By SON TRAN

Madam Chair,
Honorable Membersof the EU Parliament, And esteemed guests,

I would like to expressmy gratitude to the host, media, and all the participants of this meeting who have come together to show their solidarity in protecting and promoting workers’ rights, especially in Vietnam.


My name is Son Tran, and I represent the Vietnam Worker Defenders (VWD), a civil society organization dedicated to

upholding the principles of the International Labour Organization (ILO).


Despite Vietnam passed a new labour code four year ago, which is a step forward but not enough. This Labour Code 2019 has come into effect, however we have yet to witness any attempt by workers to form independent trade unions in the last three years since its adoption from 2021. This is concerning, and we are here to analyze the implementation of the Vietnam Labour Code 2019 and the ILO Core Conventions, specifically Conventions 87, 98, 105 and 138, in Vietnam – an one-party ruling country.
In general, the ILO Declaration On Fundamental Principles And Rights At Work in 1998, declares that all country Members, even if they have not ratified the Convention in question, have an obligation in good faith to respect, to promote and to realize the ILO Conventions; specifically: freedom of association and the effective recognition of the rights to collective bargaining. Vietnam has been a member of the ILO since 1992, but after 31 years so far in Vietnam, there has never been a single trade union independent from the state trade union. The state trade union named “Vietnam General Confederation of Labour” (VGCL) is a socio-political organization under the Vietnam Fatherland Front.




Violation of the ILO Convention 87

Article 172.1 of the VN Labour Code 2019 said: The internal employee organizations in an enterprise shall be established after their registrations were granted by a competent authority.


This article violates the Article 2 of the ILO Convention 87, which said: Workers and employers join organizations by their own choosing without previous authorization.
Vietnam should ratify convention 87 before convention 98 to let workers form unions first, because only when there is a union, workers can have the right to collective bargaining with their employers. However the Vietnamese Government did the opposite ratifying Convention 98 and has not ratified the ILO Convention 87.


Article 172.4 of the VN Labour Code 2019 said: The Government shall provide for documents, registration procedures and the competence to grant or cancel any registration.

This article violates the Article 3.2 of the ILO Convention 87, which said: Workers’ and employers’ organizations shall not be liable to be dissolved or suspended by administrative authority.

ViolateArticle 1 of the ILO Convention 105

According to this ILO Convention 105, each Member of the ILO which ratifies this Convention undertakes to commit to and not suppress, not to make use of any form of forced or compulsory labour, as a means of political coercion or education or as a punishment for holding or expressing political views or views ideologically opposed to the established political.

In Fact, The Human Right Watch have said “Vietnam continued to systematically violate basic civil and politicalrights of workers and dissidents in 2021 and 2022”;a larger number of prominent activistsas well as anonymous faces have been arrested and jailed in disregard of all international conventions to which Vietnam has ratified, such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, such as the ILO Conventions. There are more than 300 activists imprisoned in Vietnam for their political opinions (https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2021/country- chapters/vietnam#:~:text=Vietnam%20continued%20to%20systematically%20violate,assembly%2C%20movement%2C%20and%20religion and https://www.hrw.org/world- report/2022/country-chapters/vietnam).

Violate Article 3.1 of the ILO Convention 138

According to Article 3.1 of the ILO Convention 138, the minimum age for admission to any type of employment or work which by its nature or the circumstances in which it is carried out is likely to jeopardise the health, safety or morals of young people shall not be less than 18 years.
However, on 28 September 2022, international media reported: Vietnam is among the Asian countries mentioned in The US Department of Labour’s newly released report on labor statusforced labour and child labour.The report titled

“List of Goods Produced by Child Labour or Forced Labour” released by the International Bureau of Affairs (ILAB) of the US Department of Labour on September 28, refers to the countries accused of using forced labour in many sectors, especially fishing and seafood, includes Vietnam (https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ilab/reports/child-labor/list-of- goods?combine=&field_exp_exploitation_type_target_id_1= All&field_exp_good_target_id=All&items_per_page=10&tid
=All&page=4).


Child Labour in Vietnam, Source VOA: https://gdb.voanews.com/06F8251E-872E-44A0-AF29- 64BB74E6CE98_w1023_r1_s.jpg
(VOA Video: https://youtu.be/tfGkqyLDsdw)


Our Vietnam Worker Defenders’ goal is to support and accompany employees in forming independent unions to

struggle and campaign for their legitimate rights and interests. Therefore, we respectfully, submit to EU officials the following requests:


1. The European Parliament urges the Vietnamese government to amend their labour legislation to comply with the Articles of the ILO Conventions 87, 105, 138 and the others in accordance with the spirit of these ILO conventions.
2. The European Parliament asks the ILO in Vietnam to pressure the Vietnamese government to issue decrees guiding the establishment of the independent trade unions.
3. European Parliament intervenes the VN government to release the environmental activists, who apply to join the EVFTA Domestic Advisory Group (DAG) and have been imprisoned. These include: Mr. Mai Phan Lợi , Lawyer Đặng Đinh Bách, Mr. Bạch Hùng Dương and Mrs. Ngụy Thị Khanh.

Last but not least, with the diplomatic & economic relations of the EU, we can ask Vietnam government:
– To strengthen efforts to support labor law reform so that Vietnam can fully fulfill its labor obligations under the CPTPP and EVFTA Agreements,
– To perfect the system of industrial relations, to serve the needs of workers, businesses and society, towards political stability and common prosperity.

– To improve the livingand working conditions of workers.

– To comply with articles 19 & 22 of the ILO Constitution to report annually on the implementation of ILO conventions ratified by Vietnam.

Thank you all, for your time, and for your listening to our VWD’s points.

Son Tran’s contact E-mail: buungocson@sky.com