Seafood workers work hard to maintain their strength and stick to the profession

Specific working environment

At seafood processing plants in the Mekong Delta region, the working pace of workers and laborers is always bustling with cargo trucks.

Mr. Tran Ba Dam (45 years old, seafood processing worker at a company in Dong Thap province) - said that for more than 10 years, he and his wife have always cherished each shift to take care of their small family. Thanks to that, his family can send his two children to school to study fully, pay for medicine for his elderly parents and funeral expenses in the countryside.

However, what is worth mentioning is that the special freezing working environment makes Mr. Dam and his wife's hands and feet always in a state of numbness and freezing cold. Having to stand continuously for 8 hours each day makes both feet ache and joints aching at night.

Many nights when I come home from work, my hands are numb and stiff, I can't hold chopsticks to eat rice, my feet walk without feeling. My husband and I's salary of 15 million VND/month carries all kinds of family expenses, so even though it hurts, my husband and I only know how to encourage each other to overcome it and also limit going to the doctor" - Mr. Dam shared.

Sharing the same feeling, Ms. Pham Thi Ngoc Chau (47 years old, worker at Thot Not Industrial Park, Can Tho City) said that seafood work requires meticulousness and quickness but is very worn out for health, especially for women. Prolonged cold and high humidity not only cause back pain and osteoarthritis but also directly affect the reproductive health and psychology of women after many years of attachment.

Worry about pushing back labor life

The silent erosion of the specific environment, makes many workers in the seafood processing industry also face the psychology of reducing working age. Mr. Dam recounted that at this age, when their health declines significantly, many of his colleagues have to sadly resign. For those who are lucky enough to have tens of millions left over, they choose to return to their hometown to farm or find lighter jobs (such as selling groceries, fishing gear) to conserve energy, because they no longer have enough strength to stick to night shifts.

Even Ms. Ngoc Chau has repeatedly worried about the long road. She confided that sometimes she thinks about wanting to let go of the production line to return home, learn how to grow vegetables and raise chickens to lighten the burden. However, the business side is also facing a difficult problem, because finding experienced, familiar people to replace long-term workers is not easy, especially in the context of a shortage of skilled labor like today.

“I have also been trained by many young people, they are not interested because they say they are afraid of the fishy smell after work. Many people switch to sewing to be cleaner,” Ms. Chau added.

Despite the messy feelings, for seafood processing workers of middle age, this is still a job that brings income to support the whole family. "Hopefully there will be more support policies, specialized industry allowances for seafood processing workers, vegetables or periodic health check-up programs to make the road ahead less heavy" - Mr. Dam added.

See the original here