members have benefited from welfare programs with an amount of over 30 billion VND. One of the solutions to improve the effectiveness of comprehensive care activities for workers in the new situation implemented by the Vietnam Textile and Garment Trade Union is to shift thinking from short-term care to sustainable care.

Accordingly, care activities should not only stop at subsidies and gift-giving activities but also aim at large-term and long-term policies such as improving income, improving working conditions, applying social security policies such as housing support, childcare costs, health care; training qualifications and skills; supporting job conversion...

In which, collective bargaining needs to be identified as the most central and effective solution to ensure the rights of workers. A collective labor agreement with many clauses that are more beneficial to workers will bring much more practical and sustainable value than time-based support activities. In addition, legal advice and legal aid must still be carried out regularly to help workers improve their legal understanding and proactively protect their legitimate rights and interests in labor relations.

Shield to protect the legitimate rights of workers

The representation and care for union members and workers is also seen from the results of dialogue, negotiation, and signing of collective labor agreements with many contents higher than the law. According to Mr. Ngo Ngoc Vinh - Chairman of the grassroots Trade Union of Stanley Electric Vietnam Co., Ltd., the Executive Committee of the Company's Trade Union has proactively proposed and coordinated with the Company's Board of Directors to continuously review, supplement and improve the quality of collective labor agreements with many beneficial and outstanding clauses such as: Workers will receive an additional 1 day of seniority leave for every 4 years of work; workers working in shifts 2 and 3, are entitled to allowances 30% higher than legal regulations, and enjoy living allowances, travel allowances, heat protection allowances, and child support allowances for children under 3 years old...

In particular, in the two years 2023 and 2025, the Collective Labor Agreement continues to supplement practical contents for workers' rights, such as technical allowances from 800,000 VND to 3.5 million VND/month for nearly 200 technical personnel; annual salary adjustments based on the regional minimum wage combined with production efficiency assessment; annual bonuses up to 6 months' salary, divided into 2 phases during the year. ...

Mr. Nguyen Duc Thang - Vice Chairman of the Dong Nai City Labor Federation said that clearly recognizing the role as a bridge and a shield to protect the legitimate rights of workers, in the 5-year period (2021 - 2025), the work of consulting, legal support and participating in legal proceedings to protect workers in Dong Nai has been deployed synchronously and drastically and achieved many specific results in other aspects of work.

Not stopping at legal advice, the City Labor Federation has directly provided legal support to workers. Thereby directly guiding procedures, supporting drafting applications of all kinds for 2,984 workers. Participating in resolving complaints at enterprises, protecting workers against decisions on disciplinary action or illegal termination of labor contracts; and participating in resolving labor disputes at the City Labor Arbitration Council.

A highlight in the work of protecting workers' rights is that the City Labor Federation has supported the grassroots trade union of Kobelco E&M Vietnam Co., Ltd. to sue the company for requesting salary increases in accordance with regulations and the company's Collective Labor Agreement. This is not only about reclaiming economic benefits but also a historical turning point, affirming the role of the grassroots trade union in being ready to protect the rights of the collective of workers in court when the rights of the collective of workers are violated...

Delegates all affirmed that improving the effectiveness of representative activities, caring for and protecting the legitimate and lawful rights and interests of union members and workers is identified as a key, basic, and top priority task in both direction and resource allocation.

Accordingly, it is necessary to continue to invest in improving the quality of participation in policy and law development; promote dialogue and collective bargaining, towards covering collective labor agreements where there are trade union organizations; form a team of trade union lawyers, invest in legal advice, protect the rights of workers and collective workers when there are cases; firmly grasp the situation of labor relations, prevent and effectively resolve labor disputes, collective work stoppages, illegal strikes; promote the role of the Trade Union in the National Wage Council.