Striking workers could face loss of earnings

July 11, 2005 | 17:41
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Workers who strike will not be paid for the days they take action, even if their strike is legal, according to a draft ordinance awaiting approval.

Article 14 of the draft document specifies that employees will not be paid if they go on strike to demand protection of their benefits. In addition, employers can demand compensation for damages if the strikes are found to be illegal.
The new provisions in the draft ordinance are aimed at preventing the organisation of rampant strikes, which have strongly affected the operations and prestige of businesses.
A strike is considered legal only if it is organised by the trade union at a business and the employer is informed in advance.
According to a Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA) report, nearly 900 strikes took place in the country between early 1995 and May 2005, most of which were illegal.
Sixty-five per cent of these work stoppages are said to have occurred at foreign-invested firms, with the biggest number of strikes reportedly taking place at South Korean and Taiwanese textile, garment and footwear enterprises. Twenty-seven per cent of strikes were held at private companies and enterprises with domestic investment, while 8 per cent took place at state-owned companies.
Most strikes broke out in southern provinces, such as Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong and Dong Nai, where industrial parks have attracted a large number of foreign investors. However, the central and northern provinces have also witnessed increasing labour unrest in recent years.
Disputes over salaries and social welfare were cited as the main reasons behind the strikes. The MoLISA report said violations of labour laws and regulations by employers had also generated employee dissatisfaction.
Ineffective operations or a lack of representation by grassroots labour organisations was mentioned as an additional cause of strikes. MoLISA representatives noted that trade unions have yet to be established at many foreign-invested enterprises.
Timely intervention by the grassroots labour unions could help prevent strikes, MoLisa officials said, but in reality, they have not been effective negotiators in labour disputes. They also said in some cases workers abused their right to strike, acting contrary to labour laws.
Phan Duc Binh, acting director of MoLISA’s Legal Department, said that employers could file a complaint at court to verify whether the action taken by employees was legal or not.
The Labour Code requires that a trade union submit its grievance before a grassroots conciliation committee, arbitration committee and district or provincial court. If they fail to settle the dispute between employers and workers’ representatives, the union is then allowed to begin holding a strike.
Workers are not allowed to go on strike if they do not have a trade union, and the number of enterprises with unions, mostly state-owned firm, accounts for less than a third of the total, they said.
Although there have been improvements to workers’ rights in some factories and plants, there are still businesses that do not bother to outline detailed salary regulations over raises and bonuses. Some plants still use the basic salary structure as the only basis for employees’ pay.
Many workers with significant work experience and professional skills are still paid at the same rate as unskilled entry-level workers. Some employers also fail to give allowances for workers in harmful or dangerous working conditions.
Nguyen Van Khuong, vice chairman of southern Binh Duong province’s Labour Association, said unreasonable methods to calculate pay were the major causes of worker discontentment.
Meanwhile, the current basic salary structure as stated in the Labour Code is already too low in relation to the cost of living, said Dao Ngoc Hoang, a salary official of southern Dong Nai province’s Department of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs.
The average basic monthly salary is around VND500,000 ($31.8) at most Taiwanese companies, VND700,000 ($44.5) at Japanese companies and VND800,000 ($51) at European companies. With additional allowances, a worker normally earns about VND1 million ($63) per month.
Meanwhile, with consumer prices continuing to rise, these wage levels are barely enough to live, complained one seamstress, who has been working for 10 years without ever receiving a raise.

By Duong Nguyen

vir.com.vn

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