At the press conference, Deputy Head of the Office of the President Pham Thanh Ha announced the President's Decree: Law on Cultural Heritage; Law on Value Added Tax; Law on Urban and Rural Planning; Law on Notarization; Law on Trade Unions (amended); Law on Prevention and Combat of Human Trafficking; Law on Fire Prevention, Fighting and Rescue; Law on Data; Law on Amendments and Supplements to a Number of Articles of the Securities Law, Law on Accounting, Law on Independent Auditing, Law on State Budget, Law on Management and Use of Public Assets, Law on Tax Administration, Law on Personal Income Tax, Law on National Reserves, Law on Handling of Administrative Violations.
Introducing the basic contents of the Trade Union Law (amended), Vice President of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor Ngo Duy Hieu said that the approved revised Trade Union Law creates an important legal basis for Trade Union organizations to continue to perform well their functions and tasks, enhance their position, affirm their role and operational efficiency in the socialist-oriented market economy and increasingly deep international integration.
The Law on Trade Unions (amended) has added the right to establish, join and operate trade unions for “workers without labor relations”; regulated the right to join and operate trade unions for “workers who are foreign citizens” (without the right to establish). Added regulations on joining the Vietnam Trade Union of employees’ organizations at enterprises; regulated more specifically the organizational system of the Vietnam Trade Union and international cooperation on trade unions; supplemented and clarified prohibited acts.
In the recently passed Trade Union Law (amended), ensuring trade union finances is an important content. Accordingly, the regulation that agencies, organizations, units, enterprises, cooperatives, and cooperative unions of all economic sectors, regardless of whether a trade union has been established or not, must be obliged to pay trade union fees equal to 2% of the salary fund used as the basis for compulsory social insurance for employees, remains unchanged.
The Trade Union Law (amended) has added provisions to ensure publicity and transparency, further strengthening the inspection, examination, auditing and supervision of competent authorities in the management and use of trade union assets and finances, while ensuring the principle of financial autonomy of trade unions.
Regarding the content of publicizing trade union finances, Mr. Ngo Duy Hieu said that the law has a new provision that every two years, the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor must report to the National Assembly on the issue of revenue and expenditure, management and use of trade union finances. In addition, every two years, the State Audit will audit trade union finances to report to the National Assembly.
Notably, the law also amends the provisions to ensure that union officials are protected in the following way: Employers are not allowed to unilaterally terminate labor contracts, work contracts, dismiss, force employees to quit or transfer them to other jobs without the written consent of the “direct superior union”.The union is responsible for “legally representing” the case in court to protect the legitimate rights and interests of union officials when their labor contracts are terminated by employers...
