Developing union membership and establishing grassroots trade unions are key and central tasks of the trade union organization. However, since the beginning of 2023, the difficult situation faced by businesses in terms of orders, forcing them to reduce their workforce, has significantly affected the membership development targets of trade unions at all levels in the province.
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| The grassroots trade union of Dona Standard Vietnam Footwear Co., Ltd. (Xuan Loc District) held a ceremony to admit new members. Photo: L. Mai |
At the 12th meeting of the Executive Committee of the Provincial Federation of Labor (LĐLĐ) of the 10th term, 2018-2023, held recently, many trade union officials stated that since the beginning of the year, the work of establishing grassroots trade unions and developing union membership has faced many difficulties, and the number of union members has decreased significantly compared to before. If this situation continues, the target for union membership development in 2023 will be difficult to achieve.
* There are still many difficulties
According to Nguyen Duc Thanh, Chairman of the Bien Hoa City Federation of Labor Unions, Bien Hoa has a large number of grassroots trade unions, with over 410 units. However, most businesses are small-scale, individual, or family-owned, so the number of union members is not large. This year, the Bien Hoa City Federation of Labor Unions was assigned a target of developing 5,000 union members, but so far only about 500 have been recruited, which is very low compared to the set target.
In Long Thanh District, the district has only established 5 out of 7 grassroots trade unions with 25 or more workers and over 2,000 union members so far. Meanwhile, the provincial Labor Federation has set a target of 4,700 new members. Ms. Le Thi Thanh Nguyet, President of the Long Thanh City Labor Federation, said that with this situation, achieving the assigned membership recruitment target is very difficult. From now until the end of the year, the Long Thanh District Labor Federation will try its best, but it will depend on the production situation and new labor recruitment of businesses.
According to Nguyen Thi Nhu Y, Chairwoman of the Provincial Federation of Labor Unions, developing the organization and membership of the Labor Union is one of the key tasks in building an increasingly strong Labor Union organization. Therefore, proactively developing methods to approach workers to encourage and persuade them to join the Labor Union is extremely important. |
Difficulties in recruiting union members are a common situation faced by most grassroots trade union units. Mr. Dang Tuan Tu, Chairman of the grassroots trade union at Changshin Vietnam Co., Ltd. (Vinh Cuu District), stated that although the company has no intention of reducing its workforce, over 2,000 employees have left their jobs sporadically since the beginning of the year for various reasons. Furthermore, the company is currently in the process of restoring production and therefore is not recruiting additional workers.
* Efforts to achieve the membership development target
In 2023, the Provincial Labor Union set 13 targets to strive for the successful implementation of the trade union's tasks and to care for and protect the rights of union members and workers. To date, 7 out of 13 targets have been achieved or exceeded. Among the 6 unachieved targets, one is the target for developing union membership. Meanwhile, developing union membership is the foundation and basis for building a strong trade union organization. At the same time, through this, the trade union selects and recommends outstanding members for the Party to consider for training and admission.
Specifically, regarding the target for developing trade union membership, in 2023, the Provincial Federation of Labor Unions set a target of developing 38,000 members. In the first six months of 2023, trade unions at all levels made efforts to establish 46 new grassroots trade unions and develop over 27,000 members. However, due to various reasons, the number of grassroots trade unions also decreased by 42 units and the number of members decreased by over 39,000. Thus, there was only an increase of 2 grassroots trade unions but a decrease of over 12,000 members compared to 2022.
The decrease in union membership is due to many businesses scaling back production and reducing their workforce; some units have had to temporarily cease operations, leading to a decrease in the number of union members. In addition, businesses lack production orders, making them less enthusiastic about establishing grassroots trade unions. Furthermore, some grassroots trade union officials in businesses frequently change jobs, resigning or transferring, which affects trade union activities and membership development.
According to the Provincial Labor Union, as of now, the total number of grassroots trade unions in the province is nearly 2,900 units with more than 687,000 union members/728 workers, achieving a membership rate of over 94%. |
In the last six months of 2023, trade union levels stated they would strive to achieve the set targets. Particular emphasis will be placed on developing union membership and establishing grassroots trade unions in non-state enterprises with 20 or more employees. This will be linked to the development of union membership and the establishment of grassroots trade unions, along with building, strengthening, and improving the effectiveness of existing grassroots trade unions. Simultaneously, the situation regarding the establishment and operation of enterprises of all economic sectors in the province will be reviewed to ensure the implementation of union membership development and grassroots trade union establishment plans is appropriate and effective. Emphasis will also be placed on replicating successful practices from units that have achieved breakthroughs in union membership development during the past term.
According to the Chairwoman of the Long Khanh City Federation of Labor Unions, Truong Thi Bich Lien, although the development of union membership and the establishment of grassroots trade unions have been difficult in recent times, the city's trade union levels have persevered because this is an important task of the trade union organization. Specifically, during the 2015-2023 term, 60 new grassroots trade unions were established in Long Khanh City, developing over 16,000 union members, an increase of more than 1.5 times compared to the total number of members at the beginning of the term. This brought the total number of union members to nearly 28,000.
The achievement and exceeding of the above targets was thanks to the Long Khanh City Labor Union's solutions in disseminating information and mobilizing workers to understand the benefits of joining the trade union; at the same time, strengthening communication efforts in businesses so that workers could grasp information about the meaningful activities of the trade union.
Lan Mai
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