Lesson 1: Violation of labor regime

(Baonghean) - In mid-July, through the hotline, Nghe An Newspaper received news: In the past few years, in the border commune of Thanh Son, Thanh Chuong district, many serious violations have occurred. Some commune officials were upset and sent petitions requesting the authorities to clarify...

On May 12, 2013, 11 key officials of Thanh Son commune wrote a petition to the authorities, including: Chairman of the Fatherland Front Committee Luong Thai Tam, Vice Chairman of the Commune People's Committee Vi Trong Thuy, Head of the Commune Police Lo Van Mao, Vice Chairman of the People's Council Lo Van Tuyen, Chairman of the Veterans Association Luong Van Toa, Commune Team Leader Lu Van Duong, Secretary of the Commune Youth Union Lo Van Nguyen, Head of the Agriculture Committee Luong Duc Thong, office staff of the committee Luong Van Ty and two judicial officers Luong Hoang Canh and Luong Van Hien.

The petition stated: In recent years, when distributing salaries, the Commune Finance has "deducted" the social insurance and health insurance contributions of each cadre, but up to now, many cadres of Thanh Son commune still do not have social insurance books and health insurance cards; the distribution of salaries to cadres and subsidies to people is often delayed by 1 month. Some months there is not enough money to distribute, and if anyone comes late, the treasurer will report that they have run out of money and must wait until the following month to receive it; some cadres, civil servants, and commune specialists have had their salaries increased since 2011, but as of December 2012 they have not received their back pay.

When I asked the chief accountant directly, I was told: The district has not yet allocated funds, so the commune has not had the money to pay. The back pay for the militia and self-defense forces for the months of January, February, and March 2012 up to 2013 has not yet been received. When I asked, the chief accountant said it would be received the following month, but until now, there has been no payment. Every year, the chief accountant only comes to the office 3-4 times. When departments, branches, and organizations want to resolve related matters, they have to go to the chief accountant's private home...

Officials and civil servants of Thanh Son commune speak out about the violation of the regime.

At the Thanh Son commune headquarters, most of the officials named above did not hesitate to express their pent-up frustrations during the past time when meeting with reporters. According to them, Thanh Son commune was established in June 2009 with most of the officials and people from Huu Duong and Kim Da communes (Tuong Duong) returning to resettle. At first, the work was so busy that no one paid attention to the related policies. However, it was still not implemented, so everyone reminded them and the chief accountant Pham Van Lan replied "will do it in the future" but still did not implement it. The monthly salary was late, the salary increase arrears were not paid, the social insurance and health insurance policies were not available..., because there were too many "nagging" issues, they brought them to the Party Committee, committee, and union meetings... but only received empty promises from the Chairman of the Commune People's Committee and the chief accountant, so they had to petition their superiors to consider and resolve the issue.

Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Vi Trong Thuy commune said: "I have high blood pressure and malaria and have to go to the hospital but I don't have health insurance. When I asked the chief accountant, I was told that the social insurance records of Tuong Duong district have not been transferred yet (Mr. Thuy was formerly an officer in charge of culture in Huu Duong commune, Tuong Duong district). When I asked the social insurance agency of Tuong Duong district, they said they had been transferred to Thanh Chuong. When I asked the social insurance agency of Thanh Chuong district, I found out that the commune has not yet transferred the list and paid the fee to this agency to implement the insurance policies for civil servants and specialists in Thanh Son commune...".

Minutes of inspection of social insurance book issuance work of Thanh Chuong Social Insurance agency
in Thanh Son commune

Mr. Lo Van Mao is the Commune Police Chief, often facing many difficulties, hardships, sometimes life-threatening, but the insurance policy has not been implemented. Mr. Mao is angry: Honestly, I don't understand anymore. The State's policy is very clear. Every month, the accountant and treasurer "retain" the insurance payment fund, but there is no book or card for the brothers. When asked, the chief accountant said that there is still "missing" money and will supplement it. When the brothers talked to each other, it turned out that everyone was "missing". The district Social Insurance said that the commune has not transferred the list, has not transferred the fund... So where has the fund that the brothers have paid for the past few years gone? As the "leader" of the union, Vice Chairman of the Commune People's Council Lo Van Tuyen has not yet implemented the insurance policy. Mr. Tuyen said: "We have brought this matter up many times but only received promises from the Chairman and the chief accountant. I myself have suffered the same fate...".

Mr. Luong Thai Tam - Standing member of the Party Committee, Chairman of the Fatherland Front Committee of the commune said: The reason why this problem happened in Thanh Son is because the Chairman of the People's Committee of the commune, Vi Thanh Vien, and the chief accountant, Pham Van Lan, still maintain the working style in Kim Da commune! (Mr. Vien and Mr. Lan were the Chairman and chief accountant of Kim Da commune, Tuong Duong district). Previously, I was also an official of Kim Da commune, and I paid the fee since 2004, but until now I have not been granted a social insurance book and health insurance card...

Working with the Thanh Chuong District Social Insurance Agency, it is known that this unit has urged to review the implementation of the insurance regime for the laborers under its management, but Thanh Son commune has not implemented it. On March 12, 2013, Thanh Chuong Social Insurance Agency inspected the work of issuing social insurance books and settling the regime for civil servants of Thanh Son commune. Out of a total of 25 civil servants in the commune, 8 people have not participated in social insurance; 3 people have participated in social insurance and health insurance but have not been issued books and cards due to incomplete documents.

Mr. Nguyen Ba Tinh - a specialized officer in charge of the ward and commune block of Thanh Chuong Social Insurance Agency said: In addition to salaries and allowances, commune civil servants are also partially supported with funds to pay various types of insurance. Thanh Son commune's failure to implement insurance policies for civil servants and specialists has affected the legitimate rights of workers, seriously violating the provisions of the law... Mr. Tinh said: Currently, we have compiled a list and related records of these civil servants and sent them to the provincial Social Insurance Agency for comments. After the provincial Social Insurance agrees, Thanh Son commune pays the full amount, then in just a short time these civil servants will have social insurance books and health insurance cards...

Thanh Chuong District Social Insurance Agency has taken the necessary steps to enable Thanh Son commune civil servants to participate in social insurance and health insurance, but the problem is where will the funds for the past 4 years come from?

PV Group (continued)