(VOV) – In Vietnam, about one-third of the employed people depend on wages for their livelihoods, compared to the global average of over 50 per cent.
Vietnam’s wage setting policies and institutions need to continue to adapt to meet the demands of its changing labour market and ensure that deeper integration into the regional and global economy benefits workers, enterprises and the Vietnamese economy broadly.
This was a key message at the national conference on “Vietnam wage policy in the context of a market economy and economic integration” organized in Hanoi on 25-26 November.
Co-hosted by the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA) and the International Labour Organization (ILO), the event emphasized the necessity of a good balance between promoting enterprise development and providing workers with a fair share of enterprise productivity gains.
“Vietnam has been conducting a strong reform to improve its mechanisms and policies, including those that cover wage issues, to meet the demands of the market economy and deeper integration into the regional and global economy”, said Minister of MoLISA Pham Thi Hai Chuyen.
In Vietnam, about one-third of the employed people depend on wages for their livelihoods, compared to the world’s average of over 50 per cent. However, Vietnam is expected to narrow this gap as the share of wage earners in total employment is projected to grow rapidly in the coming decades. In 2013, wage workers represented 34.8 per cent of total employment, up from only 16.8 per cent in 1996.
“Wage employment is growing rapidly in developing Asian countries, including Vietnam. So the level and purchasing power of wages have strong implications for living standards”, said ILO Deputy Director-General Sandra Polaski.
“Whether wages are sufficient to meet workers’ basic needs will decide not only if people can feed their family, but also if they can build a better future for themselves and their children”, she added.
With the establishment of the National Wage Council in 2013, Vietnam significantly strengthened its minimum wage setting mechanism. The council gives trade unions’ representatives and employers’ representatives a direct stake in minimum wage negotiations and recommendations.
While Vietnam has made an important step in minimum wage setting, collective wage bargaining remains rare in the country.
“Collective wage bargaining has not been realized in Vietnam. It is often ignored because of employment pressures,” said Vice Minister of MoLISA Pham Minh Huan.
According to Vice Minister Huan, Vietnam will consider ratifying ILO Convention 95 on Protection of Wages and Convention 131 on Minimum Wage Fixing.
Đăng ký: VietNam News
