Building harmonious labor relations

(Baonghean) - Dialogue at the workplace is one of the main forms of implementing grassroots democracy regulations to build harmonious, stable and progressive labor relations in enterprises; to resolve frustrations and tensions in the relationship between employers and employees. However, currently, many enterprises have not yet implemented this regulation and the authorities have not taken measures to remind or punish.

Propaganda and legal advice for workers at Bac Vinh Industrial Park.

In Nghe An in 5 years (2010 - 2015), illegal strikes have tended to increase, there were 15 strikes taking place at 13 enterprises. There are many reasons leading to strikes and collective work stoppages, in which the most profound cause is still the lack of information between the parties involved in labor relations. Typically, workers of Matrix Company Limited in Bac Vinh Industrial Park illegally went on strike twice (in 2010 and 2012).

The most complicated strike occurred in 2012, with 2,600 workers participating in 7 days. In fact, the starting point was just a labor dispute at a factory, but because there was no forum for workers to exchange and make recommendations, they were agitated and controlled, then the strike spread throughout the enterprise, becoming tense and very complicated. Only when the Board of Directors of Matrix Corporation organized a direct dialogue with the workers and the two sides agreed on some contents did the workers agree to return to work as usual.

Recently, some enterprises have implemented dialogue in the form of: directors meeting workers at the factory for about 30 minutes on the first day of the month to exchange information, resolve requests from the labor collective, distribute survey forms, collect workers' opinions by ballot during weekly lunches and hold management meetings to discuss 4 hours/week. Mr. Liu Ii Lin - Director of Matrix Company Limited shared: From the actual operations at the enterprise, in 2013, we made very basic changes in implementing democracy, that is, placing suggestion boxes at the factories, workers' suggestions are processed daily, creating the best conditions for grassroots unions to operate and organizing dialogues with representatives of production departments every Saturday. Through regular dialogue at the enterprise, employers can make correct decisions and management methods, create high consensus among the labor collective, promote democracy, and contribute to creating strong motivation for employees to work more enthusiastically and passionately.

However, the number of enterprises that organize dialogues at the workplace can be counted on one hand, not to mention periodically every 3 months. Even at Cau Duoc Cement and Construction Materials Joint Stock Company, for many years, no dialogues have been organized with employees. The peak was on March 25, when hundreds of shareholders and employees gathered in front of the company gate to prevent the sale of machinery and requested to organize a dialogue to ask the company to answer questions about the company's operations. Despite the request of shareholders and employees, Mr. Phan Huy Le, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Cau Duoc Cement and Construction Materials Joint Stock Company, still refused to organize a dialogue. From this, it can be seen that, in order for the regulations in Decree 60 to be effective in practice, there must be initiative from the enterprise, because in reality, very few enterprises organize dialogues at the workplace.

Mr. Nguyen Chi Cong, Head of the Legal Policy Department, Provincial Labor Federation, said: When the labor federation came down and requested to facilitate the dialogue, the enterprise gave the reason that there was no content for the dialogue. Organizing a dialogue depends on the subjective will of the employer, so even if the union wants to have a dialogue, if the employer does not agree, it cannot be carried out.

In addition, a number of workers are afraid to speak up, do not dare to participate in petitions and proposals, fear prejudice, repression, and dismissal (including petitions through opinion polls). The grassroots trade union has not yet promoted its role. Some places have organized but not according to procedures and regulations... Another reason why the number of enterprises implementing regulations on organizing dialogue at the workplace is still too modest is related to the rate of enterprises organizing labor conferences. According to regulations, participants in the dialogue include: the employer or the person legally authorized by the employer and members representing the employer; the Executive Committee of the grassroots trade union or the representative of the Executive Committee of the trade union at the level directly above the grassroots level in places where the grassroots trade union has not been established and members representing the collective of workers elected by the labor conference.

The number of members representing each side must be at least 3 people. Thus, the representative of the collective of workers to participate in the dialogue is elected by the workers' conference. It can be inferred that, if the workers' conference has not been organized, the dialogue at the workplace cannot be carried out. According to data from the Provincial Labor Federation, by March 20, 2015, the rate of enterprises with grassroots unions organizing workers' conferences at the beginning of the year was only 33.69%.

Article 11 of Decree No. 95/2013/ND-CP stipulates that employers will be penalized if they do not strictly implement the regulations on grassroots democracy at the workplace as prescribed by law, do not conduct dialogue at the workplace periodically every 3 months and do not conduct dialogue when requested by the representative of the labor collective. However, according to Ms. Hoang Thi Huong, Chief Inspector of the Provincial Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs: "The regulations are like that, but in practice it is very difficult to penalize enterprises that do not organize periodic dialogue. Moreover, some enterprises said they are willing to organize dialogue but the trade union did not propose and the employees do not have the need to dialogue, do not have any opinions with the enterprise".

Therefore, in order for this regulation to truly come into life, in addition to propaganda to raise awareness for employers and employees, it is necessary to promote the role of the Steering Committee for grassroots democracy regulations at all levels; labor inspectors need to seriously exercise their rights against enterprises that do not strictly implement the provisions of labor law. Grassroots trade unions and sectors need to be proactive in grasping information as well as the needs of employees to request employers to organize dialogues with employees. Along with the efforts of trade unions at all levels, employers also need to be aware of the effects of organizing dialogues at the workplace and properly implement the provisions of the law. On the part of employees, they need to be confident and bold in promoting the spirit of democracy, thereby building a harmonious, stable and progressive relationship in the enterprise to improve labor productivity and create a good working environment.

Nguyen Hung