JavaScript is off. Please enable to view full site.

Jobless without unemployment benefits petition Premier for help

Jobless without unemployment benefits petition Premier for help

Wednesday, September 18, 2013, 12:45 GMT+7

Thirty-one former employees of a bridge management company have sent a common letter to Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, asking for help as they were made redundant seven months ago without unemployment allowances.  They once worked for the Can Tho Bridge Management and Exploitation Company, a State-owned enterprise which asked them to resign on February 2013.

“Jobless laborers like us cannot understand what problems have hindered the payment of unemployment benefits to us. We have worked in State agencies for a long time, but we have been left uncared for and unnoticed. We need support soon to help our families overcome difficulties,” their petition said.   Pham Van Nga, one of the unemployed, said their superiors had encouraged them to resign in order to receive unemployment benefits. The superiors promised that the benefit would be a monthly payment for each year they worked for the company, which would be paid by the Road Maintenance Fund in accordance with the Labor Code, Nga said. Therefore, as shown in their letter, those who lost their job agreed to lodge applications for resignation, but after that, the promises failed to appear, since the benefits have not been paid out. The company has expected to use a source of business management expenditures for three years, 2012-2015, to make unemployment benefit payments totaling over VND2.2 billion (US$103,700),  but the company is facing a lack of budget for their operating expenses, so how is it capable of paying us?” Nga said. Nga said he and the other unemployed workers have not been paid anything for the past seven months, and they cannot wait any longer. Of these people, many are approaching retirement age, thus it is hard for them to find another job. Nguyen Phuc Dai, who is also unemployed, said he had worked for the company for more than 20 years, and he has been made redundant due to changes to the operating structure and technology. Under prevailing regulations, he is eligible for unemployment benefits. However, Dai has received no payments from the company since February, he said. Dai, a father of two small children, said his family has had to live on the modest income of his wife, a supermarket employee.Solutions Nguyen Di Thai, chairman of the company’s Board of Members, said the company’s business efficiency has not been high as expected, with profits earned last year reaching only VND111 million ($5,200). He admitted that the company has not been able to pay unemployment benefits to those who have been made redundant. Within the next three years, the company will be not able to use budget for business management expenditures to pay benefits. However, Thai said the ministries of Transport and Finance have agreed to let the company use the Road Maintenance Fund to pay employees who had worked at toll collection stations. As for those who worked in other units, business management expenditures will be used to pay benefits for them. Thai, however, has yet to announce when this solution will be implemented. Nguyen Xuan Cuong, deputy head of the Vietnam Road General Department, said when the Road Maintenance Fund was put into operation (on January 1), 20 toll collection stations on highways in many localities were shut down, leaving 982 employees redundant. Of these, only 144 have been given new jobs, while the others are jobless, Cuong said. The total budget needed to pay unemployment benefits to the employees at these 20 stations is more than VND40.8 billion ($1.92 million), Cuong said. Nguyen Hong Truong, Deputy Minister of Transport, said the Road Maintenance Fund has temporarily granted VND20 billion to pay those who worked at these stations based on their actual working time. The remaining VND20.8 billion is for those who worked at other units and will be considered and settled later through coordination between the Ministries of Transport and Finance and the Road Maintenance Fund, Truong said.     

Tuoitrenews

More

Read more

;

VIDEOS

‘Taste of Australia’ gala dinner held in Ho Chi Minh City after 2-year hiatus

Taste of Australia Gala Reception has returned to the Park Hyatt Hotel in Ho Chi Minh City's District 1 after a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Latest news