An unnecessary strike.
(Baonghean) - The spontaneous strike by nearly 2,800 workers at Prex Vinh Garment Company (South Korea), located in Lac Son commune (Do Luong district), on July 17th, once again raises concerns about the use of Vietnamese labor in foreign companies.
To resolve the issue, the leaders of Do Luong district established a working group led by a Deputy Chairman of the District People's Committee, along with representatives from the District Police, the District Party Committee's Mass Mobilization Department, the District Party Committee's Propaganda Department, the Women's Union, and the District Labor Union, to work with the Board of Directors of Prex Vinh Garment Company.
On the morning of July 19th, a delegation of officials from the Provincial People's Committee, led by Mr. Huynh Thanh Dien - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, visited the People's Committee of Do Luong District and Prex Vinh Garment Company. The meeting basically reached an agreement on resolving the nine demands of the workers. Although the strike was short-lived and did not cause any serious consequences for the company, public opinion considers its occurrence regrettable.
More than a week ago, the Korea Investment Promotion Conference in Nghe An was solemnly held in Hanoi, the capital city, amidst the excitement of strengthening friendly cooperative relations between the two sides and opening up new prospects for attracting Korean investment to Nghe An. Currently, Korea is the leading country in terms of the number of investment projects in Nghe An with 11 projects and a total investment capital of nearly 61 million USD.
Prex Vinh Garment Company, the largest investment in Vietnam by the South Korean KIDO Group, has two garment factories with 36 out of 48 sewing lines already in operation. In 2012, it exported over 200,000 high-end garments worth nearly $1 million USD. The company has provided employment for thousands of workers in Do Luong district and neighboring districts, and many people from Nghe An province who work outside the province have returned to work at the company. Given such promising prospects, the recent strike is truly regrettable.
Following the strike, the leadership of Prex Vinh Company must review its labor practices and treatment of workers. Most of the workers employed at the company are unskilled laborers from rural areas, lacking vocational training, unfamiliar with industrial work practices, and lacking a strong sense of discipline; their behavior may also be rigid. Therefore, the company needs to provide vocational training, cultivate discipline and industrial work ethics, and ensure their full rights are protected according to Vietnamese law. In particular, uncivilized treatment of workers is unacceptable, as it causes resentment and damages the investor's image.
Workers from Nghe An working in the company also need to reflect on their own conduct. Demanding rights is a legitimate request, but these rights must be accompanied by fulfilling obligations to the company as stipulated in the labor contract. As workers from farming backgrounds, they must be aware of their limitations and strive to improve their work ethic in the factory environment. They must make efforts to learn and improve their skills, strictly adhering to labor discipline, even in the smallest actions, to cultivate an industrial work ethic. As people from Nghe An, each worker must be proud of their homeland's cultural traditions and, under any circumstances, must not behave in an uncivilized manner. For families and local authorities, don't think that simply getting your children jobs in the factory is enough; you must continue to educate them to become skilled workers with high cultural standards.
After the strike, all labor relations issues will likely be resolved satisfactorily, but it was nonetheless an unnecessary strike. The employer, local authorities, and workers are all at fault for this strike. Hopefully, such unnecessary strikes will not happen again.
Tran Hong Co
