Demand for independent unions through strikes in Thanh Hoa in March 2025
In early March 2025, a series of collective strikes (10 cases) occurred in Thanh Hoa province. In addition, 2 cases were promptly prevented by local authorities. The strikes and calculations were all related to wage increases (in Tho Xuan district, Adiana, Roll Sport, Sheng Ta, Comporysion shoe companies; in Trieu Son district, Ivory, SunJade companies; in Cam Thuy district, PMT shoe company; in Ngoc Lac district, TMVT shoe company; in Yen Dinh district, Long Hanh Thien Ha company; in Vinh Loc district, Hiep Thang shoe company; in Ha Trung district, Venus shoe company; in Nhu Thanh district, Akalia shoe company), with a total of more than 25,000 workers participating, according to Lao Dong electronic newspaper (https://laodong.vn/cong-doan/cong-doan-vao-cuoc-cac-vu-ngung-viec-duoc-giai-quyet-1473462.ldo).
The main causes of these collective strikes are still the issue of wages being held down to be able to sell cheaply through export, not meeting the prescribed minimum level, labor safety issues, overtime hours not being paid properly, etc. While the Vietnamese government announced that the export surplus through the US market would reach 124 billion USD by 2024, it has to face more than 40 lawsuits about Vietnamese goods being subsidized and dumped (by not increasing wages for workers in processing enterprises, oriented towards export (garment, shoes, household appliances, electronics), agricultural products, fishery products, steel, etc.
According to the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs of Vietnam (MOLISA), the reasons stated in a report made in 2011 remain the same, completely unresolved more than 13 years later: 1) The quality of life of workers is still low, 2) The quality of life of workers is still low, 3) Enterprises violating the Labor Code have not been strictly handled, 4) The role of trade unions in protecting workers’ rights is still unclear (the trade union is the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor (VGCL), a state trade union under the direction of the Communist Party of Vietnam through the Fatherland Front).
Regarding point 4, regarding the role of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor, Molisa admitted, “In many places, trade unions do not dare to negotiate with businesses to protect workers’ rights. And when workers organize strikes, there is no guidance from the trade union. In reality, most of the current strikes do not have union leadership.”
This admission shows that when strikes occur and there is no “leadership” (permission) from the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor, the strike will be considered illegal by the Vietnamese government according to the 2019 Labor Code. And the police force “has the right” to intervene to disperse the strike, beat, arrest the workers who organized the strike, and persecute them and their families. A typical example is the strike of 5,000 people at the Taiwanese-owned shoe company Viet Glory in October 2023 in Dien Chau, Nghe An province. 11 workers considered to be leaders of the strike were arrested by the police and fired. Such arrests, persecution, and dismissals during strikes have never happened in countries with a rule of law, respecting the basic ILO principles, allowing independent unions to operate freely without being restricted by laws.
After studying the complaint, the EU confirmed that it will handle the following 3 points, through the EU’s response letter dated December 18, 2024: 1) Vietnam violated the ILO Convention on the right to association, 2) violated the commitments to specifically implement Conventions 87 and 98, 3) violated the independent status of Vietnam’s representatives in the Domestic Advisory Group (DAG) Vietnam. The Vietnam General Confederation of Labor, the state trade union through thousands of strikes over the past 30 years (1995-2024), has never cared about the practical interests of workers and stood on the side of workers. Only an independent trade union, established by workers themselves (in factories or in the freelance industry) in accordance with the spirit and provisions of Convention 87, can truly represent workers and effectively protect their legitimate rights in terms of wages, labor safety, dignity, etc.
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