Pham Bich Thuy, a female worker living in Dormitory No.71 in Binh Duong 1 Neighborhood of An Binh Ward (Di An City, Binh Duong Province) shared that it is extremely easy to contact a ‘laborer representative’ organization via popular social networks like Facebook.
For instance, the Facebook group ‘Nhom Ban Cong Nhan’ (aka Friends of Workers) usually posts photos of labor strikes with many distorted facts to incite fellow workers to ‘fight for their rights’. More seriously, the Facebook account ‘Nghiep doan doc lap Viet Nam’ (aka Independent Vietnamese Labor Union) shows one of its leader as Nguyen Tien Trung, who finished serving his sentence for “activities aimed at overthrowing the people's government” a year ago and is now living abroad.
The authorities in localities have so far fought and timely prevented the plots and activities of reactionary organizations masquerading as “labor representatives”, handling many subversive individuals such as Do Thi Minh Hanh, Doan Huy Chuong, Nguyen Hoang Quoc Hung, and many core members of the so-called “Vietnamese Labor Movement”, led by Tran Ngoc Thanh.
These ill-intention people have worked together to form groups and organizations “representing workers” operating everywhere, with a focus on industrial zones in Dong Nai Province, Binh Duong Province, and HCMC. They have gradually gathered forces, raised a banner, and incited workers in enterprises to participate in demonstrations, strikes, and make unreasonable demands on business owners while calling for “freedom and democracy for workers”.
These activities have increased the risk of the emergence of “independent trade unions”, causing division among the working class, and affecting the prestige and operations of the Vietnam Trade Union, the legitimate representative of the rights and legitimate interests of workers. This is considered a process of the “trade union pluralism” theory that hostile forces, reactionary associations, and organizations inside and outside the country are aiming for.
This plot and scheme have been recognized early on by the authorities, who have taken timely measures to combat and prevent the subversive activities of terrorist and reactionary organizations that are trying to distribute propaganda leaflets and lure workers to participate in the establishment of illegal associations.
At a recent conference on the working relationship between the Government and the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh requested that the trade union organization renew its methods and content of operation to continue promoting the protection of the legitimate rights of workers.
A key task is to further improve the quality and effectiveness of the trade union's operations in all areas, especially in the industrial sector, where thousands of workers work in enterprises in export processing zones and industrial parks.
The trade union must continue to pay more attention to listening to and understanding the thoughts and aspirations of the working class through surveys, dialogues, and voter contacts, and promptly reflect them to the Party, the Government, and concerned enterprises for solutions. The trade union should also care about the material and spiritual lives of workers; and promote collective bargaining and dialogue.
Deputy Head Nguyen Huu Hau of the HCMC Bar Association cited that according to Clause 3 of Article 3 in the Labor Code (2019), the labor representative organization at the unit is established on the basis of the voluntariness of workers, with the aim of protecting the legitimate rights and interests of workers in labor relations through collective bargaining and other forms as prescribed by labor law.
This organization, at the grassroots level, includes the basic trade union and the labor organization in the enterprise, established by workers and permitted to operate by a competent state agency. Labor representative organizations at the grassroots level operate in accordance with the Constitution and applicable laws, regulations. They are voluntary, self-governing, and under the principle of Party leadership, State management, and worker ownership.
Thus, the establishment of a labor representative organization outside the trade union in an enterprise, according to Dr. Vu Trung Kien from the Region II Political Academy, is a great challenge for the organization and operation of the Vietnam Trade Union. But this is also an opportunity for the trade union to innovate the content and methods of its operations to suit reality.
Other organizations to protect the legitimate rights and interests of workers, if any, must comply with the Constitution, laws, and regulations of the State, They must be only professional organizations, not political ones, and are collectively called “organizations of workers at the grassroots level”. There must not be any activities affecting national security or the interests of enterprises.
Some ‘civil society’ organizations abroad are stepping up their propaganda to establish organizations independent of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor in enterprises. They seek to put pressure on enterprises to implement regimes, policies, and benefits beyond the regulations of the enterprise and the Labor Code; request information about workers, payrolls; and use the pretext of conducting sociological surveys to serve research to learn about the lives of workers in enterprises, regimes, working hours, and the treatment of workers by enterprises.
At the same time, they incorporate clauses requiring Vietnamese enterprises to agree to establish an enterprise improvement advisory board of 8-16 people. This is a form of “independent trade union” that does not represent the legitimate rights and interests of workers.
(Source: Security Agency)
