Labor code sparks debate in Vietnam<\/p>\n
By Philippe Agret<\/p>\n
HANOI (AFP): The adoption of Vietnam's first labor code has
\nprovoked intense debates in the country's national assembly,
\nconvened to address an absence of social legislation and low
\neconomic development.<\/p>\n
Many assembly members have called into question a draft text
\nof the code which would for the first time allow the right to
\nstrike, and seeks to reconcile the interests of foreign investors
\nwith those of local workers, the communist party daily Nhan Dan
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The labor code was made necessary by Vietnam's economic
\nopening, and will deal with a minimum age for child workers,
\nlabor conditions for women, the role of unions and the allocation
\nof wages.<\/p>\n
The code's adoption was delayed during the assembly's last
\nsession in December, when members were unable to agree on key
\nissues.<\/p>\n
The prospect of failed legislation is again worrying the
\nassembly, as is the reaction to it on the part of private
\nindustry which has consistently tried to escape the influence of
\nthe state, sources said.<\/p>\n
The assembly is aiming to impose a minimum wage at the
\nprovincial level -- and not a national minimum wage as previously
\nplanned -- after taking into account wide regional disparities,
\nsources in Hanoi said.<\/p>\n
A similar pragmatic approach will likely prevail in the field
\nof women's labor, which in theory is neither hard nor dangerous
\nbut in fact ends up being as hard as men's work.<\/p>\n
Many Vietnamese women work in rice paddies, factories, in road
\nwork and on construction sites, but it is impossible to lay off
\nall of them immediately in the name of protecting their health,
\nsaid some assembly members who have called for employment equity
\nbetween the sexes.<\/p>\n
Unemployment in Vietnam is already running at 20 percent,
\nwestern economists estimate.<\/p>\n
The assembly is also divided on the role of labor unions,
\nespecially in joint ventures with foreign partners, with many
\ncomplaining the proposed code is \"too general,\" and ignores
\nconcrete problems Vietnam is facing.<\/p>\n
For decades Vietnamese unions have been effectively powerless
\noutgrowths of the ruling party here, unable to reflect actual
\nworkers' concerns.<\/p>\n
Social tension has been on the rise of late in the southern
\npart of the country, as mostly Taiwanese and South Korean
\nbusinessmen have been pitted against local workers unaccustomed
\nto fighting for their rights.<\/p>\n
The authorities in Hanoi are afraid of even greater tension in
\nthe event that they pass a law boosting workers' rights, only to
\nhave the law ignored.<\/p>\n
The government does not want to discourage potential foreign
\ninvestors with strikes that could tarnish the regime's prestige
\nwith investors and threaten an annual growth rate of eight
\npercent.<\/p>\n
One goal of the new labor code is therefore to define limits
\nto the right to strike as well as the recourse to mediation.<\/p>\n
Some of the more hardnosed members from the business-oriented
\nsouth of the country want to ban strikes altogether in state
\nenterprises in the name of \"the national interest.\"<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/labor-code-sparks-debate-in-vietnam-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}