Why have Viet Glory Company Limited employees not agreed to return to work?

Nghe An Newspaper worked with many workers of the company to have the most comprehensive and objective view of the root causes of these tensions.

Repressing a lot of anger

Speaking to reporters, Ms. BTT said: “We asked for a salary increase and an increase in allowances before going to work, but the incident that led to today was not just because of those two reasons. I find the company's payroll very confusing, deducting allowances unreasonably. Taking a day off properly is deducted, taking an extra half day off is deducted from all attendance and gas money... The working environment is exposed to toxic chemicals, with high production pressure.”

This morning (February 11), in cold and rainy weather, workers at Viet Glory Company continued to stop working. This is the 5th day of collective work stoppage here. Photo: Duy Tu

Ms. NTT explained: “I myself was once warned for a fingerprint machine error, even though I went to work regularly and on time. But the most frustrating thing was the way the foreign staff yelled at the workers. Everyone kept saying that it was because they spoke loudly and we didn’t understand the language, leading to misunderstandings. If we made a mistake, we could have just given them a gentle reminder and they would fix it. No one respects workers by throwing things, tossing things, or pointing at them like that.”

Not directly participating in the dialogue, even standing far away from the company gate, Ms. LTM said: "It is true that there are workers who do not understand the law, agitate, and make unreasonable recommendations, but I also affirm that the Company's officials have behaved improperly, and the policies are not guaranteed. I do not want toextended work stoppagelike this but I myself also have some frustrations and want the Company to resolve it once and for all".

The deserted scene inside Viet Glory Company Limited in the past few days. Photo: DT

"I personally do not want to stop working like this because losing my job and salary will seriously affect my life and make my family's economy even more difficult. However, I hope the company will clearly and specifically resolve the workers' rights in the most reasonable way," said a worker.

Lack of trust

Exactly one year ago, Viet Glory Company Limited also had an incident.stop doing the samewith 12 recommendations, including: Proposing to increase annual salary, add fuel allowance, seniority allowance, child allowance, increase meal allowance to 20,000 VND, have overtime pay and increase pay when working overtime on holidays, salary table clearly stating the items, foreign managers must respect and not curse or yell at workers, must have seniority allowance, not force workers to work overtime, have production bonus.

Document on the contents that the leaders of Viet Glory Company Limited promised to change after the strike in early 2021. Photo: Document

It can be seen that this year's 11 recommendations have many overlaps with the 12 recommendations of 2021. This shows that the leaders of Viet Glory Company Limited have not yet resolved and completely overcome many of their shortcomings and limitations.

Talking to reporters, many workers shared that they do not believe in the company's leadership's promise of change and want the terms to be committed in a more specific and complete document. "Last year, when they went on strike, they also promised to change, but they did not change many things. Salaries still did not increase, pay stamps still did not change..." - a female worker explained.

Lack of professionalism and experience

Mr. Ho Trong Luu - Assistant and interpreter of the company's deputy director admitted: "The company has only been in operation for 1 year, facing many difficulties due to the epidemic, the leadership team as well as the union officials are young and inexperienced, so this incident happened...".

Company leaders talk to workers on the morning of February 9. Photo: DT

It is not difficult to recognize the lack of experience that Mr. Luu mentioned. Due to lack of experience, the company did not effectively promote the policies and regimes to the workers, leading to many workers misunderstanding that the Covid-19 support money had been embezzled by the company, even though in fact this amount was awaiting approval; Some workers said that after contracting Covid-19, the company did not accept them anymore, even though the company's leaders did not issue this regulation; The company's policy also does not force workers to come to work before the scheduled time as people say...

The company's leaders and union executive board discussed and worked with the press and relevant departments on the morning of February 10. Photo: DT

Established in March 2021, the company's union with a young executive board has not played its role well.

Ms. Vu Thi Thoa - Vice President of the Company's Trade Union stated: "Despite receiving very dedicated and responsible guidance and direction from the Dien Chau District Labor Federation, we still let this incident happen, causing great impacts on the company, workers and the locality. Honestly, before the collective work stoppage, we heard many discontented opinions from workers, mainly through gossip and word of mouth, but we did not know that everyone would go on strike. We ourselves are also part-time trade union officials, so we have limited time and cannot manage everything. The company is large-scale, has a cumbersome apparatus, and depends on the whole system, so the issue of salary stamps, policies and regimes is very difficult to change. Regarding other issues, we need workers to send petitions and clear documents to have a basis for making recommendations to the company's leaders."

The above reasons have contributed to the collective work stoppage inViet Glory Company Limited(Dien Chau) tension for many days and has not been completely resolved.

At the dialogue session on the morning of February 10, Mr. Pham Duc Cuong - Chairman of the Labor Federation of Dien Chau district affirmed: "The workers' petition is completely legitimate, however, it is necessary to consider the actual situation and legal regulations to have a reasonable solution, harmonizing the interests of both parties".

Mr. Cuong also said that the work stoppage has been prolonged, causing damage to both sides, and the gathering of large numbers of people in the current context will pose many risks of a Covid-19 outbreak. In the coming time, the trade union will continue to promote workers to share and accompany businesses and negotiate with the leaders of Viet Glory Company Limited to build policies and regimes suitable to the general level in the whole district.

At 6:00 p.m. on February 8, the leaders of Viet Glory Company Limited responded in writing to 11 requests and recommendations from employees.

The company responded to workers' suggestions.

The company responded to workers' suggestions.

As reported, on the afternoon of February 7, 2022, an incident occurred at Viet Glory Company Limited.collective stoppagewith the participation of nearly 2,500 workers with the content of requesting benefits. Departments and branches of Dien Chau district including People's Committee; Labor Federation; Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs; District Police; People's Committee, Dien Truong Commune Police and Economic Department of Nghe An Provincial Police were present to participate in the resolution.

On the afternoon of February 8, Viet Glory Company Limited responded in writing to 11 requests and recommendations from employees.

After the dialogue yesterday morning, February 10, the leaders of Viet Glory Company Limited and the workers have not yet found a common voice. All workers do not agree with the company's solution, continuing to request the company to increase wages and add seniority allowances before returning to work.