Protect the legitimate rights and interests of workers

Not only has it comprehensively innovated both in content and form to meet the trend of multimedia journalism, modern journalism, and to carry out the task of information and propaganda for trade union organizations, in recent years, the Labor and Trade Union Magazine has also had many quality news and articles on caring for the lives and protecting the legitimate rights and interests of union members and workers.

In August 2023, many vocational secondary school students in some central localities, although still in grade 10, were sent by their schools to do internships. However, they were sent to factories to work as seasonal workers, constantly having to work overtime.

Realizing that this was a topic that would be of interest to many workers, a group of reporters from the Labor and Trade Union Magazine got involved, recording the reality of violations of child labor and underage labor. After completing and publishing the series of reports, the group received the attention of readers, and authorities from the central to local levels got involved and corrected this situation.

Journalist Do Minh Khoi (representative of the group of authors) said that after this series of reports, we realized that there is a more serious problem: many localities with large industrial zones are violating the law on labor supply. Labor suppliers take advantage of lax management of labor recruitment in companies, sending child laborers to work in industrial zones to make a profit.

In fact, the current Labor Law and Employment Law both clearly state the management of people under the working age. Workers under 18 years old are not allowed to work in industrial zones, places that require skills and must be fully trained.

Wishing to go deeper into this topic, journalist Do Minh Khoi and his colleagues developed a plan and outline to ask for some opinions from the Editorial Board and were unanimously approved by the Editorial Board to implement. The group visited the provinces of Thai Nguyen, Bac Ninh, Ha Nam... where there are many industrial parks and factories, these are also the provinces that are bright spots in foreign direct investment (FPI).

However, planning is easy, but when it comes to implementation, it becomes difficult. The group had to travel to many provinces, to industrial parks with very large areas, the question was how to choose the most suitable industrial park and factory? The group also spent time visiting labor brokerage centers, labor supply companies to learn about how they operate.

Journalist Do Minh Khoi said, “The most important thing in the investigation is to effectively role-play. We have played the role of partners who specialize in finding workers for businesses. We are ready to provide labor brokerage centers in different provinces and cities so that they can have cheap labor. There are many young workers, under 18 years old, these companies trust and share a lot of information, they also really want this labor source, because for each worker recruited, the profit will be calculated according to the hours of the workers.”

Labor market transparency

Going into the labor market, the group found that child and juvenile laborers were forced to work overtime and at night, affecting their health and physical development. What is condemnable is that the businesses that lease labor have signs of profiteering, forced labor, and illegal profits... all of which have been pointed out in the series of reports.

“When we talked, we were very moved because the children were always sleep deprived, their faces were not alert, and their faces were still very young. They had spent weeks working overtime, working not only 8 hours a day but more. Their meals consisted of instant noodles, or more luxuriously, rice with a little food brought from the countryside. They often drank coffee and energy drinks to stay awake while working,” journalist Do Minh Khoi recalled.

In the article, the group of authors clearly identified the profit sharing scheme based on working hours, the dangers and risks that children may encounter if working in this environment. The series also analyzed in depth the violations when using labor without protective gear, environmental safety, and without access to health insurance, social insurance, etc.

The series of reports also pointed out loopholes in the recruitment of seasonal workers at FDI enterprises, especially when meeting large orders. Taking advantage of this, many labor leasing enterprises have forged documents and falsified age to bring in large numbers of child and underage workers to work in factories.

After the series of articles were published, the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs of several provinces issued decisions to conduct surprise inspections of 7 enterprises and conduct inspections and verifications of related records and documents; and directly verify 17 enterprises that re-hired workers. The results of the surprise inspections showed that all enterprises and units violated legal regulations related to child and underage labor.

Not only Bac Ninh province, after a series of investigative reports by Labor and Trade Union Magazine, many localities across the country - where industrial and export processing zones are concentrated - have directed competent authorities to step up propaganda and dissemination of legal regulations on labor and labor leasing.

State management agencies have increased inspections and specialized examinations of enterprises operating in labor leasing and labor re-hiring. Many provinces strictly manage enterprises that have been granted licenses to operate labor leasing, ensuring compliance with labor law and labor re-hiring, ensuring the legal rights and legitimate interests of leased workers.

Journalist Do Minh Khoi said: “When implementing any topic, we always want to bring the voice of the trade union to care for and protect the legitimate rights of workers, all news and articles of the magazine are aimed at that goal. That is why every time a series of articles is published, it receives support from the public and authorities. Through the series of investigative reports "Exploitation of child labor", we have only one wish: to make the labor market transparent, so that the labor market can operate transparently, thereby attracting investment will be better, all towards sustainable development".

The investigative report series "Exploitation of child labor" by Labor and Trade Union Magazine won the C prize of the 18th National Press Award - 2023 in the investigative report category (electronic newspaper).

This is the first time that Labor and Trade Union Magazine has been honored with the most prestigious press award - the National Press Award.

Along with Communist Magazine, Labor and Trade Union Magazine is one of two magazines that won the 18th award in the country's largest press award.