More than 200 workers from Dak Doa Coffee and Tea Company went on strike a week ago to protest the company\'s a new contract.
Workers eat paltry meal waiting for management board
Dak Doa Coffee and Tea Company is operating under Vietnam National Coffee Corporation (Vinacafe).
The workers have been gathering at the company’s headquarters, asking for a meeting so the management board could explain the new contract, which was presented without negotiation. The contract offers them "sharecropper" terms, in which they will be paid a flat fee for their crops.
Previously, they had a monthly salary with quotas.
Another difference in the new contract is that the labourers would be responsible for paying for their own insurance.
They sent a collective letter to DTiNews, in which they divulged the terms of the contract.
According to the letter, Dak Doa Company will pay a flat rate to upwards of 300 workers on the plantation, which covers 320.73 ha, for the five-year period from 2011 to 2015. The workers would have to deliver 7,286 kg of raw coffee beans/ha/year, and would be paid a flat fee for their crops. They would also have to pay 9.5% of their salary for insurance.
The company arranged a meeting on September 30 to meet with the workers. There were more than 200 waiting to meet the deputy director of Vinacafe, Nguyen Van Truong. However, a representative of the company appeared at 10am to announce that the meeting had been cancelled "due to the chaos outside".
The workers remained there until 5pm, not allowing the management to leave the office until they promised to reschedule the meeting to October 1. The next meeting did not see any progress.
One of the workers, Nguyen Xuan Nho, expressed his worries about the new contract by saying, “The previous contract, which required us to deliver 11,300kg per ha/year was hard enough. Crops could be destroyed by insects or bad weather. Even then we failed to meet our quota, and we were punished for that. But at least we had basic labour rights with health and unemployment insurance."
Nguyen Huu Vung, another worker, added, “With this new flat-rate contract, we have to pay not only 9.5% of our incomes to insurance, but we also have to make up for any rises in the premiums if the labour law changes."
Workers in Vietnam are classified into 7 groups, depending on their experience and, supposedly, their salary. However, as Vung explained, "An experienced class 5 worker would have to pay an extra VND7.5 million (USD375) per year for insurance, even though he doesn\'t receive a real salary."
Many of the farmers say that they have asked the company to adjust the quota because of poor yields in recent years. These proposals have never been approved by the company. According to them, under the new contract they will basically be working for free.
The plantation turned from growing tea to growing coffee in 1999. Many of the employees have worked there for their entire lives.
Dak Doa Coffee Company assumed operations in 2005, when it merged with Ia Sao Coffee Company, operated by Vinacafe.
The dissolution of Ia Sao Company this April left many problems which may have led to these financial and contractual problems.
Hundreds of workers gather at the company’s headquarters
