Thái Ngô Tài - Người anh của Công đoàn Nghệ An

(Baonghean)ButTôi tìm tới xóm Xuân Hùng, vùng đất cát bạc ngoại vi Thành phố Vinh, nơi ở của bác Thái Ngô Tài - nguyên Chủ tịch Công đoàn Nghệ An liên tục 24 năm qua. Trong khuôn viên nhỏ nhoi, vẫn ngôi nhà cấp bốn vì gỗ ba gian, lợp ngói thủ công khiêm nhường. Căn nhà cũng giản dị như phong cách kiệm cần của người vốn trưởng thành từ thợ tiện cơ khí quân giới.

Xin phép vợ chồng người con út Thái Ngô Bình, tôi thắp nén hương tưởng vọng anh linh bác... Còn nhớ, vào thời điểm không quân Mỹ đánh phá khốc liệt, đời sống vật chất cực kỳ khó khăn, một bộ phận cán bộ, công nhân giao động, sản xuất đình trệ. Bác Thái Ngô Tài chỉ đạo hệ thống Công đoàn ngành và Công đoàn cơ sở vừa chăm lo từng khẩu phần ăn, vừa khởi xướng phong trào văn hóa, văn nghệ mong xua tan không khí căng thẳng chiến tranh.

When the Provincial Arts and Literature Association's founding committee opened a writing training camp led by poet Tran Huu Thung, following Uncle Tai's suggestion, the Propaganda Department of the Provincial Trade Union Federation selected grassroots cultural cadres to participate, preparing a pool of authors and works about workers. The Minh Tho, Hoa Son writing camp in 1967 brought together many worker writers who had already published some works. These included: Nguyen Xuan Phau (Irrigation Department), Quang Huy, Hong Nhu (Culture Department), Nguyen An Cu (Khe Bo Coal Mine), Bui Ba Linh, Tran Phuc Tang, Thien Vinh, Van Hue (Tay Hieu Farm), Van Hien, Tran Tung, Hoang Xuan Cac (Transportation Department), Nguyen Viet Si (Architecture Company), Huu Thuoc (Health Department), and Nguyen Trong Tan (Automobile Transport Enterprise). Vuong Dinh Tram (Con Cuong Forestry Farm), Ong Van Tung (Education Department)... From the suggestions and inspirations of Trade Union Secretary Thai Ngo Tai, not long after, Nghe An gathered writers dedicated to the theme of workers such as: Dam Quang Long, Vo Quang Thieu, Mai Tuan, Van Hien, Vuong Dinh Tram, Nguyen Xuan Phau (Literature); Nguyen Tuong Lan, Van Hue, Van Thien, An Cu (Theatre); Tran Tung, Tran Phuc Tang, Bui Ba Linh, Quang Vuong (Music); Nguyen Hai Tho (Painting); Anh Khoa (Choreography); Thai Thi Kieu Anh, Phuoc My, Kim Quy, Quoc Chung (Singers)... With this core group of artists, throughout the years of resistance against the war of destruction, the Nghe An Trade Union Federation had a rich and vibrant source of works, enriching the cultural and spiritual life of tens of thousands of workers and employees who were facing bombs, bullets, and persistent shortages every day and every hour. And we can't forget the kind gestures of care that Uncle Thai Ngo Tai showed to the workers' performing arts team during those wartime years. There were the four boxes of milk, his allowance, which he gave to two actresses from Dong Hieu Farm who brought their children to Thanh Hung to participate in the "Workers' Singing Festival" in 1967. Then, once, when I was attending the "Workers' Singing Festival," he "kidnapped" me to his position as a drum guard in the air defense room. After some thought about his abruptness, he turned around and gave me a pack of Tam Dao cigarettes and some Hai Chau candies. Mr. Van Hue – a member of the Dong Hieu Farm Trade Union, author of the skit "The Angry Coffee," and the five-act play "Crossing the River," which won a high prize at a North Vietnamese arts festival in 1968 – was once "rewarded" by Uncle Thai Ngo Tai with a packet of sticky rice and a slice of pork sausage!

