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Le Xuan Thanh, Deputy Director of the Department of Industrial Relations and Wage at the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, said that as the Labour Code is under revision, new representative organizations will be established. If the Trade Union doesn’t undertake reforms to revitalize itself, it could well lose its right at the negotiation table.   Collective negotiation has been seen as the core foundation which ensures the interests of both employers and employees.

Thanh said: “In the market economy, wages and other interests are based on agreements. Good negotiation practices will help ensure the maintenance of balanced interests. At the moment, the employers are imposing a policy that largely benefits themselves. If the Trade Union recommends a collective labour agreement, it will protect the employees.”

As of October 2017, 27,800 collective labour agreements had been signed in enterprises. As a result, the number of strikes reduced remarkably, from more than 500 in 2012 to 160 in 2017.