Hundreds of workers at Nam Cam Industrial Zone in the central province of Nghe An have faced difficulties getting to their workplace as local landlords are trying to obstruct their buses in order to compel them into renting their houses rather than travelling home.
On the morning of June 22, about 50 people in Nghi Xa Commune, Nghi Loc District blocked the streets leading to the Nam Cam Industrial Zone to prevent buses from transporting workers the factories.
A worker, Nguyen Thi Thu Tam, said that the situation has been going on over the past three days, angering workers and drivers.
"The buses have to stop some three kilometres from our factories and we are having to walk the rest," Tam said. "We’re really tired."
Thanh, a worker at BSE Company said that her salary is only VND3 million (USD142) a month so she wants to go by the shuttle bus to work which is only 16 kilometres from her home.
"If people here want to rent out their houses, they should seek help from local authorities," Thanh said. “Why should they do this to us? It is not fair. We can’t help them. We hope that local authorities will soon interfere to stop this madness."
Local people have said they have blockaded the road because they want workers to rent their houses instead of travelling home.
A landlord, Nguyen Thi Tinh, said that she borrowed lots of money from the bank to build some rooms to rent out to workers but recently many workers were choosing to use the shuttle buses to travel home.
"How can we repay the bank?" she said.
Head of the commune's Police Department, Hoang Duy Duong, said that there are over 1,000 rooms built for rent in the area which have recently seen a sharp fall in occupancy due to workers turning to use the shuttle buses to travel home.
"We've been reported about the situation over the last few days and have tried to persuade and explain to local people to stop breaking the law," Duong said. "Yesterday we arrested five people and will investigate further."
