The unfortunate incident happened at Song Lam Cement Joint Stock Company

180 drivers of Song Lam Cement Joint Stock Company went on strike by quitting their jobs from the afternoon of February 4, 2021 because they thought their Tet bonus was lower than other departments. Photo: Nguyen Lam

On the afternoon of February 4, 2021, nearly 180 heavy vehicle (FC) drivers of Song Lam Cement Joint Stock Company simultaneously quit their jobs to protest because their Tet bonus was lower than other departments.

The reason these drivers gave was that Song Lam Cement Joint Stock Company only gave Tet bonuses based on working days at the rate of 250,000 VND/person/day. If any driver worked 30 days/month (12 hours/day), he/she would receive 7.5 million VND. Many drivers, due to health problems or vehicle breakdowns, did not have enough working days, so the bonus would be lower. Meanwhile, workers in other departments of the factory received higher bonuses.

Regarding this unfortunate incident, Mr. Vu Van Lai - Fleet Operations Director of Song Lam Cement Joint Stock Company, said: The payment of bonuses is the authority and responsibility of the Company's Board of Directors. And the Company's leadership's application of such bonus policy is correct because the drivers receive daily wages.

Mr. Hoang Minh Tuan - Permanent Deputy Director of Song Lam Cement Joint Stock Company affirmed: The drivers' strike has greatly affected the production progress of the unit. In recent days, the Company has had to hire other fleets of vehicles from transport companies to ensure the transport of Clinker from Bai Son (Do Luong) to Nghi Thiet Cement Grinding Station (Nghi Loc). It is worth mentioning that the drivers' arbitrarily striking like that is not in accordance with the spirit of the law. Because the unit has a Trade Union organization and the drivers have not approved this organization, nor have they notified the Company's leaders in advance.

Other departments of Song Lam Cement Joint Stock Company operate normally and are satisfied with the Tet bonus. In the photo: Activities in the operating room of Do Luong Cement Factory. Photo: NN

According to Mr. Hoang Minh Tuan, the drivers' strike to protest the Tet bonus is regrettable, because this is not the content that employees are allowed to strike according to the 2019 Labor Law. Meanwhile, every month, the Company promptly resolves salary and bonus policies and social insurance for this team.

“Tet bonuses of units and enterprises are often considered according to different job positions. This year, more than 5,000 employees of The Vissai Group, including more than 1,500 employees at Song Lam Nghe An Cement Joint Stock Company, have different bonus levels. However, only the drivers objected and took the above actions” - Mr. Hoang Minh Tuan - Permanent Deputy Director of Song Lam Cement Joint Stock Company.

Discussing this field, Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Oanh - Chairman of the Board of Directors, DirectorSong Lam Cement Joint Stock Companysaid: The incident of drivers going on strike and not going to work is not correct according to the Labor Law. After the incident, many workers wanted to go back to work, but some people prevented them and threatened to beat them. The unit is coordinating with the police and relevant agencies to resolve and handle the incident in accordance with the law.

According to the Labor Law 2019,strikeA strike is a temporary, voluntary and organized stoppage of work by employees to achieve their demands in the process of resolving a labor dispute and is organized and led by an organization representing employees with the right to collective bargaining as a party to a collective labor dispute. An organization representing employees that is a party to a collective labor dispute over interests has the right to carry out the procedures prescribed in Articles 200, 201 and 202 of the 2019 Labor Code to strike in the following cases:

- The conciliation fails or after 5 working days from the date the labor conciliator receives the request from the party requesting dispute resolution or from the specialized labor agency under the People's Committee, the labor conciliator does not conduct the conciliation.

- The labor arbitration board is not established or is established but does not issue a decision to resolve the dispute or the employer is the disputing party and does not implement the decision to resolve the dispute of the labor arbitration board.

The strike procedure is carried out in three steps: consulting on the strike; deciding on the strike and announcing the strike; and conducting the strike. Specifically as follows:

Opinion on strike

Before conducting a strike, the organization representing workers with the right to organize and lead the strike is responsible for obtaining the opinions of all workers or members of the leadership of the organizations representing workers participating in the negotiations.

The contents of the consultation include: Agreeing or disagreeing with the strike; the plan of the organization representing the employees regarding the time to start the strike, the location of the strike, the scope of the strike, and the requests of the employees.

Opinions are collected directly by ballot or signature or other form.

Thus, in addition to the form of collecting opinions by ballot or signature, the 2019 Labor Code has added a new provision that "allows collecting opinions to be done in other forms". With this provision, it will help the collection of opinions to take place smoothly, depending on the circumstances and actual situation, choosing the appropriate form of collection of opinions.

The time, location and method of conducting the consultation on the strike shall be decided by the representative organization of the employees and must be notified to the employer at least one day in advance. The consultation shall not affect the normal production and business activities of the employer. The employer shall not cause difficulties, hinder or interfere with the process of the representative organization of the employees conducting the consultation on the strike.

Decision to strike

When more than 50% of the people consulted agree with the strike proposal, the organization representing the employees shall issue a written decision to strike.

The decision to strike must include the following contents: Results of the strike consultation; time of starting the strike, location of the strike; scope of the strike; requests of the workers; full name and contact address of the representative of the organization representing the workers organizing and leading the strike.

Notice of strike start time and strike

At least 5 working days before the strike starts, the organization representing employees organizing and leading the strike must send a document on the strike decision to the employer, the People's Committee at the district level and the specialized labor agency under the People's Committee at the provincial level.

At the time of the strike, if the employer still does not accept to resolve the employees' requests, the organization representing the employees will organize and lead the strike.

Note, pursuant to Article 209 of the 2019 Labor Code, strikes are not allowed in workplaces where strikes may threaten national defense, security, public order, or human health. The Government shall prescribe a list of workplaces where strikes are not allowed and the resolution of labor disputes at workplaces where strikes are not allowed.