Collective work stoppage due to basic salary adjustment

In the first working week after the Lunar New Year, in Ho Chi Minh City, there were at least two collective work stoppages, with the participation of nearly 6,000 workers protesting the company's basic salary increase policy.

The Nissey workers' strike lasted eight days.

“Quick”… circumventing the law

In the last months of 2015, the Board of Directors of Nissey Vietnam Co., Ltd. (Tan Thuan Export Processing Zone, Ho Chi Minh City) cut 200,000 VND in employee allowances and included them in the basic salary, making the 2015 basic salary of Nissey Company employees higher than the 2016 regional minimum wage. This is the reason why when Decree 122/2015 on adjusting the 2016 regional minimum wage took effect, the Company only made "a little" adjustments. Accordingly, the basic salary of level 1 employees is 3,746,000 VND/month, level 4 employees (highest) is 4,340,000 VND/month. However, employees said that the Company "circumvented the law" by "quickly" cutting employee allowances before the salary increase, which is unreasonable. On the last working day before the Lunar New Year holiday, the workers submitted a petition to the company's board of directors requesting consideration. On February 4, the workers organized a strike. Then, on February 15 - the first day back to work after the holiday, the workers continued to strike, then stopped working, lasting for 7 consecutive days.

After many days of unsuccessful negotiations, on February 22, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Nissey Company from Japan came to Vietnam to work and directly talk with the employees. On the same day, the Board of Directors of the Company announced: It will adjust the additional allowance of 100,000 VND/person/month for all employees (applied to the April 2016 salary period) and adjust the additional allowance according to seniority, increasing by 20,000 VND each year, from the 11th to the 20th year increasing by 200,000 VND. For all days that employees stop working, the Board of Directors will still pay full salary, any employees who work on these days, the Company will calculate an additional day off for the employee.

Although not satisfied with the Company's solution, because the workers' request was for the Company to increase the basic salary by 200,000 VND, however, in response to the concessions of the Company's Board of Directors, on the morning of February 23, all workers returned to the factory to work, ending the 8-day work stoppage. "We hope that from now on, the workers' concerns will be resolved by the Company's Board of Directors from the beginning, when the workers submit their petitions, or at least through dialogue with the workers. Resolving the matter by a collective work stoppage is something no one wants," said a male worker.

Ignore all warnings

This is the response of the Board of Directors of Woodworth Wooden Vietnam Company (100% Taiwanese capital, Cu Chi district, Ho Chi Minh City) to the comments of the authorities and the trade union of Cu Chi district when adjusting the minimum wage. As a result, more than 2,800 employees of Woodworth Wooden Vietnam Company (100% Taiwanese capital, Cu Chi district, Ho Chi Minh City) stopped working for 7 consecutive days, starting from the first day back to work after Tet.

The Cu Chi District Labor Federation said that this work stoppage was almost predicted when, before the Lunar New Year, the Company did not coordinate with the Trade Union to negotiate and determine the adjustment level according to the regional minimum wage; did not build a salary scale or table, and did not publicize the salary adjustment to the workers. The District Labor Federation asked the Company to comply with the regulations, but the Company found every reason to refuse.

According to the plan to adjust the regional minimum wage proposed by the Company, about 2,200 direct, skilled workers are equated with newly recruited workers who have not received vocational training. These workers will only receive a salary increase from 3.3 million VND/month to 3.5 million VND/month, but will not receive an additional 7% salary for trained workers and 5% salary for workers doing heavy, hazardous work as prescribed. For the remaining 600 workers - who have worked for many years or are holding positions as team leaders, group leaders, or managers - they will receive an increase of 350,000 VND/person, but this will not be added to their salary but will be included in the bonus for completing the plan.

After the workers stopped working, the company agreed to apply the trained salary and hazardous allowance to 2,200 direct workers, but still refused to increase the basic salary of 350,000 VND for the remaining 600 workers because they believed that their salary was higher than the regional minimum wage.

According to Laodong.com