Reforming industrial relations to fully reap integration benefits

The joint statement was issued by the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA), the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour (VGCL) and Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) at the first national Industrial Relations Forum co-organized with the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Hanoi on April 19.

“We are committed to working with various stakeholders to respect, promote and realize the principles enshrined in the ILO 1998 Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, including efforts to consider the possibility to ratify the remaining core conventions of the ILO”, says the statement.

In total 16 Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTAs) to which Vietnam is a party, the TPP is its first deal including labour provisions.

The TPP does not create any new international labour standards but, like the Vietnam-EU FTA, requires Vietnam to adopt and maintain in its laws, regulations and practices the rights stated in the ILO Declaration, including freedom of association, the right to organize and collective bargaining, and elimination of forced labour, child labour and workplace discrimination.

Vietnam became a member of the ILO in 1992 and has ratified 21 ILO conventions, including five out of eight core ones. The remaining ILO fundamental conventions that Vietnam has not ratified are related to freedom of association, right to collective bargaining and the elimination of forced labour.

“Vietnam will have to embark on a major labour reform, particularly its industrial relations system, if the country is to be qualified for economic benefits promised under TPP,”  ILO Vietnam Director Dr Chang-Hee Lee said.

At the heart of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) requirement is Vietnam’s full respect of the freedom of association principle, which is seen to be the most challenging part of the TPP labour chapter. 

All unions in Vietnam now must be part of VGCL. Under the TPP, workers will have the freedom and right to set up or join organizations they choose at enterprise level and these may or may not affiliate with VGCL.

Since the adoption of the Labour Code in 1994, more than 5,500 strikes have been recorded in Vietnam. All were wild-cat strikes, meaning that none of them was organized by the trade union.

“At national level, Vietnam will have to adjust and supplement national legislation compatible with the international commitments to which Vietnam is a party,” said MoLISA Vice Minister Pham Minh Huan.

“Vietnam will also have to build and organize its apparatus, mechanisms and institutions, and allocate necessary resources to effectively implement those commitments,." he added.