Creating a new legal framework to promote sound industrial relations is an important component for coping with the world markets of today in the context . . .

The Labour Code and the Trade Union Law are now being finalised and would be submitted to the National Assembly for passage in October.

Vice Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Nguyen Thanh Hoa addressed the major challenges facing countries at the beginning of their industrialisation, like premature industrial relation (IR) institutions and the under-developed organisational capacities of IR directors.

“IR issues directly and indirectly influence exports and national development,” he said.

According to Pham Lan Huong, chief of section for international economic integration at the Central Institute for Economic Management, one of the main IR issues is the absence of a channel for fair dialogue between workers and employers.

Tapiola noted that the weakness of IR institutions was illustrated by the rising number of strikes.

In particular, since the first introduction of the Labour Code, from 1995 to 2007, the total number of strikes was only about 3,000. Meanwhile, there had already been 1,600 cases from 2007 to date, said Dang Duc San, head of MOLISA’s Legal Affairs Department.

According to San, who is also head of the editorial board of Labour Code revisions, the more appropriate approach should focus on four groups of provisions, including employment contracts, collective bargaining and collective labour agreements, worker representation and settlements of labour disputes.

He said that most of strikes didn’t comply with the law, as they didn’t go through any bargaining or negotiations.

Nguyen Duy Vy, deputy director of the Viet Nam General Confederation of Labour’s Policy and Law Department, said that due to the transition into a market economy, trade unions had to shift priority from traditional functions including administration and the education of workers to protection of workers’ rights and interests.

With the new Trade Union Law, there should be regulations to protect union officials, because as of now they were paid by their employers; therefore, they dared not trade their incomes for the protection of others.

Phung Quang Huy, director of VCCI’s Employers’ Affairs Bureau, said that the Labour Code should regulate the establishment of an employer representative organisation, acting as a counterpart to trade unions to develop sound IR.

Industrial

The Labour Code and the Trade Union Law are now being finalised and would be submitted to the National Assembly for passage in October.

The conference will be followed by a signing ceremony today to launch a US$2 million project on Viet Nam-ILO Industrial Relations, funded by One UN and implemented by the ILO and MOLISA to provide support to all tripartite constituents in the revision of the two legislations.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News