Nghe An strives to stabilize labor relations at the end of the year

For the benefit of workers

According to the Nghe An Provincial Federation of Labor, due to lack of orders, in the first months of 2023, 32 enterprises had to cut labor, jobs, and terminate labor contracts, mainly in the fields of garment, footwear, and electronics, with 6,237 workers having their working hours reduced, 2,307 workers having their labor contracts terminated; some foreign-invested enterprises had to arrange for workers in some departments to take unpaid leave at times...

After many years working for a company in the Southeast Economic Zone, Ms. Ho Thi Thuy, residing in Hung Yen Bac commune (Hung Nguyen) said that since the beginning of the year, not only she but many workers working in the same company have encountered difficulties due to reduced working hours.

“Since 2022, due to no overtime, my income is no longer the same as before. However, with a stable income of about 7 million VND/month, I have enough money to cover my living expenses. But from the beginning of 2023 until now, working hours have been reduced, meaning a reduction in salary, affecting the family's main source of income, so family life is quite difficult,” Ms. Thuy shared.

In the difficult context, many businesses have made efforts to maintain jobs and income for workers. Businesses fully implement the policies and regimes signed in the Collective Labor Agreement; at the same time, organize movement activities to improve the spiritual life of workers.

At KIDO Vinh Limited Liability Company, located in Lac Son commune (Do Luong), with over 3,500 workers and laborers, the company's Union has built a Collective Labor Agreement, organized dialogues and negotiated with employers on terms that are beneficial to the workers, including adjusting the value of shift meals from 18,000 VND to 23,000 VND.

Along with the efforts of businesses, to promptly support workers in difficulty, the Provincial Labor Federation promptly implemented a review and provided 2 rounds of support for workers and laborers whose working hours were reduced, whose labor contracts were suspended due to businesses cutting or reducing orders, with a total amount of 1 billion 339.7 million VND according to Decision 6696 and Decision 7785 of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor from the Provincial Labor Federation's budget.

However, the situationlabor relationsThere are still limitations and disputes of interest in the province. From the beginning of 2023 to now, there have been 2 collective work stoppages in 2 enterprises in the province, with over 5,000 workers participating. Although the number of strikes decreased by 4 compared to 2022, there are still consequences.

After the collective work stoppages occurred, trade unions in Nghe An quickly intervened, contacted, dialogued, and negotiated between the parties. After the enterprises had dialogue with the workers and announced full implementation of the regime and policies, the workers returned to work. However, the above strikes have more or less affected the production and business situation of the enterprises and security and order in the province.

Building harmonious and stable labor relations

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Thuc - Head of the Department of Legal Policy and Labor Relations, Nghe An Provincial Labor Federation, in early December, the Provincial Labor Federation issued a document directing trade unions at all levels in the province to survey and grasp the situation of workers' lives, jobs, income, wages, and Tet bonuses. Through preliminary understanding, in the last months of 2023, the labor situation has initially recovered, businesses have orders, workers' jobs are more stable, and workers' income in businesses averages from 6 million VND to 6,300,000 VND/person/month.

Through research in Do Luong and Yen Thanh districts, representatives of the Labor Federations of the districts said that up to this point, the labor relations situation in the area is basically stable. Enterprises maintain production and provide jobs and stable income for workers.

In the last months of the year, the District Labor Federation directed grassroots unions to coordinate with businesses to pay attention to welfare and properly implement policies as committed to workers.

However, the production and business situation of enterprises is still unstable, leading to difficulties in negotiating salaries and Tet bonuses.

“However, businesses need to consider Tet bonuses as a way to retain employees and increase productivity. Therefore, more than ever, businesses need to increase dialogue with employees to agree on reasonable salaries and bonuses, avoiding conflicts in labor relations. Dialogue with employees is very important for both sides to express their wishes, listen, respond and find a common voice in labor relations. When employees' petitions are satisfactorily resolved, they will certainly be willing to share difficulties with businesses,” affirmed Nguyen Van Thuc, Head of the Department of Legal Policy and Labor Relations - Provincial Labor Federation.

According to Mr. Nguyen Chi Cong - Vice Chairman of the Provincial Labor Federation, to contribute to stabilizing labor relations at the end of the year, the Provincial Labor Federation has issued a Plan to take care of union members and workers on the occasion of the 2024 Lunar New Year according to the motto "All union members and workers have Tet".

In addition, the Provincial Federation of Labor continues to direct all levels of trade unions, from the direct superior level to the grassroots level, to pay attention to participating in supporting enterprises in building and perfecting regulations, especially building and publicizing the system of salary scales, tables, bonus regulations, and welfare regimes so that workers and laborers know the salary increase roadmap and limit spontaneous collective work stoppages. Trade unions at all levels must identify that protecting workers is an important task, however, protecting the legitimate interests of enterprises also needs to be taken seriously to build harmonious and stable labor relations...