That was the sharing about the proposal to add 2 more holidays on the occasion of National Day by Vice President of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor Ngo Duy Hieu at the press conference to inform the results of the 13th Congress of the Vietnam Trade Union after the closing session this morning, December 3.

At the closing session, the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor reported 8 recommendations from workers to the Party and State leaders. One of the recommendations that received attention was to add 2 more days off on National Day.

Explaining this, Mr. Hieu said: "Previously, when giving opinions on the Labor Code, the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs provided information on the number of holidays in the world and Southeast Asian countries. Currently, most of these countries have 15-16 days off and holidays in a year, while Vietnam only has 11 days off. This raises the issue of needing to increase the number of holidays."

According to Mr. Hieu, when the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor went to the field to amend the Labor Code, many of the workers' shares were very simple but very emotional. "There were workers who shed tears when telling us that their wish was to take their children to school on the first day of school. For workers working in shifts or on assembly lines, if it is not a day off, this is just a dream. Understanding the wishes of the workers, we proposed an additional number of days off on September 2, linked to the opening day of school to resolve this wish."

Mr. Hieu cited: "China has a whole week off for National Day, which is also a valuable reference for Vietnam when choosing a day off. When workers' lives are getting better every day, and their incomes are getting higher, raising the issue of adding more days off is necessary."

According to Mr. Hieu, taking children to school for the opening ceremony is a humane gesture, and also a bond between parents and children. "We need to soon increase the number of days off for workers, when the total number of days off is lower than in the region and Vietnam's economy is growing," Mr. Hieu said.

The Vice President of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor also said that in reality, working hard does not always improve income. In the current context, it is necessary to improve workers' skills, apply information technology, better business management... and not put all the productivity and results of work on the shoulders of workers.

"We think that in the earliest revision of the Labor Code, or even without waiting for the revision, we can choose urgent regulations, including reducing official working hours and increasing the number of days off for workers. For workers, spending time with their families is also spending time with their children. That means we are thinking about the future generation of the country, thinking about long-term human resources," Mr. Hieu emphasized.