Workers Struggles: Asia, Australia and the Pacific
Unofficial strikes by thousands of workers in foreign-owned plants in Vietnam’s export processing zones (EPZ) are continuing. Last week Prime Minister Phan Van Khai, concerned about the impact on investment, instructed the Ministry of Planning and Investment to intervene.
The workers want the government to adjust basic wages in line with inflation and cost of living rises. Workers are furious that the government postponed a 40 percent increase in the basic wage it promised would become effective this month.
Up to December 2005, Vietnam received $8 billion in Foreign Direct Investment, much of it from Taiwanese and Korean companies seeking cheaper labour than in China where the basic wage is currently $US63 a month. The Vietnamese government set the basic wage at around $45 to $50 in 1999 but has reduced it to between $35 and $45 for export processing zone workers.
While Vietnam’s labour codes “allow” workers to strike, this is only “legal” if called by the state-controlled unions. Pham Van Hung, head of labour management for Ho Chi Minh City authority for EPZs, said the present strikes were “illegal” because “they were organised spontaneously, without a trade union”. He criticised the unions for not intervening to prevent them.
More: wsws.org
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