2,500 Workers Go on Strike in Vietnam

Associated Press 05.14.07, 11:48 AM ET

About 2,500 workers have walked off the job at a South Korean-owned garment factory in southern Vietnam, demanding better pay, government and company officials said Monday.

Workers want the company to increase their monthly salary from 870,000 dong ($55) to 1.1 million dong ($69), said Lee Seong Jin, vice general director of Shin SungVina company in Long An province.

The increase would match raises recently given to 30 workers who received promotions into higher-skilled jobs.

The company is already paying higher salaries than most other foreign employers in the province, said Nguyen Van Thua, an official with the provincial trade union. And it is paying 22 percent more than the minimum wage for workers at foreign-owned firms in Vietnam.

“The workers are asking for too much,” Thua said.

Shin SungVina opened its plant in Long An four years ago and had been planning to expand production, said Lee.

“With the current labor unrest, we will probably abandon that plan,” Lee said.

Long An is some 30 miles southwest of Ho Chi Minh City.

A wave of strikes last year hit companies across southern Vietnam, with tens of thousands of workers at foreign-owned factories stopping work.

In response, the government increased the minimum wage at foreign firms by at least 25 percent.

Yeah ! The cost of living had been increased shortly before & after WTO , APEC . Additionally the price of energy ( gasoline , electricity ) had also been playing a part in driving up living expenses.

The wages for labour at Vietnam is rlatively low compared to the neighbouring countries. If the workers have already get a better pay packet and yet demanding a wage increase I think something is not right! There will be many workers waiting at the gate for the jobs.

Yes, Slaves should not be asking about wages or equality. Unbelievable! This pretty much sums up doi moi to me. It's great for foreigners and Viets with money. For the factory workers, long hours, slave pay, no health benefits. These foreign companies could never get away with this in their own country. But Viets are sub-humans. They are poor so therefore they should be grateful for any "help".

^While I agree that anyone should have the right to demand a raise, you have to take into account that there are many countries around the world who are competing for the same FDI as well. If you demand too much the foreign companies would just locate to another country that is willing to play their game.

It is better to work for little rather than not work at all. Perhaps one day as Vietnam becomes more industrialized and doesn't depend on fdi as much then decent wages will come into effect. But for now, beggers cannot be choosers.

Everyone has a right to get paid higher in lieu of inflation.
Just because they are low skilled labor doesn''t mean they can be treated like slaves.

It depends on how long have they been negotiating their raise and coming to a settlement instead of going full force into a strike.
Strikes are drastic measures for companies/factories since lots of money and production is lost.

There's a bigger picture here.

The workers and the management will come to an agreement: the workers because they don't want to lose their jobs and the management because it doesn't want to lose money. That's all there is to it. Should the government intervene during a strike? Possibly as a mediator and as an arbiter. Otherwise, no.

Were they treated like slave? I believe it was said that they were better paid in comparison.
Strike is not a solution especially where labour is abundant.

The workers get to decide what's best for them. No one needs to interfere with collective bargaining.