Workers strike while the iron’s hot

Luong Van Thang, chairman of  the trade union under Hai Duong province’s Department of Industry and Trade, said the new monthly company allowance   for workers was VND292,000 ($14) per employee, forcing the firm’s  labour costs to  increase by 8.3 per cent, or about $42,100 per month.

The increase came after 3,000 workers on July 28 protested as they had to work overtime in harsh conditions. In addition, they also complained that the meal allowance was too low, at only VND11,000 ($0.53) each day. During the working time from 7.30am to 8.30pm, workers had only one hour to have lunch and 15 minutes for rest.

The strike became more serious on July 30 as a Taiwanese manager hit a Vietnamese worker.
“Thanks to the strike the lunch allowance for workers was raised from VND11,000 ($0.53) to VND15,000 ($0.72) per meal to ensure employees’ health, especially while the firm has a lot of orders and thus working overtime is quite often,” said Thang.

 Makalot Garments Co., Ltd 2   was the largest company in Hai Duong’s Thanh Ha district, creating more than 3,000 jobs for residents. Each worker of the company could earn about VND3.5-4 million ($168-$192) per month, said Thang.

 Foreign manufacturers in Vietnam have faced many strikes in recent years as workers ask for higher salaries and allowances.

 A survey conducted late last year by the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour’s Institute of Workers and Trade Unions showed that average monthly income for a foreign-invested enterprise worker was VND3.1 million ($150) in the first zone covering Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

More than one-third of the workers said they could not afford to cover the cost of living, while 44.7 per cent said they had to spend sparingly, according to the survey of Institute of Workers and Trade Unions.

The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs reported that this year’s first five months witnessed 228 strikes in 25 cities and provinces.