* I still remember the tears of Ms. Phuong Tra - a garment worker in Song Than Industrial Park (Binh Duong).
Ms. Tra is from Con Cuong, Nghe An, far from her family, working as a worker in a far away place for nearly ten years.Fate brought her to marry a worker from Ha Tinh, and then had a child.Life was not too difficult but there was no extra money either.Since getting married, every spring, she and her husband dreamed of being able to return home to reunite with both families.However, the high price of train and bus tickets was one thing, and buying tickets was also very difficult, so the couple kept postponing.
“The hardest part is the child, every year he asks his mother how is his hometown, when will he be able to go home. I can only hold back my tears but dare not promise him. Then luckily, the company's Union gave us all round-trip train tickets to go home for Tet. The day we received the tickets, everyone congratulated us. The day we left Binh Duong, the Union staff even came to the station to see us off and give us gifts. The dream has come true.”
In the cold of Vinh train station that afternoon, the warm tears of relatives at home and those far from home seemed to mingle together.
Ms. Phuong Tra is just one of thousands of workers from Nghe An who have been supported with train tickets to return home for Tet. Mr. Kha Van Tam - Chairman of the Nghe An Provincial Federation of Labor said: "We will welcome union members and workers returning home as if they were our own relatives." For many years, Nghe An has been one of the localities at the end of the journey of the "Zero-VND Flight" program organized by the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor in collaboration with a number of businesses. The flight brought joy, happiness and the joy of returning home to 230 workers from Nghe An who are in difficult circumstances and have not been able to celebrate Tet with their relatives for many years.
In addition, for trains, Nghe An is also an important stop with a large number of workers and laborers receiving support. Ms. Tran Van - an officer of the Women's Propaganda Department of the Nghe An Provincial Labor Federation proudly shared: "Every year, Nghe An Trade Unions at all levels carry hundreds of trips carrying joy every time Tet comes and Spring comes. To carry out the work of welcoming workers far from home, we coordinate with trade unions in other localities to plan and make efforts to soon complete the connection procedures, make a list; try to create conditions to bring many workers, laborers, students back home to celebrate Tet. In recent years, the number of trains and flights has increased; the number of union members and laborers enjoying free tickets is also greater, this shows the efforts of the Trade Union organization in caring for and paying attention to workers".
**
This year, the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor has proactively issued support for train and bus tickets for workers and laborers very early. Accompanying the Trade Union are airlines, bus companies, and train companies. This initiative, along with the enthusiasm of local trade union officials, has brought about very positive results.
There will be about 30 cars to take 1,200 workers back to their hometowns and back to work according to the actual Tet holiday schedule of the enterprises. The cars are expected to take workers back to their hometowns on the morning of January 25, 2025, which is the morning of December 26, the year of the Dragon 2024. In addition to organizing cars to pick up workers, the Hanoi City Labor Federation also supports bus tickets in cash for 5,000 workers to return to their hometowns for Tet. Of which, 2,000 workers returning to Nghe An and Ha Tinh will be supported with 500,000 VND/person; 2,000 workers returning to Thanh Hoa will be supported with 300,000 VND/person; 1,000 workers returning to some northern provinces such as Ha Giang, Dien Bien, Lai Chau, Son La, Cao Bang, Lao Cai, Bac Can, Tuyen Quang, Yen Bai, Lang Son will be supported with 300,000 VND/person.
The Hai Phong Labor Federation has also announced a plan to give 10,000 bus tickets to workers living far away to return home to celebrate Tet with their families, each ticket worth 300,000 VND, total cost 3 billion VND, an increase of 3,000 tickets compared to Tet 2024...
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Resolution 02 of the Politburo on innovation of organization and operation of Vietnam Trade Union in the new situation emphasizes the task of the Trade Union organization as: "Regularly and proactively coordinate with employers to care for the interests and ensure the rights of workers; promptly monitor, resolve or propose solutions to pressing issues of workers and laborers; actively build harmonious, stable and progressive labor relations in enterprises".
Coordinating with organizations and units, taking care of workers' lives, especially during Tet and Spring, are important activities for workers to trust the Trade Union organization, want to stick with the enterprise, thereby creating a healthy labor market, improving productivity, and striving to learn to adapt to the impacts of science and technology on the production process.
In an article right before 2025, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh presented many impressive figures on the socio-economic development situation such as: Vietnam continues to be a bright spot in growth and is among the countries with high growth in the region as well as in the world; growth quality has improved; labor productivity growth is estimated at 5.7%, exceeding the set target; Vietnam continues to be a safe and attractive destination for international businesses, partners and investors; is among the 15 developing countries attracting the largest foreign investment capital in the world, reaching about 40 billion USD; the development of strategic infrastructure systems has been comprehensively promoted; over 2,000km of expressways have been put into operation; the 500kV line project, circuit 3, Quang Binh - Hung Yen, has been completed in a record short time of only 6 months...
These achievements cannot fail to mention the great contributions of workers nationwide in 2024. This also means the contributions of the Trade Union organization in caring for, looking after and protecting the legitimate rights of workers.
2025 is an important year, marking a turning point to prepare for a new era, an era of national growth. It is an era in which workers continue to be one of the pillars contributing to the development of the economy and society. It is an era in which workers master technology, quickly adapt to the digital transformation process and digital production methods.
Therefore, the trains, buses, and flights with partially or fully subsidized tickets do not stop at helping poor workers bring Tet home. On a broader level, the care and concern of the authorities at all levels, and the Trade Union organization, is to add confidence and motivation for each worker to feel more secure, more steadfast, and contribute more to the transformation journey of the whole country.
