On October 20, the eighth lecture of "2022 Global Flexible Employment Era and Expanding Social Protection Serial Lectures" was held online, which was organized by the CULR and co-organized by the Labor Relations Branch of the Chinese Association of Human Resource Development. Ms. Nguyen Hoang Mai, a key teacher of the Department of Labor Relations and Trade Union at Trade Union University, was invited as the lecturer to make a presentation titled The Role of Vietnam's Trade Unions in Building Labor Relations for Foreign-funded Enterprises in the Context of Recovering Global Supply Chain. More than 140 scholars, experts, teachers and students inside and outside the CULR listened online, and the lecture was also attended by a few teachers and students from the Trade Union University.
Before the formal start of the lecture, the director of the School of International Cooperation and Training at Trade Union University expressed sincere gratitude to the CULR for inviting his university to attend the serial lecture. He said that the CULR is a university with considerable influence and hoped the lecture would help Chinese scholars, teachers and students gain a deeper understanding of the role of foreign-funded enterprises in Vietnam in building labor relations in the context of global supply chain disruptions. He also expected that the lecture would serve as an opportunity to promote cooperation between the two countries and the two universities.
In the lecture, Ms. Nguyen Hoang Mai used detailed data to present the overview of foreign direct investment in Vietnam and the impact of global supply chain disruptions on the development of foreign-funded enterprises in this country. From her point of view, the global supply chain disruptions were mainly caused by epidemic prevention and control measures, impeded logistics and the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Nevertheless, Vietnam saw a rising momentum of foreign direct investment and export volume where foreign investors kept adjusting capital and investment, with continuous growth of purchased and repurchased shares. By using data and cases, she introduced the present status of employees and trade unions of Vietnam's foreign-funded enterprises and the role of Vietnam's trade unions in building labor relations for these enterprises. She noted that the impact of global supply chain disruptions on the labor relations of these enterprises included contradictions and conflicts of employment security and wage payment, implementation of national supportive policies to workers, allocation of work and rest time during quarantine, and other contradictions and conflicts. Therefore, Vietnam's trade unions have played an active role in harmonizing the labor relations in foreign-funded enterprises by participating in the formulation and improvement of legal policies and the consultation of international labor standards and trade cooperation policies, and renovating and building harmonious labor relations in a diversified and flexible manner.
In the consultation session, Professor Xie Yuhua from the Business School of Hunan University and the lecturer discussed and responded to topics such as China's proportion in the foreign investment structure in Vietnam, wide coverage of trade unions in Vietnam's foreign-funded enterprises, reasons for the proliferating number of trade union members and grassroots trade unions in these enterprises, impact of Vietnam's old and new labor laws on the labor relations in foreign-funded enterprises and the labor disputes arising therefrom, criteria of setting Vietnam's minimum wage standards, functions and role of Vietnam's grassroots trade unions in foreign-funded enterprises, the role of Vietnam's labor law for the Chinese-funded enterprises in Vietnam and suggestions thereupon. Professor Xie Yuhua said that the 20th National Congress of the CPC proposed to wholeheartedly rely on the working class, protect workers' legitimate rights and interests, and maintain open and regular channels for people for voicing their demands, coordinating the people's interests and protecting their rights and interests. Therefore, Vietnam's experience presented in the lecture is enlightening and worthy of reference to China. She said that after the promulgation of the Labor Contract Law in 2008, China's experience in regulating long-term labor relations, expanding the coverage of trade unions and implementing the collective bargaining system in enterprises also had an enlightening effect to Vietnam. In the interaction session, the attending audience had in-depth discussions with Ms. Nguyen Hoang Mai on topics like whether the trade unions of Vietnam's foreign-funded enterprises pay the salaries of union staff, how these trade unions get financial support and how they operate.
This lecture contributed to the mutual learning of China and Vietnam on consolidating the protection of laborers' rights and interests when strengthening opening up to the outside world, and laid the foundation for deepening exchanges and cooperation between the two universities.
(International Office of Cooperation and Exchange)
The Lecturer's Profile:
Nguyen Hoang Mai is a key teacher of the Department of Labor Relations and Trade Union at Trade Union University and a legal expert of the Law Branch of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor. She had studied at the University of Kassel and the Berlin School of Economics and Law in Germany and interned at the ILO headquarters in Geneva, ILO training center in Turin and the ILO office in Nepal. She has led a number of research programs for the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor, Trade Union University, Vietnam United University and Central Theoretical Committee of the Vietnamese Communist Party, and published a dozen journal articles.