Female Trade Union Chairwoman with a higher agreement than regulations, improving welfare for union members

One of the people who contributed to the results that brought many benefits to workers is Ms. Tran Thi Thanh Chau - Chairwoman of the Company's Trade Union.

Creating consensus between workers (NLĐ) and businesses

Exchanging experiences in organizing dialogues and negotiations to sign collective labor agreements (LCAs), Ms. Tran Thi Thanh Chau said that although the law stipulates 1 time/year, the company maintains periodic quarterly dialogues and unexpected dialogues when problems arise. The dialogue process is implemented from the trade union (TU) to the department TU and then to the company TU, ensuring the full collection of opinions and resolution according to the authority of each level.

When proposing beyond their authority, the trade union summarizes and submits to the Board of Directors for consideration and agreement on a plan suitable to law and practice.

Regarding collective bargaining, the trade union follows a 5-step process: Requesting the enterprise to provide relevant information; collecting employee opinions; announcing the content of the bargaining; organizing a negotiation meeting; publicizing the minutes. After the meeting, within 15 days, the trade union will disseminate the results and collect employee voting opinions (over 50% agree) before putting them into the collective labor agreement.

From this approach, in the period 2023-2025, the company has organized over 70 dialogues, resolving more than 200 recommendations from employees; contributing to improving working conditions, creating consensus between employees and businesses. In particular, the company's collective labor agreement has 22 contents higher than the law on salaries, bonuses, working hours, rest, sick leave, maternity and other welfare regimes for employees such as hardship allowances, childcare expense support... with specific levels of support.

Close, dedicated, accompanying workers

Reality shows that the effectiveness of collective labor agreements is not only from regulations but also from the enthusiasm of trade union officials. Attached for more than 32 years, Ms. Tran Thi Thanh Chau has always been dedicated, considering the trade union as a reliable support for workers.

Returning to the collective labor agreement, regarding solutions to promote dialogue and substantive negotiation, according to Ms. Chau, first of all, it is necessary to fully comply with and closely follow legal regulations, conduct negotiations according to procedures; choose key negotiation contents such as salaries, income, welfare, occupational safety and health and determine specific benefits for employees.

Next, propagate so that employees actively participate, express legitimate aspirations instead of relying on trade union officials. Trade unions need to cooperate closely with employers, mobilize employees to comply with discipline, improve productivity, and share difficulties with businesses to increase the goodwill of employers when dialoguing and negotiating. It is necessary to establish an effective information collection channel, including internal data and comparison with businesses in the same industry to serve as a basis for negotiation. In this process, improving the capacity of trade union officials through training classes; strengthening inspection and supervision of the implementation of labor laws and collective labor agreements is also indispensable.

Here, it can be seen that, in addition to the efforts of the company's Trade Union, in which the outstanding role of the Chairman of the company's Trade Union is prominent, the fact that the Vietnam Textile and Garment Trade Union signed the 6th Industry Collective Labor Agreement with many contents beneficial to employees such as salaries, meals, rest hours and some regimes and policies with specific monetary levels has created an important industry legal framework to promote the negotiation and signing of collective labor agreements at enterprises throughout the system.

In addition, industry trade unions regularly guide grassroots trade unions on processes, key contents and skills for dialogue and negotiation with employers.

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