Abstract
This chapter provides background information about the labour law regime, which is necessary for an understanding of the relationship between law and labour resistance in Vietnam. It outlines the development and significance of the Vietnamese Labour Code in the regulation of industrial relations in Vietnam. Second, it discusses key aspects of the Labour Code that concern key workers’ rights and benefits, workplace relationships, and the types and resolution of labour disputes. The next section addresses the state’s approach towards law and labour regulation over the past few decades, taking the example of strike settlement and strike prevention in the field site of Đông Nai Province, and outlines the development of the union’s legal aid activities and their objectives in relation to workers’ rights protection.
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Notes
- 1.
US-Viet Nam Plan for the Enhancement of Trade and Labour Relations (2016). Retrieved from https://ustr.gov/sites/default/files/TPP-Final-Text-Labour-US-VN-Plan-for-Enhancement-of-Trade-and-Labour-Relations.pdf. The Trans-Pacific Partnership is a trade agreement between 12 countries spanning the American and Asia-Pacific regions.
- 2.
Still, any grassroots trade unions that would be formed have to register themselves with the VGCL or a competent government body.
- 3.
Art 4, Labour Code.
- 4.
Art 8.
- 5.
Art 5.
- 6.
Art 22.1.
- 7.
Art 22.2.
- 8.
Arts 37˗38.
- 9.
Art 37.1.
- 10.
Art 38.1.
- 11.
Art 39.
- 12.
Art 90.1.
- 13.
Art 90.2˗3.
- 14.
Art 91.
- 15.
State-led wage bargaining has taken place annually since 2007, with the consultation of the MOLISA, the VGCL, and representatives of the business community. In 2013, the National Wage Council (NWC) was established to formalise the tripartite bargaining for wage adjustment (Decree 49/2013, Art 3˗5). Its core function is to consult the government about adjusting and announcing the regional minimum wages. The official launch of the NWC is an institutionalised effort to reform the wage system, allowing space for the Ministry of Labour, the employers’ and employees’ representatives to deliberate on minimum wage. The council is composed of 15 members who reach a decision by votes: five officials from MOLISA, five members from the employers’ representative organisation, led by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), and five officials from the VGCL.
- 16.
Art 3, Decree 103/2014/ND-CP on regulations of the regional minimum wages for employees working in enterprises, cooperatives, group work, farms, households, as individuals, and in organizations and agencies that employ labour according to the labour contract; Art 3, Decree 182/2013/ND-CP on regulations of the regional minimum wages for employees working in enterprises, cooperatives, group work, farms, households, as individuals, and in organizations and agencies that employ labour according to the labour contract.
- 17.
Appendix of the list of areas for the implementation of the regional minimum wages from 1 January 2015, Decree 103/2014/ND-CP.
- 18.
Art 93, Labour Code.
- 19.
Art 7.2, Decree 49/2013/ND-CP on detailed regulations of implementing some clauses of the Labour Code on wages.
- 20.
Art 7.2, Decree 49/2013/ND-CP.
- 21.
Art 7.6, Decree 49/2013/ND-CP.
- 22.
Art 7.3, Decree 49/2013/ND-CP.
- 23.
Art 94, Labour Code.
- 24.
These issues include necessary steps taken to ensure occupational health and safety. To help improve employees’ general well-being and prevent occupational diseases and accidents, employers are responsible for organising periodic health checks, depending on the physical status and working environment of employees (Article 152).
- 25.
Art 73, Labour Code.
- 26.
Art 102.
- 27.
Art 106.
- 28.
Art 97.
- 29.
Art 119.1˗2.
- 30.
Art 119.3˗4 and Art 120.
- 31.
Art 123.
- 32.
Art 125.
- 33.
Art 123.4˗5.
- 34.
Art 155.5.
- 35.
Art 155.1˗4.
- 36.
Art 157.
- 37.
In reality, most grassroots trade unionists take up their positions without employees’ votes and are usually people holding managerial and supervisory posts.
- 38.
Art 189 and Art 190, Labour Code.
- 39.
Art 188.1.
- 40.
Chapter XIV, Labour Code.
- 41.
Art 3.
- 42.
Art 201.
- 43.
Art 204.2a˗3 and Art 205.
- 44.
Art 3.
- 45.
Art 204.2b˗3 and Art 206.
- 46.
Art 209.1.
- 47.
Art 209.2.
- 48.
Art 210.
- 49.
Art 211˗213.
- 50.
The Decree uses the term ‘employee’ in a broad sense; it does not make specific mention of ‘the collective of employees,’ or whether it shall apply to individual and/or collective types of complaints.
- 51.
Art 3.1, Decree 119/2014/ND-CP.
- 52.
Art 15.1 and Art 19, Decree 119/2014/ND-CP.
- 53.
Art 15.2 and Art 27, Decree 119/2014/ND-CP.
- 54.
Art 3.4, Decree 119/2014/ND-CP.
- 55.
Art 39, Decree 119/2014/ND-CP and Art 21, Law on Denunciations (No. 3/2011/QH13).
- 56.
Art 10–12, Decree 60/2013/ND-CP on detailed regulations of Clause 3, Article 63 of the Labour Code on grassroots democracy mechanism at workplaces. In particular, periodic dialogues between employers and employees’ representatives should take place every three months, and outcomes from these dialogues must be made known to employees. Employer is also responsible for organising the annual convention with the participation of a proposed number of employee delegates every year.
- 57.
Art 35.1, Decree 5/2015/ND-CP.
- 58.
Art 218.2 states that employees shall not be paid during the time they participate in strikes, unless otherwise agreed by employer and employees.
- 59.
Art 1, Decision 785/2004/QD-TLD on the organisation and activities of the union’s legal aid.
- 60.
Art 9, Decision 785/2004/QD-TLD.
- 61.
Art 13, Decision 785/2004/QD-TLD.
- 62.
Art 15, Decision 785/2004/QD-TLD.
- 63.
Art 16, Decision 785/2004/QD-TLD.
- 64.
Preamble, Decree 4/NQ-TLD on reforming and enhancing the quality of legal aid activities of the union organisation in the new era.
- 65.
Section III.1, Decree 04b/NQ-TLD on enhancing the effectiveness of legal communication and education for workers and employees in the new era.
- 66.
Ngày hội tư vấn pháp luật lao động. The term ‘ngày hội’ (festival) in Vietnam is sometimes used to refer to a large information or educational session that allows participants to raise questions and queries with the service providers or advertisers, rather than an event of entertainment or recreational nature.
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Nguyen, T.P. (2019). Labour Law and the State’s Management of Labour Relations in Vietnam. In: Workplace Justice. Critical Studies of the Asia-Pacific. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-3116-9_2
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