The 'big sister' of thousands of garment workers in the rice homeland of Yen Thanh

WORTH THE TRADE-OFF

As a trusted Manager of MLB Tenergy Co., Ltd. (a garment company in Yen Thanh district), Ms. Nguyen Thi Yen (born in 1985) is not only good at sewing, proficient in technical handling but also has professionalism in work arrangement. All these skills do not come naturally, they are the "sweet fruit" of the spirit of learning and constantly improving herself that she has maintained for many years.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Yen is known as the Manager and President of the Trade Union of MLB Tenergr Yen Thanh Co., Ltd. Photo: Diep Thanh

College graduateFashion textilesIn Hanoi, Ms. Yen returned to Vinh to work at a military garment company for 2 years. When she felt that she could not progress further if she continued with this job, Ms. Yen took the recruitment opportunity of MLB Tenergy Co., Ltd. right in her hometown. Her application was accepted to go for further training in Thai Binh for 1.5 years. At that time, her first son was only 13 months old. That 1.5 years was not the most difficult time for her. The 5 months of training in Japan afterwards were the challenges that made her feel the most tormented every time she remembered them.

At work, Ms. Yen is always a hard-working and constantly learning person. Photo: Diep Thanh

The first time she went abroad, living in an environment where she did not share the same language, with no one to share the pain of missing her child, she cried every night. “In Thai Binh, I was able to go home to see my child occasionally. In Japan, I could only call home every night to hear my child say a few words to ease the longing. That Tet away from home was the saddest Tet I have ever experienced,” Yen confided, holding back her emotions.

The 5 months in Japan were 5 months for her to accumulate as much knowledge and skills as possible. Ms. Yen always reminded herself: I have sacrificed too much for this job, for this opportunity, so I have to try hard to make that sacrifice and trade-off worth it. Not only learning about sewing, she always paid attention to observing how Japanese people organize, manage and arrange work, learning their carefulness, perfectionism and neatness. In her free time, when others were resting, she searched for documents to learn more Japanese.

After 5 long but extremely valuable months in Japan, she returned home and was devastated when her son refused to acknowledge her. The mother-son relationship was mended over time, but the torment from years ago remained, becoming the motivation for her to try harder every day, both in her family and at work.

BALANCE BETWEEN 2 ROLES

Returning to Vietnam, Ms. Yen was assigned to train workers at MLB Tenergy Co., Ltd. Like a true teacher, Ms. Yen enthusiastically imparted to everyone what she had accumulated, from sewing expertise to working methods, life attitudes... To achieve the best results for the training program, she prepared the curriculum very carefully and systematically, enthusiastically assigned exercises suitable for each person, and was ready to support and answer all questions. Up to now, the managers of all large and small departments in the company have all been students of "Ms. Yen".

Since Ms. Yen became union president, workers' lives have improved significantly. Photo: Diep Thanh

Ms. Yen recalls: “At first, I was not yet proficient at the job, so I had to research everything carefully before I could implement it. Not to mention that new employees constantly needed support. These tasks took up a lot of time and forced me to bring them home to deal with. Almost every day, I returned with a thick stack of documents and started working after my child was fast asleep.”

After a short time, Ms. Yen's working ability and professional demeanor were recognized by the company's leadership, who assigned her important responsibilities. She began taking on the role of manager in 2018.

With her gentle and responsible personality, Ms. Yen is always trusted and loved by her colleagues and workers. Photo: Diep Thanh

When the work was in order and the workload was less, she continued to invest time in Japanese skills. From her efforts, her Japanese ability gradually improved, she could actively discuss work, read documents and papers from superiors without going through an interpreter. This was not only beneficial for professional work but also beneficial for her role.union presidentof you

“One of the reasons I decided to stay with the company for a long time is because the company's leaders highly value the human factor. They believe that understanding the thoughts and aspirations and solving psychological problems for workers is a key issue that directly affects production,” Ms. Yen shared.

To the workers in the company, Ms. Yen is a "big sister" who is always ready to roll up her sleeves to support her sisters, promptly resolve any problems, and is a dedicated union president who actively listens and shares the difficulties in the lives of workers. Her sincerity and deep concern for the workers has made anonymous letters of suggestion less and less, minimizing unnecessary strikes. Since Ms. Yen became presidentunion, the company has added cultural and sports activities for employees, added paid holidays, more meal allowances, more support policies... Her proposals to the company's leadership in recent years have contributed to significantly increasing productivity and improving the lives of employees.

Since joining the union, Ms. Yen has received 12 Certificates of Merit from the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor, the Provincial Confederation of Labor and the District Confederation of Labor for her efforts in caring for the lives of workers.workermine. Photo: Contributor

When asked about the secret to getting her proposals and ideas approved by the company's leaders, she confided: "Any business will be interested in revenue and labor productivity first. So if I want them to accept my proposals, I have to prove that the workers are worth the investment. That means before making a proposal, I need to motivate the workers to make efforts to produce and improve productivity. To do this, I myself must have a voice and prestige with the workers, and be as close to the workers as I would be to my own relatives."

Taking on the roles of supervisor and union president at the same time, she often had headaches and lost weight because she had to balance the interests of the company and the workers. That was the time the company issued a regulation that if you don't take annual leave, you won't receive attendance pay, the time the company had to cut staff due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the times she organized events for workers... Although it was hard and stressful, when she thought about the joy she brought to the workers, thinking about the feelings the workers had for her, Ms. Yen felt like she had more energy to continue on the path she had chosen.

Diep Thanh