6,000 workers strike at foreign-invested shoe company in north-central Vietnam
Wednesday, October 04, 2023, 11:05 GMT+7
As many as 6,000 workers at Taiwanese-invested leather shoe manufacturing company Viet Glory in Nghe An Province, north-central Vietnam have been on strike in demand of higher wages since Monday afternoon.
On Tuesday, the workers gathered in front of the company’s factory in Dien Chau District, Nghe An Province.
Kha Van Tam, chairman of the Nghe An Confederation of Labor, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that the confederation and Dien Chau District authorities were working with workers and leaders of the company to broker an agreement.
On Monday, 6,000 workers at the company stopped working and began voicing demands that the company raise workers’ basic salaries and make changes to what they say is toxic corporate culture within the company’s leadership.
By 1:30 pm on Monday over 5,000 workers had walked off the factory floor.
Some 6,000 workers of Viet Glory Co. Ltd. in Nghe An Province go on strike to demand higher wages.
In response to the striking workers, Viet Glory explained that the regional minimum wage in Dien Chau District is VND3.64 million ($149.4) and the company currently offers a basic salary of VND4.13 million ($169.5), higher than the regional minimum wage, thus in line with the law.
The company also said it was not able to increase worker salaries.
In an odd addition to its statement, the company reminded workers that it allows workers in their seventh month of pregnancy to leave work one hour early.
On Sunday, Viet Glory raised performance incentives for its workers in order to encourage them to return to work. It also said it might consider offering workers 13th month pay and an increase in allowances for working in hazardous conditions.
The company’s board of directors requested that all workers to return to work on Tuesday and reminded them that those who take five days off in a month without approval will be terminated.
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| Workers leave the company on October 2, 2023. Photo: N.Thang / Tuoi Tre |
Viet Glory’s footwear manufacturing and processing factory was established in Dien Chau District in 2019. It is entirely foreign-invested and can produce up to 25 million products per year.
The company currently employs 6,000 workers.
Earlier, workers from the company went on strike after the Lunar New Year holiday in 2021 and 2022 to demand higher wages.
The company later established a labor union in March 2021.
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