HCM City (VNA)– Collective bargaining agreements are a legal basis and important tool thathelp ease arising conflicts between employers and employees as well as protectthe legitimate rights and interests of labourers.

The remark was made by Le Xuan Thanh, deputy head of the industrial relationsand wage department under the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs(MOLISA), at a conference reviewing the progress of collective bargaining dealsin Ho Chi Minh City on November 21.

“Negotiating and signing collective bargaining agreements in enterprises are urgentto maintain “harmonious and stable” labour relations,” he said.

Vietnam is in the early stage of industrialisation, with the level ofcompetitiveness and capacity varying a great deal between different businesses,collective bargaining agreements hold critical importance towards a balancebetween the rights and benefits of employers and employees, he added.

Recent surveys by the MOLISA showed that despite being newly adopted practicein Vietnam, businesses that have negotiated a collective agreement and followthrough with promises of better benefits and working conditions tend to inducegood discipline amongst workers and reduce risks of wildcat strikes and costlylabour disputes.

However, some pointed to the still widespread issue of businesses ignoringcollective agreement, or their failure to listen to grievances from workersduring negotiations. Many essential issues in labour relations such as wages,bonuses, factors in determining pay raises and working conditions have not beengiven sufficient attention, the conference heard.

To tackle these problems, Nguyen Hong Ha, deputy head of the labour and wageoffice at the HCM City’s labour department said it’s important to raise “legalawareness” amongst workers, and to more effectively communicate to enterprisesthe meaning of collective bargaining agreements and labour code violations.

Her counterpart in Hanoi, Nguyen Thi Oanh, agreed, saying that “equipping unionofficials with legal knowledge and better skills in negotiation and inresolving labour disputes” is a necessity.

Trade unions must keep in touch with workers, to reflect the employees’expectations and demands towards employers in the collective bargainingprocess, Oanh said.

While Vietnam has not ratified the International Labour Organisation (ILO)Convention No 98 on the right to organise and collective bargaining, thecountry has made commitments to fulfill the obligations through new-generationtrade pacts, including the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement forTrans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) that the National Assembly adopted earlierthis month and the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) which is slated tobe approved by the European Parliament in early 2019.

Currently, the country has more than 505,000 active businesses, employing 15million people.

By 2018, 27,000 businesses had signed collective bargaining agreements,accounting for 21 percent of the number of firms with 10 employees or above,and 67 percent of businesses that have a union.

All public sector enterprises have signed collective bargaining agreements,while the figure in private sector and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) was 66percent.-VNA