Trade unions must double legal aid for women migrant workers
Legal assistance for women migrant workers must be enhanced and part of trade unions’ focus, Vice President of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour (VGCL) Nguyen Thi Thu Hong has said.
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She said the VGCL will take more measures to care for women workers in general, and female migrants workers in particular in the time ahead.
A number of legal aid models have proved effective, she said, highlighting the mobile legal assistance service in Hanoi, the distribution of legal leaflets in Binh Duong province, and the provision of advice about collective labour agreements in Vinh Phuc province.
Trade unions nationwide have established 19 centres, 42 offices and 15 groups on legal aid in all 63 provinces and cities.
Vietnam currently houses 282 industrial parks and 55 industrial clusters which will strongly increase in the next few years as the country’s population is forecast to reach 100 million by 2020, Hong added.
Meanwhile, Vietnam is strongly developing its economy with foreign investment set to thrive thanks to the enforcement of free trade agreements like the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
The migration from rural areas to cities and industrial parks will soar, mostly among young women aged between 15 – 25 who want to seek a higher income than in their rural hometown, she said.
Hong noted women migrant workers are the most vulnerable group as they lack knowledge about their rights and benefits and labour-related laws, not to mention other difficulties such as quota fulfillment pressure, poor nutrition and insufficient income.
