Contributing to the organization and operation of grassroots trade unions
HCMC - The workshop to collect opinions on regulations on the organization and operation of grassroots trade unions was organized by the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor on February 15 in HCMC.
The workshop was chaired by Mr. Tong Van Bang - Member of the Presidium, Head of the Organizing Committee of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor - with the participation of nearly 100 union officials in the southern provinces and cities and a number of grassroots unions.
Speaking at the opening of the workshop, Mr. Tong Van Bang emphasized that Resolution 02-NQ/TW dated June 12, 2021 of the Politburo "On innovation of organization and operation of Vietnam Trade Union in the new situation" outlined the main solutions and tasks, in which it was noted: "Having a suitable model to attract, gather, and protect workers in the informal sector".
The establishment and development of trade unions has been of interest to the Presidium of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor for many years. Currently, the country has 1,018 unions with nearly 92,000 union members.
In 2024, for the first time, the establishment of a union was made a target in the work of developing union members and trade union organizations. As a result, nearly 500 grassroots unions have been established with nearly 50,000 union members.
In 2025, the target of developing union members accounts for about 10% of the total target of developing union members. This shows the concern of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor for trade unions and union members.
At the workshop, many delegates said that mobilizing to join trade unions is currently facing many difficulties because freelance workers still lack information, do not understand the trade union organization, trade unions and pay attention to the benefits of trade unions.
Meanwhile, in reality, union activities also face many difficulties due to no revenue from the 2% union fee paid by the employer, but only support from the grassroots union and union fee revenue paid by union members, but not uniformly and at different levels.
Mr. Phan Duong Nhut - Vice Chairman of the Tam Ky City Labor Federation, Quang Nam Province - said that the Tam Ky City Labor Federation is currently managing 3 unions, all of which do not have locations for living and working but have to borrow locations for living when necessary. The payment of union fees is not uniform, and the support for the Federation of Labor's operating expenses for the union is still low.
Ms. Le Thi Kim Thuy - Vice President of the Ho Chi Minh City Labor Federation - proposed that workers must not participate in any other labor representative organization to be admitted to the union; consider collecting union fees for union members when facing difficulties, no jobs, no income; consider the level of financial support for the union to operate according to the number of union members, but it is necessary to limit the ceiling for support.
The collection and expenditure of trade union finances must be made public, because the more public it is, the more it creates the trust of union members in the union, the trade union and there are instructions on financial work for the union; regulations on the organization and operation of grassroots trade unions must be consistent with the Trade Union Law 2024 and the Trade Union Charter of the 13th tenure.
Some opinions also suggested increasing the level of support from the trade union at the grassroots level for trade union activities.
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