Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - It is time for Vietnam to develop a newindustrial relations framework to boost economic growth and enterpriseproductivity and ensure workers receive a fair share of the gains producedthrough their labour.

The new framework will help the country address its industrial relationschallenges – shown through wildcat strikes starting in the mid 1990s – andcomply with its labour commitments in the new generation of free tradeagreements (FTAs) including the EU-Vietnam FTA and the Comprehensive andProgressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

As it moves towards a market economy, Vietnam needs modern labour laws, strongerindustrial relations institutions and representative organisations and betterenforcement capacity to reap the rewards of international trade and investment.

“Vietnam is on a pathway to reform through both international integration andthe increasing application of modern market economy principles,” said ILO VietnamDirector Chang-Hee Lee.

Party Resolution No 6 in November 2016 and Party Resolution No 27 in May 2018clarified the State’s intention to intervene less in labour relationships andto promote collective bargaining and dialogue as the key means of settlingterms and conditions of work.

To support the country in this labour reform, the “Project on Promoting thedevelopment of a new industrial relations framework in respect of the ILODeclaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work” (NIRF project) waslaunched on November 9 by the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs(MoLISA) and ILO.

The 4.3 million USD project is financially supported by the US Department ofLabor and the Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare in the form ofofficial development assistance.

Its implementing partners include the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industryand the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour.

NIRF’s goal is to lay the legal and institutional foundations for a newindustrial relations framework, based on the 1998 ILO Declaration onFundamental Principles and Rights at Work, in full consideration of Vietnam’scontext.

By the end of the project, Vietnam should have national labour laws and legalinstruments consistent with the 1998 ILO Declaration. It should also have abetter-functioning labour administration system for the new industrialrelations framework, a more effective labour inspectorate to enforce andpromote compliance and enhanced representation of workers and employers.

The elimination of forced labour, child labour and discrimination at work makesup the other cornerstones of the 1998 Declaration – the central pillar uponwhich labour requirements of the new generation of FTAs are built.

According to MoLISA vice Minister Doan Mau Diep, the NIRF project “plays animportant role in addressing the existing gaps in the industrial relationssystem, thus helping to build harmonious industrial relations at grassrootslevel in line with Party decrees.”

He listed the gaps, including labour laws not yet in line with ILO standardsand limited State management capacity in industrial relations such as lawdissemination and labour inspection. He also pointed out that trade unions havenot yet effectively represented workers or protected their rights and benefits,while employers’ organisations are facing challenges in modernising activitiesto better support members.

In that context, he expects the NIRF project to support Vietnam in advancingits labour law reform in line with international standards and in considerationof the country’s socio-economic development to reach its internationalintegration goal. — VNS/VNA