Workers' Month - Trade Union levels will strongly shift from movements to practical results

Talking to the press, Standing Vice President of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour Thai Thu Xuong said that in Workers' Month 2026, Trade Union levels will strongly shift from movements to practical results, thereby concretizing to effectively implement the Resolution of the 14th National Congress of the Party and the 5-year socio-economic development plan 2026-2031, towards welcoming the National Congress of the Vietnam Fatherland Front and the 14th Vietnam Trade Union Congress, term 2026 - 2031.

Dear Standing Vice President of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor, Workers' Month 2026 chose the theme "Innovation and innovation, improving labor productivity". Please tell us, what are the new points in this year's implementation so that this theme becomes practical at enterprises?

Ms. Thai Thu Xuong - Standing Vice President of the VGCL: Our country is entering a new stage of development with the aspiration to build a peaceful, independent, powerful, prosperous, civilized, and happy Vietnam. The entire Party, people, and army are striving to emulate and strive to achieve the two 100-year strategic goals.

To realize that goal, the requirement is to create a strong breakthrough in science and technology, innovation and national digital transformation; synchronously deploy strategic breakthroughs; and at the same time promote the strength of national unity, arouse the will and aspiration to rise up of Vietnamese people. In that process, it can be affirmed that: innovation is the driving force, digital transformation is the method, labor productivity is the measure, and improving income, living standards and sustainable jobs for workers is the overarching goal.

Closely following the spirit of the theme "Emulating innovation, creativity, accelerating breakthroughs to bring the country into an era of strong, civilized, and prosperous development" launched at the 11th National Patriotic Emulation Congress, the VGCL has implemented the plan to organize Workers' Month 2026 with the theme "Innovation and creativity, improving labor productivity".

With this theme, the VGCL expects to create motivation for trade union members, workers, civil servants, and laborers to enthusiastically emulate to successfully implement the annual socio-economic development tasks and the 5-year plan (2026-2030). At the same time, create a premise to organize and launch a new emulation movement among trade union members, workers, civil servants, and laborers, focusing on emulation for good labor, improving labor productivity and income for workers.

A noteworthy point is that this year's Workers' Month does not stop at a directional theme, but is designed according to a specific action direction, with targets, incentive mechanisms and effective measurement tools right at the grassroots level. For the first time, quantitative targets are established to the grassroots level, to union members and workers: striving for 10% of union members and workers in each unit and enterprise to participate in proposing initiatives; of which at least 30% of initiatives are applied in practice.

The innovation movement is implemented directly with each job position, going deep into each team, line, and workshop, which is where workers best understand the production process. Grassroots trade unions closely coordinate with employers to monitor, evaluate and support the implementation of initiatives from the beginning, thereby shortening the gap from idea to application. The content of innovation is also expanded in the direction of catching up with new trends. Not only stopping at traditional technical improvements, this year especially emphasizing "digital initiatives", digital skills, digital transformation and green transformation. These are factors that are directly deciding the productivity and competitiveness of enterprises. Initiatives are closely linked to motivation, spread and replication mechanisms. Commendation and reward are focused on right at the grassroots level, at enterprises; initiatives with high profit value will be selected and widely introduced, creating a substantial spillover effect throughout the system.

Madam, setting quantitative goals such as the percentage of workers participating in initiatives or the number of applied initiatives is a noteworthy new point. What mechanism will the VGCL have to encourage, recognize and spread effective initiatives?

- Setting quantitative goals such as the percentage of workers participating in initiatives or the number of applied initiatives is a new point and concretizing the implementation of the General Secretary's direction at the 1st Congress of the Party Committee of the Fatherland Front and Central Agencies, term 2025 - 2030: "shifting from formal movements to substantial results, based on data and figures; prioritizing models with rapid scalability, reasonable costs, great impact on life, and bringing practical benefits to the people".

