Learning the theoretical spirit combined with Ho Chi Minh's practice improves the effectiveness of trade union activities

Throughout his revolutionary life, President Ho Chi Minh built and left us with an invaluable spiritual heritage, which is his system of viewpoints and thoughts in many fields, including the viewpoint of "associating theory with practice" - a core principle in revolutionary activities, learning and research. In particular, for the Vietnam Trade Union - a large political and social organization of the working class and the working class, studying the spirit of "Theory goes hand in hand with practice" not only has theoretical significance but is also a guideline for converting research results into specific and effective solutions for trade union activities in the new context today, contributing to building an increasingly strong trade union organization, meeting the requirements in the new era, the era of national growth.

Ho Chi Minh's ideology on the relationship between theory and practice

President Ho Chi Minh once said: "Theory without contact with reality is a seamless theory"[1]. According to him, theory is only truly valuable when it is experimented and proven in practice. On the contrary, practice also needs to be enlightened by theory to avoid falling into a state of bureaucracy and spontaneous exploration. President Ho Chi Minh emphasized the role of summarizing practices, learning from mass experiences and constantly improving on the basis of applying theory flexibly, in accordance with specific conditions.

Theory is closely linked to practice, that is, when studying theory, one must study practical work to gain experience from practice. Thus, only finding the right political direction to do a good job is a practical and useful theory, otherwise it is a free, useless theory, for example: "hearing people say class struggle, I also issue a slogan of class struggle, regardless of the circumstances of my country to do it correctly".[2]. Thereby, it can be seen that, along with the theoretical motto of unifying with practice, it is necessary to grasp practical viewpoints to answer the problems arising from the current practice of innovation. The national liberation revolution and the initial construction of socialism won victories due to many factors, in which it is necessary to emphasize that President Ho Chi Minh had a firm grasp and applied the perception that the Marquisite method of revolution is creative, the truth is concrete, and the reality is a measure of the truth. That is a profound lesson for the Vietnam Trade Union to apply his ideas in transforming research results into practical trade union activities, contributing to improving quality, affirming its position as a comprehensive organization of the working class and laborers.

Applying Ho Chi Minh's ideology to convert research results into practical trade union activities

The 13th National Party Congress affirmed: Promoting the summary of practice, studying the theory, perfecting the theoretical system on innovation guidelines, on socialism and the path to socialism in Vietnam. Linking practical summaries, theoretical research with policy orientation[3]. Directive No. 23-CT/TW dated February 9, 2018 of the Secretariat on continuing to innovate, improve the quality and effectiveness of learning, researching, applying and developing Marxism-Leninism in the new situation has set out tasks and solutions, emphasizing the need to: "Promoting democracy in summarizing practices and research theories; respect creativity and enhance the sense of responsibility of scientists, increase exchanges and dialogues in theoretical research. Innovating mechanisms and increasing investment in practical summaries and theoretical research". The above views show the importance of the relationship of evidence between theory and practice, it requires each cadre, party member, leader, manager, researchers, and scientists to always pay attention and practice regularly. This is the concretization and application of President Ho Chi Minh's views and ideas on theory associated with practice, thereby creating a strong, truly effective and practical change in the study, research, and application of theory into practice.

In the current context, research activities of the Vietnam Trade Union organization are increasingly developing, especially in areas such as: labor, employment, wages, social welfare, vocational training, caring for the spiritual life of union members... These are hot and urgent issues that determine the quality of activities of the trade union organization as well as have a profound impact on the lives of workers. On that basis, in recent years, the Institute for Strategic Research and Magazine of Labor - Trade Union, as a leading, in-depth research institute in the field of workers and trade unions, has proposed the Presidium of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and coordinated with central departments, ministries and branches, presided over and participated in organizing research on theoretical and practical issues on workers, laborers and trade unions, including a number of topics and projects: The Party's leadership in trade union organizations in non-state enterprises; Research on developing a set of criteria and a process for evaluating trade union activities at the provincial and central levels to serve the emulation and reward work of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor; Research on the system of labor theory on labor relations and tasks of laborers and trade union activities; Research on the new salary and living conditions for workers in Vietnam; Research on the situation of workers and workers in the workforce, workforce, workforce, and workforce; Research on the conditions for determining the minimum and living conditions of workers in Vietnam; Research on the conditions for workers and workers in the workforce; Research on the conditions for workers in the workforce, workforce, workforce, workforce, and workforce;

The above studies are the basis for the premise, contributing the theoretical and practical basis for the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor in planning, developing and promulgating resolutions, programs, plans, participating in contributing opinions to the Party and State on guidelines, policies, policies, and laws for workers and laborers, notably the 2019 Labor Code and guiding documents for implementation, the Law on Implementing Democracy at the Grassroots Level, the Law on Emulation - Enjoyment, the Law on Social Insurance, the Law on Housing; policies and laws related to sustainable minimum wages, improving living standards, improving working conditions for safety, occupational hygiene, environmental protection and preventing and combating the Covid-19 pandemic at the workplace, etc.

However, the gap between research results and practical applications still has some shortcomings. Without effective transformation mechanisms and methods, research projects will become distant from practice, waste resources and not meet the urgent needs of union members, workers and the trade union organization itself.

Based on the spirit of " theory associated with practice", it is possible to apply the following orientations to contribute to converting research results into practical trade union activities:

First, the organization of research comes from the actual needs of workers. This is a way to ensure that the research content is associated with practical life, thoughts and aspirations of workers.

Second, establish groups to connect researchers - union officials - union members to ensure a two-way feedback round between theory and practice.

Third, put research results into small-scale testing before replicating them, to verify their effectiveness and feasibility.

Fourth, summarize practice, develop theory, create a continuous improvement cycle, in line with the spirit of President Ho Chi Minh: "Studying in schools, learning in books, learning with each other and learning with the people".

Some solutions to contribute to converting research results into practical solutions for trade union organizations

Firstly, strengthen the leadership of the Party and the Vietnam Trade Union in issuing resolutions and directives on the working class and trade union organizations,

Second, regularly organize seminars and thematic seminars for researchers and union officials to share results and experiences between theory and practice.

Third, build a digital data warehouse for successful practical applied research that can be cited and replicated.

Fourth, integrate research content into the training process of trade union officials.

Fifth, organize periodic assessment of the effectiveness of policies from research results, thereby further improving the quality of research.

Studying and following Ho Chi Minh's ideology on the relationship between theory and practice is an inevitable requirement in trade union work in general and scientific research work in particular today. Converting research results into practical solutions is not only a challenge but also a responsibility of trade unions in representing, caring for and protecting the legitimate rights and interests of workers.

"Discussing at the thematic conference: Party viewpoint, Ho Chi Minh's ideology on the working class and trade union organizations"