The Regional Coordination of Strikes and the Challenge for Union Reform in Vietnam

Abstract

Since the launch of the economic reform (Doi Moi) policy in the early 1990s, the union system of Vietnam has seen little change: the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour (VGCL) retains its monopoly, its political affiliation to and reliance on the Communist Party, while at the workplace, the VGCL-affiliated enterprise unions are too dependent on the management to represent workers' rights and interests. 'Collective bargaining by riots' has become the only way for rank-and-file workers to improve their working conditions. This article draws on more than a decade of research to show that informal organization of workers in some companies has grown to such an extent that the de facto leaders initiate bargaining with the employers and, when negotiations fail, they organize strikes. These strikes are usually settled in favour of the workers, causing a change in wage levels and leading to spontaneous 'copycat' strikes in neighbouring companies. This informal coordination of strikes across workplaces not only aims at achieving economic goals such as wage rises but has recently been used to express workers' discontent with government policy. The nature of the strike waves has shifted gradually from economic to political; together with external pressure, this has pushed the top leadership of Vietnam to initiate serious trade union reform. Do Quynh Chi (doquynhchi@quanhelaodong.com) is the chief researcher and Director of the Research Center for Employment Relations, an independent research institute based in Hanoi, Vietnam, specializing in labour issues.

COVID-19 in Southeast Asia: Implications for workers and unions

“…On the other, Indonesia is the region's most vibrant democracy, having begun its transition from electoral authoritarianism in 1998. Cambodia, meanwhile, is best described as having a hybrid, electoral authoritarian regime, whereby formally democratic processes are controlled by the Cambodian People's Party and, in particular, Prime Minister Hun Sen. Vietnam's socialist leanings are reflected in its industrial relations system, and most notably in its single, state-controlled union (Do, 2017). 2 By contrast, on paper at least, the industrial relations systems in Cambodia and Indonesia are very similar, reflecting the depth of influence of the ILO in designing those systems' architecture (Ford et al, 2020;Ford and Sirait, 2016).…”

Strikes in Foreign Direct Investment Enterprises in the Southern Key Economic Region of Vietnam

“…The directions for such strike spreading depended on three main factors: categorized industrial zones cluster, co-operation among employers, and worker network. Strikes lasted for one day accounted for 54%, those lasted from 2 to 3 days made up 37% and those from 6 to 25 days was 9% (Do Q. C, 2017).…”

Freedom of Association in Vietnam: A Heretical View

“…In 95 per cent of the strikes Anner (2015: 26) studied, at least one of the workers' demands were met. According to a 2011 survey commissioned by the International Labour Organization (ILO), employers accepted all the workers' demands in 90 per cent of strikes (Do, 2017(Do, : 1058. Another report says 80 per cent (Daubler, 2018: 153).…”

“…One example concerns strike leaders. There is broad scholarly agreement that strikes 5 are led by informal leaders (Clarke, 2006;Pringle and Clarke, 2011;Cox, 2015;Siu and Chan, 2015;Do, 2017;Daubler, 2018;Kerkvliet, 2019). The concept and role of informal leaders, however, needs rethinking.…”