Vietnam General Confederation of Labour continues to promote the labour protection activities of trade unions
The panorama of the conference
To meet the increased requirements of labour protection, ensuring OSH for employees in the process of industrialization and modernization of the country, while improving accountability and efficiency of labour protection activities at all levels of unions, in 2005 the 9th Executive Committee of Vietnam General Confederation of Labour (VGCL) issued a resolution on “Stepping up the labour protection of trade unions in the new situation”.
After the resolution was issued, the Presidium of VGCL had documents to direct and guide the unions to disseminate the content of Resolution to the unions at all levels, and implement training on Resolution for the leaders and officers in charge of labour protection activities of provincial and city labour federations, sectorial unions at central level, corporation unions affiliated to VGCL.
In 10 years, the VGCL and trade unions at all levels have joined with authorities to develop new or amended several laws, guidelines and policies on labour protection such as the Constitution 2013, the Labour Code 2012, Trade Union Act 2012, the Social Insurance Law 2014 and particularly the OSH Act 2015; the VGCL has issued guidelines for trade unions at all levels to conduct reviewing and assessing 18 years of OSH Act enforcement since the Labour Code was enacted in 1994, and at the same time to orient all levels of trade union on views and opinions of trade unions in order to create consensus while consulting on the development of OSH Act, etc.
According to incomplete statistics, in the last 10 years, trade unions have carried out independent inspection and supervision on labour protection activities in more than 16,050 establishments (prior to the Trade Union Law promulgated in 2012), and in coordination with related state agencies have checked 95,459 establishments; grassroots trade unions in coordinating with employers organized themselves 58,532 investigations on labour protection; organized scoring examination for the movement “Green – Clean – Beautiful, Ensuring Occupational Safety and Health” of 1,053 business. In the past 10 years VGCL has conducted investigation and guided the implementation of regulations on labour protection in more than 700 establishments.
Through coordinated supervision and inspection of labour protection, it has shown tens of thousands of outstanding issues in the implementation of regulations and policies on labour protection, and risks associated with lack of OSH leading to working accidents and occupational diseases; it has given recommendation and guided establishments to implement OSH, at the same time synthesizing recommendations, suggestions of establishments to engage with state authorities in promulgating new OSH legal documents, technical standards, technical regulations or amending, supplementing existed OHS legal documents, technical standards, technical regulations, working processes and methods.
After 10 years of implementation, the Resolution has contributed to enhancing the role and responsibilities of trade unions at all levels in improving working conditions for employees and to meeting the requirements of increasing labour protection in the new situation, empowering unions in caring about and ensuring safety and health for employees.
However, according to the development trend, the number of small and medium enterprises will increase, many low capital business and production units will have been using obsolete and old equipment, not ensuring safety and polluting the environment; the number of low-educated, low-skilled and untrained employees is still high; there are still employers who lack knowledge of labour legislation and labour protection or just focusing on profits and less concerning in the life and working conditions of employees. OSH Act 2015 has enhanced the role and position of the trade unions in ensuring OSH for their members and employees, but also poses bigger responsibilities and challenges for trade unions in ensuring the safety of life and health of union members and employees. Considering the international integration process becoming wider, deeper and more comprehensive, Vietnam participates and fulfills its commitments of the Convention on OSH of the International Labour Organization, especially Vietnam participates in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) in which there are regulations on working conditions, safety and health of employees used as non tariff technical barriers. So it requires Vietnam unions to reform and strengthen capacity of system and officials in charge of OSH in order to implement the task of representing and protecting the legal rights and benefits of employees working in good condition and ensured OSH.
Therefore, VGCL identifies in the future, all levels of trade unions should: pay attention to and must be fully aware of the position and role of labour protection of trade unions, considering that is an important content in performing their functions and duties; strengthen the cooperation between trade unions at all levels with the authorities, professionals in labour protection activities; strengthen, train and improve the capacity and operating efficiency of the system and staff working in the field of labour protection of trade union system; promote, improve the quality of mass movements engaged in labour protection, building a safety culture in workplace.
VGCL also set out a number of tasks and solutions to promote OSH of trade unions in the near future, such as: set up the information, propaganda, mobilization activities for union members, employees and training staff working for labour protection at all levels of the trade union; Promote mass movement to work for labour protection; The trade unions at all levels promote coordination with state agencies in development of laws, checking and monitoring the implementation of laws, regulations and policies on labour protection; Consolidate and strengthen union staff working for labour protection at all levels of the trade union; Strengthen research and application of labour protection science and technology, OSH innovations and solutions.
(Source: nilp.vn)
