Tet bonus not as expected!

Waiting anxiously for the reward

Calling his family in Ha Huy Tap ward (Vinh city), Mr. Bui Anh Thang - a worker at a leather shoe manufacturing company in Bac Giang province said: "The company has not yet decided on the Tet bonus, and determined that even if there is one, it will not be enough because last year there was a loss and there were too few orders. If there is no Tet bonus, it will be considered that there is no Tet this year, and he probably won't be able to return home."

For many months in a row, Mr. Thang had to take turns taking leave because there were no orders to do, his income was only 2/3 of what it was before. Many of Mr. Thang's colleagues chose to withdraw their social insurance at once to have money to go home to spend during Tet.

Similarly, Ms. Le Thi Thuy - a worker renting a room on Dang Thai Mai Street (Bac Vinh Industrial Park - Vinh City) also said that she did not expect a Lunar New Year bonus because the company's production and business situation had seriously declined. "If every year, at this time we had to work overtime to complete orders before Tet holiday, this year production will only be at a moderate level. This means that this year we will not have any extra overtime pay. The company has not yet announced the official Tet bonus, but everyone understands that the business is facing many difficulties, so we do not expect anything, we just hope that there will be work to do and orders to produce."

Ms. Vy Thi Xuan - a worker at Woosin Vina Company in VSIP Industrial Park (Nghe An) said that last year, the company's Tet bonus was 1 million VND in cash and 2 liters of cooking oil. In addition, there was support from the trade union. "Both my husband and I are workers, and we have 2 small children living with us. Without the Tet bonus, the family would have a very difficult time, and we wouldn't know where to get money to pay off the debt we are borrowing," Ms. Xuan confided.

Although the business situation is quite gloomy, Mr. Thang, Ms. Thuy, and Ms. Xuan all said that this is still much better than businesses that "subtly fire" employees before Tet to "avoid bonuses" - an "excessive" method that some struggling businesses are applying.

"Listen on TV, newspapers, radio about the level ofTet bonus"billions, hundreds of millions, but I feel sorry for the workers. In our company, having work to do is already very good" - Mr. Tran Dinh Hao - owner of a construction company in Vinh City shared. According to Mr. Hao, although the price of construction materials has decreased in the last months of the year, there are still very few projects, many workers sympathize and proactively ask for seasonal leave to do other jobs.

Efforts to "have Tet"

Instead of passively waiting for a Tet bonus from the company, Mr. Dau Duc Anh (Hung Loc commune, Vinh city) proactively managed to earn more Tet money to take care of his family.

“In previous years, I proactively asked for overtime to earn more money, but this year I proactively asked for unpaid leave. My company produces packaging, and since the beginning of the year, there have been very few orders, and workers take turns taking leave, so my income is very low. While waiting for the company to recover, I took the opportunity to do extra delivery work within Vinh city,” Duc Anh shared.

Thanks to this flexibility, he earned an additional income of more than 10 million VND last December. With the need to transport goods before Tet, Duc Anh believes that from now until Tet he will be able to save a decent amount more.

With the same dynamism, Ms. Le Thi Thuy took the opportunity to sell some essential goods to earn more income. She confided: “My hometown is Quy Chau, so I sell a specialty of my hometown such as dried bamboo shoots, sticky rice, incense… Luckily, the products are supported by friends and acquaintances, so I have more money to prepare for Tet.”

The effort to have a Tet holiday does not only come from the workers. Ms. Tran Thi Nguyet - Vice President of the Trade Union of the Southeast Economic Zone, shared: "Despite the difficulties due to the decline in production and business and lack of orders, businesses have made great efforts to have appropriate Tet bonuses for workers. In the Southeast Economic Zone, 100% of businesses have bonuses and most of themBonus levelequivalent to 1 month's basic salary, about 4.2 million VND".

With the same spirit, Mr. Tran Dinh Hao confided: "Although it is very difficult, the company still tries to arrange for employees to have a Tet bonus to encourage their spirit and retain employees."

In an effort to care for workers,Union levelshas also implemented many meaningful and practical activities. In Nghe An, the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor supported 1 billion 550 million VND to take care of Tet. Of which, it supported the Provincial Labor Federation with 500 gifts worth 650 million VND; supported 3,000 free shopping cards (each card worth 300,000 VND), with a total value of 900 million VND for Nghe An workers and laborers participating in the "Trade Union Tet Market" Program in 2024.

The Provincial Federation of Labor will also allocate 644 million VND from its regular operating budget to support workers and laborers in difficult circumstances. Of which, the Provincial Federation of Labor will subsidize 858 workers and laborers in difficult circumstances, each with 500,000 VND, with a total amount of 429 million VND. Organize the program "Tet Sum Vay - Xuan Chia Chia" for 250 workers and laborers with a total amount of 125 million VND...

In addition, the Labor Federations of districts, cities, towns and industry unions plan to spend 4 billion 941 million VND to support 6,682 workers and laborers in difficult circumstances. Of which, the amount of money to care for and support union members, workers and laborers is 3 billion 341 million VND, organizing 48 programs "Tet sum vay - Xuan chia chia" with 1 billion 600 million VND.

According to the survey, grassroots trade unions across the province plan to support and care for more than 15,000 union members, workers, and laborers. The estimated amount is nearly 12 billion VND from grassroots trade union funds, socialized sources, and support from businesses.../.

Diep Thanh