Maintain union dues at 2% to ensure workers' welfare

Proposal to keep union fees at 2% of salary fund

The draft Trade Union Law was reviewed and commented on by the National Assembly at the 7th Session of the 15th National Assembly. Currently, the draft law has been revised, completed, and submitted to the National Assembly for consideration and approval at the 8th Session.

The draft provides many new contents and proposals, including perfecting the trade union financial mechanism and regulating the level of trade union fee payment in the new context, to ensure transparency, publicity and meet the requirements of international integration.

One of the notable points of the draft is the proposal to maintain the union fee contribution rate of 2% of the total salary fund used as the basis for social insurance contributions for employees.

Maintaining the regulation on the obligation to pay union dues equal to 2% of the salary fund as the basis for social insurance contributions for employees has been implemented since 1957 to ensure stable welfare for employees, contributing to making the union organization perform well its function of representing, caring for and protecting union members and employees.

In particular, Resolution 06-NQ/TW and Resolution 02-NQ/TW have set out requirements in the new situation. Therefore, continuing to ensure the union fund revenue of 2% is extremely necessary.

Mr. Ngo Duy Hieu, Vice President of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor, said that in essence, the 2% revenue source is the employer's contribution to the organization and operation of the union, to ensure that the union fulfills its responsibility of caring for employees, and also to ensure the role of the union in building harmonious, stable and progressive labor relations.

Thus, the union funds are used to benefit both employees and employers, promoting the building of harmonious, stable and progressive labor relations in enterprises.

With the current average salary used as the basis for social insurance contributions for employees being about 5.7 million VND/month, businesses must pay union fees of about 1.4 million VND/employee/year; then, 75% of the union fees paid (about 1 million VND) will be distributed to the grassroots union to take care of union members and employees, used for sick visits, birthday gifts, Tet gifts, cultural and sports activities, etc. Therefore, if reduced, it may be affected by reduced welfare care, affecting the attraction and gathering of employees into the union organization.

According to international practice, independent union finance, not dependent on the State budget, is an important content in basic international labor standards. In the coming time, the tasks of the union will become increasingly heavy, such as: Investing in building social housing for workers and laborers to rent; paying compensation for daily wages to workers participating in strikes; focusing on developing union members, establishing grassroots unions; investing resources to improve the quality of activities... maintaining the 2% union fund contribution is necessary,

Strengthen inspection, examination and supervision of the use of trade union funds.

Based on the Party's policies and guidelines and from the practical summary of the implementation of the 2012 Trade Union Law, the draft law supplements the provisions in Article 30 on exemption, reduction, and suspension of trade union fee payment in cases where the enterprise is dissolved or bankrupt; encounters difficulties due to economic reasons or force majeure; encounters difficulties and has to temporarily suspend production and business leading to the inability to pay trade union fees.

Supplementing regulations on allocating union funds to trade union levels and to employee organizations at enterprises in Clause 3, Article 31. Accordingly, specifying the ratio and plan for distributing union funds to grassroots trade unions and employee organizations at enterprises.

To ensure publicity and transparency, further strengthen the inspection, examination, auditing and supervision of competent authorities in the management and use of trade union assets and finances, the draft law has amended and supplemented Articles 31, 32 and 33. A new article on trade union financial disclosure is added in Article 34.

The draft also completes the provisions of the trade union law, ensuring that the Vietnam Trade Union performs its functions and tasks well in the new context. In particular, amending Article 1 of the Vietnam Trade Union. Adding the right to join the Vietnam Trade Union of the organization of employees at the enterprise.

At the same time, the draft adds some new rights and responsibilities of trade unions to ensure consistency with other laws. Amends regulations on the rights and responsibilities of higher-level trade unions in places where there is no organization representing workers at the grassroots level.

According to the representative of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor, in the context of deep international integration, the draft revised Trade Union Law is considered necessary to meet the requirements of the new situation; in the direction of not only ensuring the rights of Vietnamese workers, but also contributing to helping Vietnamese trade unions develop strongly in the international competitive environment, in the context of organizations representing workers not belonging to the Vietnamese trade union system are also emerging.