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May 30, 2019 / 13:32

What benefits do Vietnamese laborers gain from ILO’s Convention 98?

As Vietnam is pushing forward with international economic integration, industrialization and modernization, joining Convention 98 is necessary and implies political, legal and socio-economic significance.

When Vietnam joins the International Labor Organization (ILO)’s Convention 98, which is in line with the Party and State’s guidelines in international integration on labor, Vietnamese workers can gain much from the convention.
 
Vietnamese laborers are working. Photo: Internet
Vietnamese laborers are working. Photo: Internet
At the session on May 29 during the ongoing National Assembly sitting in Hanoi, Vice President Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh said that the convention was adopted by the ILO in 1949, so far, 165/187 ILO member countries have been joining Convention 98.

As Vietnam is pushing forward with international economic integration, industrialization and modernization, joining Convention 98 is necessary and implies political, legal and socio-economic significance, Thinh noted.

Explaining the pros and cons of joining the convention, Thinh stressed that joining the convention will help Vietnamese workers obtain better salaries and working conditions through collective bargaining.

The participation in and implementation of the convention will create a legal framework for employers and employees to conduct collective bargaining on salary and set other working conditions in industrial relations such as overtime, mid-shift meals, and other benefits, Thinh added.

Presenting the Vietnamese government's explanation, Minister of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs Dao Ngoc Dung stressed that engagement in the ILO convention will affirm Vietnam’s determination and efforts in implementing labor-related commitments in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and its obligations as a member of the ILO. 

Vietnam’s participation in the convention also facilitates the signing of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), Dung said, adding that all ministries and departments agreed on the necessity of joining the convention.

The minister suggested that the admendment of the Labor Code and the adherence to ILO Convention 98 should be conducted in parallel to avoid gaps and legal conflicts when implementing the convention.

Moreover, the National Assembly‘s Foreign Affairs Committee also recommended to devise an early plan to join the two remaining ILO basic conventions: Convention 87 on "rights of association freedom and organization protection" and Convention No.105 on "the abolition of forced or compulsory labor", Dung said.

He added that the lawmakers also called for revising the 2012 Trade Union Law to ensure consistency of the legal system that was once revised and amended in Labor Code 2012.