Thanks to the skillful "midwifery" of Mr. Thai Ngo Tai, the Nghe An Provincial Trade Union Federation produced two substantial literary publications, a collection of essays and reports imbued with the spirit of "Excellent Production" and "Excellent Combat," titled "From Ben Thuy" (2 volumes). Mr. Mai Tuan eagerly traveled to Hanoi to commission the renowned musician and artist Van Cao to design the covers and layout for these two volumes of Nghe An workers' literature. Beyond literature, the workers' singing movement also revealed talented vocalists: Thai Thi Kieu Anh, Phuoc My, Quoc Chung, and the once-famous songs of composers Tran Phuc Tang, Bui Ba Linh, Thanh Tung, Quang Vuong, Van The... These talents were organized by the Trade Union Federation into teams and groups to serve the military and civilians in the province and the 4th Military Region in defeating the destructive war waged by the US Air Force. The Ministry of Culture also confidently sent the songs of Nghe An workers across tens of thousands of kilometers to introduce them in Bulgaria, Poland, China, North Korea, Cuba, and other countries.

Deeply affected by the limited and inadequate knowledge of the workers, Mr. Thai Ngo Tai directed the Education Sector Trade Union to develop a secondary education supplementary program for agricultural, forestry, and transportation workers. Never before had the "Production by Day, Education by Night" movement been so captivating to laborers as during the years of the war. Countless of those supplementary students, upon meeting again after several years, had acquired sufficient knowledge to pass the entrance exams for regular high schools and universities!

Uncle Tài often said, "The collective is the foundation for individual development, but only with outstanding individuals can the movement be sustainable." And from that guiding principle, he focused on building the "Trade Union Home" model, with practical activities based on the formula "three help for one task," stimulating creativity and enabling workers to master situations in production and work. Interestingly, Mr. Bùi Khuyến – Head of the Propaganda Department of the Vietnam General Confederation of Trade Unions – enthusiastically composed the song "Trade Union Home." During the difficult anti-American war, the song served as a prelude to a movement to build "exemplary collectives and advanced individuals," expanding "socialist labor teams and groups" throughout factories, farms, forestry enterprises, and administrative agencies.

During a period when the Trade Union's position was second only to the Party, key and astute cadres such as Vu Thang, Le Con, Bui Khuyen, Dam Quang Long, Le Viet Tam, Nguyen Sy Dien, Nguyen Van Nhan, Nguyen Trong Van… all enthusiastically rallied around Secretary Thai Ngo Tai. This strategic team designed and built the emulation movements "For our beloved South" and "Each person works twice as hard," attracting over 700,000 union members to participate, resulting in 2,000 advanced collectives, culminating in 11 individuals being honored as Heroes, including 9 Labor Heroes.

In the early 1980s, the entire province of Nghe An was suffering from severe famine, with sorghum grains becoming the staple food, replacing rice to make ends meet. The lives of workers and civil servants were precarious, their wages dwindling in value compared to the black market. People passed around the verse, "In 1980, rice was 1980; the people of Nghe An had faces as yellow as turmeric."

Furthermore, some leaders even proposed cutting 15-20% of the food rations, urging workers and employees to self-supply the shortfall. Faced with the outrage of tens of thousands of people over a hasty, arbitrary, and bureaucratic decision, Mr. Thai Ngo Tai instructed his office to prepare a document from the Standing Committee of the Trade Union requesting that this policy not be implemented! From the forum of the Provincial People's Council, in the face of some harsh and accusatory opinions, Mr. Tai remained calm and steadfast in defending the rights of workers and employees. The intellectuals of the Education and Training sector, those who don't know how to plow or cultivate, who can't "leave the classroom to clear land and plant cassava in the forest," shed tears upon hearing this story…

Shortly after Mr. Thai Ngo Tai fell seriously ill, a retired worker from the 3-2 State Farm, who made a living repairing bicycles, rushed to Vinh to visit him. The old craftsman embraced Mr. Tai, weeping, and recounted, "If it weren't for Mr. Tai's intervention, I probably wouldn't have received my veteran's disability benefits yet!"

That's right, only someone who was a soldier in the ordnance corps during the resistance against French colonialism, or a mechanic like Mr. Thai Ngo Tai, can empathize with and understand the hardships and joys of soldiers and workers.

Thắp thêm tuần hương, tôi thầm nhắc lại câu nói của người công nhân gặp nạn được bác Thái Ngô Tài nâng đỡ: “Bác là người anh của chúng tôi!”.

Văn Hiền