Workers are interested in salary increases and social insurance policies

A representative of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor on June 9 said that in addition to the Bac Giang central point with 4,500 workers attending, there will be 63 more online bridge points located in provinces, cities and headquarters of the General Confederation. In addition to the Prime Minister, the dialogue was attended by leaders of a number of central ministries and agencies.

Before the dialogue, the trade union nationwide had nearly a month to gather about 10,000 questions and opinions from workers. Mr. Ngo Duy Hieu, Vice President of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor, said that through classification, the concerns of workers are mainly in the following groups of issues: Minimum wage increase from July 1; amend the social insurance policy in the direction of creating confidence for employees to stick with the security system for a long time, limiting the one-time withdrawal of social insurance.

Next is the social insurance scheme for employees F0; handle enterprises that violate the law such as failing to sign labor contracts, owe salaries and social insurance debts, causing workers to lose their benefits; housing for workers; supporting children of workers at preschool level in industrial zones; rent support in the package of 6,600 billion VND.

“Many workers confided that withdrawing social insurance will not have a pension in old age, but life is too difficult, the time to pay social insurance is long, we don’t know when we will receive it,” shared Mr. Hieu.

According to the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor, dialogue is an opportunity for workers to express their thoughts, aspirations, and propose issues about employment and life with the head of the Government; It is also an opportunity for the Prime Minister to listen to and resolve the issues raised and convey a message to workers across the country.

In addition to central-level dialogue, trade unions promote dialogue at the local level, a basis for workers to directly communicate with government leaders. This is also the fastest way for the heads of all levels to grasp the thoughts, resolve recommendations and problems for employees.

Bac Giang, where the dialogue takes place, has more than 7,000 businesses operating, employing about 305,000 workers, most of which are foreign provinces. The whole province has 6 industrial zones: Van Trung, Dinh Tram, Quang Chau, Song Khe – Noi Hoang, Hoa Phu and Viet Han. In May 2021, Bac Giang became the epidemic center of the whole country, starting from an infection were factory workers, causing the province to suspend operations at four industrial zones for two weeks.

The fourth epidemic caused more than 2 million union members across the country to be negatively affected, lose their jobs, take time off, reduce their incomes, and get infected. The outbreak in factories and labor quarters in Hai Duong, Bac Giang, Ho Chi Minh City, Dong Nai, Binh Duong… has revealed many housing problems for workers. In October 2021, Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh once reminded localities to review this issue, coming here when building a new industrial park, it is necessary to arrange residential land for workers.

Vietnamese workers account for 15% of the population and 27% of the workforce, but contribute 70% of the budget and 65% of GDP. Despite making a lot of contributions, workers have not yet enjoyed commensurate results when life is still precarious, many urgent issues about salary, housing, child rearing… have not been satisfactorily resolved.

A union survey in March of this year showed that, without overtime, workers’ basic wages would reach VND 4.92 million per month. In order not to fall into poverty, workers must accept overtime. Labor in textile, electronics, footwear, seafood processing, wood production… sometimes overtime 60-70 hours per month. The level of satisfaction of employees with life is only 6.3 out of 10.

Hong Chieu