On the morning of December 2, the 13th Congress of Vietnam Trade Union, term 2023 - 2028, officially opened at the National Convention Center (Hanoi).

Attending the congress were: General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong; President Vo Van Thuong; National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue; Permanent member of the Secretariat, Head of the Central Organization Commission Truong Thi Mai, along with many leaders of the Party, State and former leaders of the Party, State and the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front.

Speaking at the congress, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong affirmed that the congress is an important event in the political life of the working class, laborers and the Vietnam Trade Union.

On behalf of the Party and State leaders, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong sent to all Party members, civil servants, and workers nationwide his warmest greetings, sincere regards, and best wishes, wishing the congress great success.

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General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong speaks at the Vietnam Trade Union Congress. (Photo: Duc Vu)

The General Secretary said that the Vietnam Trade Union is a political and social organization of the working class and laborers led by the Communist Party of Vietnam, established on a voluntary basis, representing laborers, caring for and protecting the legitimate rights and interests of laborers.

After more than 94 years of construction, operation, growth and development, we have the right to be proud and affirm that, under the leadership of the Party, the Vietnam Trade Union has continuously grown, is absolutely loyal to the Party and the working class, has made worthy contributions to the great victory of the revolution, and contributed to building an increasingly strong working class.

In the period when the country is promoting industrialization, modernization and comprehensive international integration, the role and position of the Trade Union organization are affirmed and promoted more strongly than ever.

During the 2018-2023 term, the activities of the Trade Union organization and union members and workers took place in a context with many special features. In the first years of the term, the Trade Unions at all levels implemented the Resolution of the 12th Congress of the Trade Union with many advantages. In particular, the macro economy was stable, inflation was controlled, and the growth rate was quite good.

However, since the beginning of 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic has broken out, along with the impact of the 4th industrial revolution, strategic competition between major countries, armed conflicts in many places, the decline in global trade and inflation, and has directly affected the jobs, incomes, and lives of union members, workers, and union activities.

At the end of the term, widespread unemployment occurred, and the number of workers leaving businesses to return to their hometowns or move to the informal sector increased rapidly.

In that context, our Party and State have had many correct and drastic policies and solutions to maintain jobs, ensure income, and reduce difficulties for workers.

The General Secretary emphasized that thoroughly grasping the Resolutions of the Party Congress and implementing the Resolution of the 12th Congress of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor, all levels of the General Confederation of Labor across the country have overcome all difficulties, innovated creatively, comprehensively implemented key areas of work, and basically completed the main set goals.

Immediately after the 12th Congress of the Vietnam Trade Union, the Presidium of the General Confederation of Labor organized propaganda, study, dissemination, and development of programs to implement the Resolution, focusing on implementing 3 breakthroughs and key tasks, creating new changes in trade union activities.

Trade union activities have been strongly oriented towards the grassroots, expanding and investing more in the non-state enterprise sector, focusing on activities to care for, represent and protect the rights of union members and workers.

By constantly innovating the content and methods of operation at all levels, the Trade Union continues to affirm its position and solid role in the hearts of union members and workers, especially during the period of fighting the Covid-19 pandemic.

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General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and Party and State leaders attend the Trade Union Congress.

The organizational model of the Trade Union is increasingly perfected, the quality of the trade union cadres is gradually improved, in all fields there have appeared many typical advanced examples, workers and civil servants are pioneers and successful in labor, production, business, affirming the role of the Trade Union in the political system, adding to the glorious tradition of the Trade Union.

Those achievements are not only the result of the efforts of a few people but also of all cadres, workers, and trade unions, and are proof of the great role and position of the working class and trade unions in the cause of national construction and development.

On behalf of the Party and State leaders, the General Secretary warmly welcomed, congratulated, commended and highly appreciated the efforts, achievements and progress of the workers' movement and trade union activities nationwide in the past term.

Vietnam Trade Union identifies 3 breakthroughs

At the congress, Mr. Nguyen Dinh Khang, President of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor, reported on the implementation results of the 12th Congress Resolution of the Trade Union.

Mr. Khang said that in the past term, in the context of many unfavorable factors, the Trade Unions at all levels, especially the General Confederation of Labor, proactively proposed many recommendations and contributed ideas to build laws to better care for and protect the rights of workers, with recommendations contributing to increasing the regional minimum wage by 25.34% compared to the beginning of the term.

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President of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor Nguyen Dinh Khang (Photo: Nguyen Hai)

The Union's foreign affairs and international cooperation activities have been expanded, flexible, and adapted in accordance with the Party and State's foreign affairs guidelines and policies. It has proactively participated and made positive contributions to international forums and international trade union activities under multilateral and bilateral mechanisms, contributing to deepening traditional friendly and cooperative relations with partners.

Regarding the goals for the next 5 years, Mr. Khang said that the General Confederation of Labor has identified 3 breakthroughs: Promoting dialogue and collective bargaining, focusing on wages, bonuses, working hours, rest hours, and occupational safety and hygiene; Focusing on developing union members and establishing grassroots unions in non-state enterprises; Building a team of grassroots union chairmen to meet the requirements of the task, especially union chairmen in non-state enterprises.

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The 13th Congress of Vietnam Trade Union had 1,100 delegates attending.

The Trade Union will accelerate investment in building trade union institutions in industrial parks and export processing zones; participate in supervising the implementation of the Project "Investing in building at least 1 million social housing apartments for low-income people and industrial park workers in the period 2021 - 2030".

At the same time, it is recommended to reduce official weekly working hours for workers; fundamentally resolve the problem of long-standing social insurance arrears of hundreds of thousands of workers.

Improve the operational efficiency of microfinance organizations, programs and projects, help union members and workers have the opportunity to create more jobs, increase income, contribute to limiting and preventing "black credit" among workers and laborers.