Before the Congress, the summary figures for the 2023-2026 term announced by the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor not only show the scale of the Trade Union organization's operations, but also reflect a remarkable shift in the approach to workers.
That is the fact that nearly 23 million union members and workers are cared for during Tet with a total resource of nearly 15,000 billion VND. More than 2.2 million new union members have been admitted. A series of programs such as "Tet Sum vay", "Workers' Month", "Trade Union Home", "Trade Union Meal" continue to be expanded and innovated...
Those are telling numbers.
But if we have to choose the most prominent highlight of the past term, it is the change in the thinking and operation of trade union organizations at all levels.
From mainly taking care of when workers face difficulties, the trade union is gradually shifting to accompanying workers in the development process.
This shift is very clearly shown in the fact that trade union organizations are increasingly deeply involved in the process of building policies and laws directly related to workers, of which the Trade Union Law (amended) just passed by the National Assembly is a testament.
Also in the past term, emulation movements continued to be maintained and strongly developed. More than 383,000 initiatives with a profit value of over 40,000 billion VND show that workers are not only a productive force, but also a very large creative resource of the country.
This is of particular significance in the context that Vietnam is entering a stage of development based more on science and technology, innovation and improving labor productivity.
The Vietnam Trade Union not only protects workers when their rights are violated, but also must create conditions for workers to develop their abilities, improve their skills and affirm their values in the business as well as in society.
That is the spirit of accompanying union members and workers.
Of course, there are still many challenges ahead. The clearest is the development of the digital economy, the foundational economy is rapidly changing the structure of the labor market.
The number of informal workers is increasing, and new problems are emerging in labor relations. The arrangement of the organizational structure according to the two-level local government model also poses requirements for innovation for the trade union system.
These changes require the Trade Union organization in the next term to continue to innovate more strongly in terms of operating methods, representative capacity and ability to connect workers.
How can there be policies that after 5 years looking back, each trade union member and employee can feel that their lives are better, their rights are more firmly protected, and the Trade Union organization is always worthy of being their reliable support.
