Bac Ninh pledges to support laid-off workers in RoK
The Bac Ninh Province's local authority has assured to help workers of the Republic of Korean GMIE Company, who were laid off this month and are worried about their jobs and rights.
On June 1, the company, which had been manufacturing mobile phone covers for Samsung in the Que Vo Industrial Park in Bac Ninh Province since 2012, suddenly suspended work on all its production lines, laying off 450 workers.
Khong Thi Nhung, a female worker of the company, said that since the company closed, she had been going there every day in the hope of receiving some information about her rights.
"The company managers met with us and announced the suspension. They promised that they would pay our social insurance for May and return the insurance tracking book to us, but we have not been able to contact them since then," Nhung said.
Bui Hoang Mai, vice head of the Managing Board of Industrial Zones of Bac Ninh Province, said the local Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs will work on the local authority to advance social insurance payment to the Social Insurance Agency, to be paid to the workers.
The local authority has also contacted local firms to see if they could recruit these workers. Specific support policies for workers for maternity leave or pregnancy will also be discussed.
Mai said the Managing Board had contacted the RoK embassy about the issue. If the company's owner does not show up, the Bac Ninh Province authority will invoke the law on bankruptcy to take over the company's infrastructure and assets and address the rights of the workers.