Nghe An Trade Union improves the quality of collective labor agreements

Improving the quality of collective labor agreements

In many enterprises in Nghe An today, the preparation for negotiation and signing of collective labor agreements has been carried out methodically, becoming an important legal basis to improve the welfare of union members and employees. The grassroots trade union organizes to collect opinions from workers, synthesize needs close to reality, hold legal consultations and exchange in many rounds with employers to find a common voice. The superior trade union provided professional support, provided information and removed difficulties in each negotiation content.

Some businesses are recognized as bright spots such as Hoa Sen Nghe An One Member Co., Ltd. with better support policies for female workers on maternity leave and 24/24 accident insurance; Fu wing Interconnect Technology Co., Ltd. with housing support, travel, policies to encourage female workers to return to work after maternity and holiday bonuses. These models contribute to enhancing the bargaining position of the Trade Union organization, while increasing the attachment of employees to enterprises.

Up to now, the whole province has 486/569 enterprises signed and implemented collective labor agreements, reaching a rate of 85.4%. In particular, many agreements are considered to be of high quality, adding better provisions than legal regulations on raising shift meal allowances, supporting housing, transportation, holiday and Tet bonuses, taking care of welfare for female workers and supporting the treatment of work-related accidents.

Nghe An Provincial Federation of Labor currently manages 146,627 union members in 649 grassroots unions. For many consecutive years, Nghe An has been in the group of localities leading the country in attracting investment, especially in the FDI enterprise sector. This leads to a sharp increase in labor demand, new requirements for the working environment and welfare policies.

At the 8th Conference of the Executive Committee of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor (13th term), Mr. Kha Van Tam - Chairman of Nghe An Labor Federation - emphasized that dialogue and collective bargaining are not only legal requirements, but also a measure of the representative capacity of the Trade Union organization. According to Mr. Tam, the Collective Labor Agreement is not simply a binding document but also a "common rule of law" formed from consensus between the parties, reflecting the legitimate wishes of workers and the commitment of responsibility of the enterprise.

Improving workers' welfare in the context of digital transformation

In addition to the achieved results, the Provincial Trade Union also frankly acknowledged that there are still limitations: Some agreements have forms and content that repeat legal regulations; the negotiation skills of trade union officials are not uniform; the monitoring mechanism after signing in some places is still loose, causing workers' rights to not be fully guaranteed as committed.

From that practice, Nghe An Trade Union identified the key task as improving the quality of the staff. The training focuses on negotiation skills, salary and welfare analysis skills, the ability to access corporate financial reports to build a negotiation basis, along with timely grasp of labor relations fluctuations. The survey of employee opinions will be enhanced online, instead of relying only on direct meetings as before.

Along with improving the quality of negotiations, the supervision of the implementation of the Collective Labor Agreement will be more focused on. After signing, the terms will be made public for employees to easily access; at the same time, periodically evaluate and supplement inappropriate content. The provincial trade union also aims to replicate the high-quality agreement model and honor enterprises and trade union officials with effective negotiation achievements.

Dialogue, negotiation and signing of collective labor agreements are becoming a foundation for building progressive labor relations, ensuring employee rights, helping businesses stabilize production and affirming the role of trade unions in the socio-economic life of Nghe An province.

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