Garment workers find it difficult to stay until retirement age.

Take it one day at a time

Ms. Nguyen Thi Nguyet in Tan Huong commune (Ninh Giang) has been a garment worker since she was 20 years old. Up to now, she has been in the profession for nearly 15 years and has participated in social insurance for more than 13 years. Along with age and occupational factors, her health has declined significantly. She often has back pain, stiff neck and shoulders, and pain down her arms. There was a time when she had to take a month off work to get treatment. Talking about her illness, Ms. Nguyet sadly said: “After the examination, the doctor said that I had 3 collapsed cervical vertebrae and compressed nerves. To find out the cause of the disease, the doctor asked me what I did for a living. After knowing that I was a tailor, the doctor said: I can't do tailoring, but if I want to get the best treatment, I have to change jobs.”

Ms. Nguyet added that at the garment company she works for, more than 20% of long-term workers have to wear belts due to spinal problems. With her current health condition, she has decided to work extra days as much as she can, and cannot continue for long.

Similarly, Ms. Bui Thi S., in Tan Viet commune (Thanh Ha) after 13 years of working as a garment worker, also encountered some health problems, typically back pain due to sitting too much. Ms. S. also often coughs due to working in a dusty environment. To ensure her health, Ms. S. considered a lot and decided to quit her job. When she quit, Ms. S. also completed the procedure to withdraw her social insurance at once because she had only paid for 13 years, and still had a long time to meet the conditions to reserve it to receive a pension later. Although regretful, according to Ms. S., this was the best choice for her situation. So Ms. S. left a leading social security policy of the state just because of occupational health reasons.

The Industry and Trade Union is currently the direct superior union unit in Hai Duong, managing the number of union members in the garment and footwear industry, which is among the highest in the province with about 28,000 workers. Mr. Tran Dai Duyet, Chairman of the Industry and Trade Union, said that there are very few workers aged 50 and over who are healthy enough to work in this field, especially those who work directly on sewing machines.

According to the provisions of the 2019 Labor Code, the retirement age of employees in normal working conditions is adjusted according to the roadmap until reaching 62 years old for male employees in 2028 and 60 years old for female employees in 2035. Based on this criterion, many garment workers, especially female workers, will find it difficult to meet. For the garment industry, workers often work in arduous, toxic environments, and have reduced working capacity, so it is difficult to meet job requirements when they are old.

Looking forward to retiring early

Because of the low level of education required, garment workers often start working very early, starting at only 18-20 years old. Therefore, to reach retirement age, their working life is often very long. With special occupational conditions, health is greatly affected as in some of the cases mentioned above, very few garment workers are entitled to pensions because they cannot stay until retirement age. The biggest wish of garment workers is for an "open" policy, especially reducing the retirement age.

Mr. Duyet said that in order to meet the wishes of garment workers, along with reducing the retirement age, the Social Insurance Law should also consider lowering the age for early medical examination for retirement in hazardous occupations, including the garment industry, to 45 years old instead of over 50 years old as at present.

On this issue, there are still conflicting opinions that our country in general, and Hai Duong in particular, is experiencing an aging population. Reducing the retirement age will not be beneficial and will not take advantage of the elderly labor force. However, from the perspective of garment workers with many specific factors, it should be considered.

Mr. Truong Van Lung, Head of the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs of Hai Duong City, analyzed that in many countries around the world, the retirement age of workers is currently the same or higher than in our country. In fact, in most of those countries, people are very independent, from children to the elderly. Therefore, when they are old, the elderly are often lonely and want to go to work to have a communication environment and a stable income for life. In Vietnam, the family model is multi-generational. The elderly often take on the role of taking care of the family, so the desire to retire early is a legitimate need. For the sewing profession, it is also for health reasons. Therefore, when planning retirement age policies, all levels and sectors should consider it to best suit Vietnamese workers.

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By 2024, Hai Duong will have about 400 enterprises operating in garment production (textiles, footwear), employing more than 88,000 workers, of which more than 73,000 are female workers.