Le Dinh Quang, deputy head of the labour relationships department under Vietnam's Federation of Labour said the rising number of strikes after Tet is a result of firms avoiding higher minimum wages.
Le Dinh Quang
On February 20, around 3,000 workers at Nissey Vietnam in HCM City took part in a strike to complain about new wage levels. The worker's wage was about VND4m (USD180) a month and VND1m in allowances, such as housing and health hazard allowances. When the government raised the minimum wage, Nissey raised its base wage by VND200,000 then deducted the same amount from the allowances.
In February, thousands workers at Pouchen Company in Dong Nai Province held a strike over a new work evaluating system which may affect allowances and bonuses.
Unofficial statistics show that over 30 strikes occurred before and after the Tet Holiday, in which 20 strikes are related to minimum wages. The strikes which involve hundreds of workers often occur in HCM City, Dong Nai and Binh Duong provinces.
A strike in HCM City
Le Dinh Quang, the deputy head of the labour relationships department said while in previous years, most strikes were held before Tet and over end-year bonuses, the strikes this year have occurred after Tet and the number has been on the rise.
Resolution 122 stipulated that starting from January the monthly minimum wage would be increased from VND2.4m to VND3.5m, depending on regions. However, many companies didn't apply the new wages right away and some companies tried to find loopholes.
Quang said. "Unions at localities must work with businesses to deal with disputes quickly. However, there are several unions that haven't worked hard to protect their members."
Quang said unions at localities should improve to better connect employees with employers during the integration process and when Vietnam was joining in free trade agreements. He also warned that enterprises should treasure their relationship with workers more.
"Authorities must conduct more inspections to make enterprises abide by the law," he said.