According to the survey, which was conducted by the Worker and Trade Union Institute and the Vietnam Confederation of Labour in HCM City, Dong Nai, Binh Duong, Ba Ria-Vung Tau provinces in the south, Hanoi, Vinh Phuc, Bac Ninh, and Hai Duong in the north, only 16.6% of workers in FDI enterprises feel easy in their work and only 26.3% have good relations with their employers.

Some 44.4% of workers said that their salaries were low and insufficient for living. Some 15.4% complained that they often had to work overtime.

Working hard, salary still low

The survey also shows that workers in FDI enterprises must work hard and for long hours, but their average incomes are not higher than those of workers of state-owned or private enterprises. Most of them are paid VND800,000 to VND1 million (US$50-60) per month only.

Blue-collar workers have the lowest incomes while technical workers and managers have the highest incomes. The gap between blue-collar and technical and white-collar workers is between 5-10 times. This gap is bigger in FDI enterprises in the south than in those in the north.

According to Nguyen Manh Thang, an expert from the Worker and Trade Union Institute, Government Decree 3 on minimum salary (VND710,000 and VND790,000 per month) is to prevent employers from paying salaries lower than these levels and the foundation for them to define official salaries and allowances, not be the real income of workers.

However, in many FDI enterprises, the real income of workers is the minimum salary set by the above decree. As a result, only one-third of workers participating in the survey said that their incomes were sufficient for living.

To have extra income, 42.5% of workers have to work overtime and it is 54.7% in textile-garment firms.

Around 6.5% of the workers have to work 10 hours per day on average, 18% from 8-10 hours and 52% eight hours per day. However, around 65% work six days per week and 25% seven days per week.

In Hanoi, more than 300 workers of Yangmin Enterprise, a motorbike component manufacturing company of Taiwan, recently went on strike because they had to work two more hours a day and work seven days per week.

FDI enterprises neglect collective labour agreements

According to Vietnamese rules, employers must increase the salaries of their workers after three years of work but the survey reveals that over 20% of workers have not seen salary increases after three years of work or very slight increases, especially workers at companies using piece-work payment mode.

Violations related to labour contracts are very common at FDI enterprises. Some 3.2% of workers who have worked from 11 to 15 years don’t have labour contracts and 1.6% have labour contracts of less than one-year terms.

Among workers who have 6-10 years of length of service, only 71.5% have indefinite labour contracts.

The above surveys show that the relationships between workers and employers in the FDI sector are not really harmonious in terms of right and interests. Meanwhile, the voice of trade unions in FDI firms is not strong enough.

According to some surveys, around 59.3% of workers in FDI enterprises that have joined trade unions, a low rate compared to that of enterprises of other sectors.

Asked whether they wanted to join trade unions or not, just 28.3% said yes, 5.9% said no and 53% didn’t answer. Consequently, collective labour agreement is neglected in many FDI companies.

Only 50% of FDI enterprises have this kind of labour agreement. Notably, collective labour agreements are formalistic, not benefiting workers much.

Up to 10.3% of workers don’t know whether their companies have collective labour agreements or not.

Strikes as indispensable results

Along with problems in labour relationships, many strikes have happened at FDI enterprises recently. The number of strikes at FDI businesses is the highest compared to other sectors.

The latest case happened at Beautec Vina, a wholly Korean-owned garment company based in Song Than II Industrial Zone in Di An district, Binh Duong province in the south on August 29. More than 1,000 workers went on strike, asking for higher salaries.

On the same day, over 200 workers of a foreign-invested garment company, named Samitex Co, Ltd. in the southern province of Long An went on strike because of problems associated with extra working hours, mid-shift meals, etc.

According to statistics of the People’s Committee of Dong Nai province, 66 strikes happened in the province in the January-July period of 2007. Most of the strikes were to ask employers to obey the Labour Law. Many strikes lasted for 3-5 days.

From 1995 to 2006, up to 878 of the total 1,333 strikes happened at FDI enterprises, accounting for 66%. The percentage was 70.7% in 2006.

Improving salaries, wage mechanisms and supervising the implementation of regulations on labour is a need at FDI enterprises.

The Worker and Trade Union Institute suggests that the Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs compile collective labour agreements at sector, regional or industrial zone levels to make legal frameworks for enterprises.

The institute also proposes the amendment of laws on labour disputes and strikes. Many grassroots trade unions said that formalities on strikes were complicated so it was difficult to ensure a strike was legal or to distinguish what was temporary job quitting and what striking because the definition of a strike is temporary job quitting.

All mechanisms and policies related to the rights and the interests of workers must be legalised to facilitate negotiations between trade unions and employers.

Source: TBKTVN