From that requirement, the responsibility of grassroots trade unions is also set at a higher level. Trade unions must not only stop at the role of mobilization, but must truly be the organizing, accompanying, monitoring and promoting subjects so that each initiative is formed, evaluated and put into practice. This requires grassroots trade unions to be more proactive and in-depth with union members, employees and the production and business practices of enterprises; know how to discover and inspire ideas, and at the same time closely coordinate with employers to remove barriers and create conditions for effective implementation. Along with that is a mechanism for encouraging, rewarding, and honoring in a timely manner to nurture creative motivation in the workforce.

An important highlight is to link the initiative movement with major events and tasks of the Trade Union organization, such as registering projects and products to celebrate the 14th Vietnam Trade Union Congress. Through this, each initiative not only stops at its individual value but also has a clear "destination", contributing to raising the meaning and spreading power.

We aim for a consistent principle: Each initiative must be worthily recognized, applied substantively and widely spread. When that is done, quantitative indicators will be truly meaningful, becoming a sustainable driving force to promote labor productivity and gradually form an innovation culture in each business.

In the context of digital transformation and changes in the labor market, can you tell us how the Trade Union organization will support workers to improve their skills, especially digital skills, to meet new requirements?

- The Trade Union organization determines that improving skills, especially digital skills for workers, is both an urgent task and a long-term solution to protect sustainable employment in the digital age. The focus of support is in the direction of:

First, the Trade Union strengthens propaganda to help workers understand that digital transformation is not only a challenge but also an opportunity, thereby forming a lifelong learning mindset, proactively updating new skills instead of waiting for support.

Second, direct grassroots trade unions to coordinate with businesses, vocational education institutions, and technology platforms to implement flexible training programs (live, online), focusing on essential skills such as: using technology in work, information security, digital work skills, adapting to automation and artificial intelligence.

Third, coordinate to build "digital learning spaces" such as: open learning libraries, online training platforms of the Trade Union; form a network of career counseling, guidance, and vocational conversion support for union members and workers.

Fourth, continue to propose to the state mechanisms to support retraining and skills training for workers; promote responsible businesses to invest in training, and at the same time ensure that workers have access to learning opportunities in a fair way.

Fifth, launch emulation movements, mobilize workers to apply technology, improve techniques, and improve labor productivity, considering this as a driving force to spread the spirit of innovation in the workforce.

We hope not only to support workers to "learn digital skills", but more importantly to help them have the ability to adapt long-term to changes in the labor market, thereby protecting jobs, income and the position of workers in the digital economy.

Can you tell us, through dialogue activities during Workers' Month, what "bottlenecks" does the VGCL expect to remove regarding policies, wages, and working conditions to both ensure workers' rights and promote business productivity?

- First of all, there is a bottleneck in wages and income. Currently, in many businesses, wages have not kept up with the growth rate of living expenses, the adjustment of the minimum wage is not uniform, and there is still a situation where "namely salaries increase but actual income does not increase". Through dialogue, the VGCL expects to promote more substantive negotiations on wages, bonuses, allowances, especially the mechanism of distribution according to productivity and work efficiency, so that workers have motivation to contribute, while businesses maintain a stable and quality workforce.

Second is about working hours and labor intensity. Reality shows that many places still have prolonged overtime, but the compensation regime is not commensurate. Dialogue needs to aim to balance between production requirements and the long-term health of workers, towards more reasonable and humane working models, but still ensuring productivity.

Third is about working conditions and occupational safety and health. Some businesses, especially in heavy and hazardous industries, still have limitations in investing in improving the working environment. Workers' Month associated with the Action Month on occupational safety and health is an opportunity for trade unions and employers to review and substantially improve these factors, because this is not only a right but also a direct factor determining productivity and product quality.

Fourth is about social welfare for workers. Housing, kindergartens, meals, medical examination and treatment places, cultural activities places... are still urgent issues. When life is not guaranteed, workers find it difficult to wholeheartedly focus on work. Dialogue needs to open up solutions to accompany trade unions and businesses to improve welfare, thereby creating long-term attachment of workers to businesses and trade union organizations.

- Thank you, Standing Vice President of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor.

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