VIETNAM NATIONAL ASSEMBLY PASSES NEW LABOR LAWS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HANOI 003019 SIPDIS SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP/MLS AND DRL MITTELHOUSER COMMERCE FOR 4431/MAC/AP/OPB/VLC/HPPHO LABOR FOR LI STATE PASS USTR E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ELAB ECON PGOV ETRD EIND EINV VM SUBJECT: VIETNAM NATIONAL ASSEMBLY PASSES NEW LABOR LAWS SENSITIVE - DO NOT POST ON INTERNET REF: A) HANOI 3012; B) HANOI 2050 ¶1. (SBU) Summary: The National Assembly passed two important pieces of labor legislation in its fall session, one governing labor disputes and another regulating the country's burgeoning export labor industry. Labor experts note that the new strikes law could help open the door to greater freedom of association by allowing worker representatives who are not members of the Communist Party-controlled labor union to negotiate labor disputes in some circumstances. The new law on export labor, meanwhile, creates some protections for the growing number of Vietnamese who go overseas to work. The law is a general disappointment to many labor and human rights experts, however. That said, the implementing decrees must still be written for both laws, providing a final chance for the international community to weigh in on these issues before the laws come into effect on July 1, 2007. End Summary. LAW ON STRIKES -------------- ¶2. (SBU) During its recently ended fall session, the National Assembly amended Chapter 14 of Vietnam's labor code, a section of the law covering the legal process for resolving industrial disputes. The law was drafted in the wake of a surge in labor unrest in late 2005 and early 2006 and is meant to clarify the procedures for holding strikes legally. The redraft was deemed necessary because all but a handful of the 1,200 strikes in Vietnam in 1995 have technically been illegal due to their failure to follow a heretofore lengthy and complicated dispute resolution process. ¶3. (SBU) The new Chapter 14 allows worker representatives for the first time to negotiate for workers in disputes at enterprises where no union is present. In the past, the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor (VGCL),the Communist Party-controlled labor union, was the sole organization allowed to represent workers in industrial disputes. While the law does not allow for independent unions, it states that the negotiation of disputes can be led and organized by "relevant entities" when the enterprise in question does not have a union. "Where a union doesn't exist, the workforce can select its own representative to organize and lead the dispute. It is a big step," said Dang Duc Son, Director of the Legal Department at the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA),who assisted in the law's drafting. Son noted that 60-70 percent of the foreign-invested enterprises and private firms in Vietnam are not unionized, "so in these we have created a new mechanism for the organization and leading of strikes." ¶4. (SBU) The International Labor Organization (ILO) lauded the change. "These are small steps in the evolution of the right to association," said Jan Sunoo, Chief Technical Advisor of the ILO's Vietnam Industrial Relations Project. VGCL lobbied aggressively to become the required worker representative in all disputes, but was rebuffed by the increasingly independent National Assembly. It will be necessary to wait until the implementing decrees for the law are written to fully understand the law's effectiveness or impact, Sunoo pointed out. The law will come into effect on July 1, 2007. ¶5. (SBU) A key feature of the amended law is that it shortens the time for resolving disputes by half and divides labor disputes into those over rights and those over interests. Disputes over rights, which MOLISA's Son said are "by law violations of the law," must be routed through a "conciliation council" composed of worker representatives and the enterprise in question, or, if the council cannot resolve the issue, to the Provincial People's Committee Chairman. Workers can appeal the chairman's decision to a court or have the right to go on strike, Son said. ¶6. (SBU) In disputes over interests, meanwhile, workers must take their claims through a process involving a conciliation council and, if no resolution is obtained, a provincial arbitration council before a legal strike can be held. MOLISA's Son stated that the government would begin an information campaign to educate workers about the new code, with the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and the VGCL contributing. The Prime Minister will also chair a forum, to be attended by VCCI and VGCL, to help spread understanding of the new law, he added. EXPORT LABOR LAW HANOI 00003019 002 OF 002 -------------- ¶7. (SBU) The law "On Vietnamese Labor Working Abroad by Contract," also passed in late November and coming into effect on July 1, 2007, seeks to regulate enterprises and protect workers participating in Vietnam's growing export labor industry. Some 400,000 Vietnamese citizens are currently employed outside of the country and the government is seeking to encourage another 80,000 to 90,000 Vietnamese each year between 2006 and 2010 to do the same. Most workers are now employed in Taiwan, Korea and Malaysia, but the GVN is looking further afield, and particularly to the Middle East (Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates) and Western countries (France, Canada and the United States),for further opportunities. ¶8. (SBU) Amid the industry's growth, news reports and human rights groups have cautioned against ramping up the industry without also providing robust worker protections. In particular, human rights groups and news reports have noted increasing numbers of Vietnamese workers who have been charged upwards of $7,000 for the opportunity to work abroad, fees which mean workers can only begin to cover after one or sometimes two years abroad. Reports of bonded labor, sex trafficking and the lack of resources available to workers in distress have also emerged. ¶9. (SBU) The new law provides terms for the provision and revocation of labor export licenses for enterprises, sets out various worker protections and specifies a range of obligations upon workers themselves engaging in the industry. The National Assembly has not yet issued a final copy of the law, but Vu Dinh Toan, Deputy Director General of the Department of Overseas Labor at MOLISA, provided Econoff a verbal outline. Noting that the regulations of the Philippines and Thailand were used as examples, Toan said the law contains provisions requiring overseas labor firms to inspect conditions at workplaces and bear the costs of returning critically ill or deceased workers to Vietnam. ¶10. (SBU) Other provisions continue an already existing fund, supported by export labor firms and the government, to support workers in distress, Toan continued. Labor export firms will be in charge of handling worker disputes abroad and "Labor Administration Boards" (which already exist in Vietnamese embassies in major labor-receiving countries) will handle worker matters that cannot be solved by export labor firms. Firms found violating the law can be fined, have their licenses revoked or, for individuals at firms involved in severe violations, held criminally liable. The implementing decree for the law will create ceilings upon the various fees that workers will pay and set out the required contributions to the worker protection fund, Toan added. ¶11. (SBU) Experts noted the law falls far short of their hopes. Andy Bruce, Chief of Mission at the the International Organization of Migration (IOM),told Econoff privately he felt the language on worker protections was weak and vague, and that export labor firms had probably successfully limited the terms on protection provided in order to make their operations easier and more profitable. Such limits were of interest to the GVN, he said, because its main interest is to increase the size of the industry. ¶12. (SBU) Other experts, commenting on earlier drafts that appear almost identical to the final based on Econoff's discussions with MOLISA, have noted that the law contains no sanctions for corruption in the governmental administration of the programs, no clear procedures for the remediation of disputes, and no clear standards for the screening of firms engaged in brokering labor contracts. The law also does not provide any extra resources or funding for the Vietnamese embassy Labor Administration Boards charged with handling worker cases and contains a range of stiff penalties placed for workers who violate their contracts. ¶13. (SBU) Comment: The next six months will provide an important opportunity for the international community to influence the implementing decrees for the both the export labor and strikes laws. On export labor, Post plans to continue pressing for adequate worker protections. In regard to the strikes law, it will remain important to work to ensure that the government does not walk back the new right given to workers who are not union members to mediate their own disputes. End Comment. MARINE