The Vietnam General Confederation of Labor (VGCL) and German’s Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Vietnam (FES) signed on Jan 29 an agreement to jointly carry out a project to develop trade unions for local industrial workers.Under the deal, the European Union (EU) will cover 80% of the $415,000 budget for this project.The rest of the funding will come from FES, a German foundation committed to the basic goals and values of social democracy.The project will begin next month and continue for 36 months.Deputy Head of the Cooperation Section of the EU Delegation to Vietnam Bryan Fornary said that through the project, local laborers will get better access to the recent regulations and be able to ensure their legitimate rights.Trade unions in Vietnam are said to have not done their obligation thoroughly to protect the legitimate rights and interests of laborers as they are established to protect the rights of employers only, not workers, experts said.Vietnam now has more than 100,000 local-level trade unions. However, only 35% of them signed collective labor agreements with workers in line with the Labor Law. (Thoi Bao Kinh Te – Economic Times Jan 30 p2)
