Yesterday morning of September 26, Binh Duong provincial Party Committee held a meeting and dialogue among provincial leaders, enterprises and trade union officials. Attending the meeting was Mr. Nguyen Hoang Thao, Standing Deputy Secretary of the provincial Party Committee, Deputy Head of the provincial Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control, Mr. Nguyen Van Loc, Standing Member, Head of the provincial Party Committee's Mass Mobilization, Chairman of the provincial Vietnamese Fatherland Front Committee, Ms. Nguyen Kim Loan, Chairwoman of the provincial Trade Union, and 25 enterprises and 25 grassroots trade unions.
Production alongside with epidemic prevention
The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic has caused many difficulties in production and business activities of enterprises. However, with the spirit of overcoming difficulties and turning challenges into opportunities, the business community in the province has maintained production and business operations, not letting the production chain break to ensure jobs and income for workers. Most businesses have quickly changed direction to implement many solutions to maintain production and business activities such as promoting e-commerce activities, transforming key products and services, actively seeking new markets for input materials as well as markets for output products.
Ms. Nguyen Kim Loan, Chairwoman of the provincial Trade Union offer “3 on site” support to workers at enterprises
However, as the prolonged epidemic has caused a lot of difficulties for businesses when faced with the risk of disruption of value and supplying chains, inability to transport goods, lack of labor, and capacity-reduced factories. Besides, the difficulty of high production costs, mainly due to the high price of some input materials, has incurred a lot of costs for disease prevention and control. Some businesses do not generate revenue while still having to pay fixed costs.
Mr. Nguyen Minh Hai, General Director of Sonova Vietnam Co., Ltd (Vietnam - Singapore Industrial Park I), said that the company is currently applying the production model of "1 route, 2 destinations" with more than 800 employees who have been working for more than 2 months now. Hai proposed to the provincial leaders: "With the policy of gradually opening up activities in the "new normal state", the province should have specific directions and instructions on the implementation of epidemic prevention and control measures in case of emergency that the company may have Covid-19 infection at the factory to narrow it down and only block the area of the factory with the infected case to quell the epidemic but the whole company so that production activities are not interrupted or shut down." A representative of Ampacs International Co. Ltd. From Bau Bang Industrial Park, said that the company is also maintaining "3 on site" production activities, which is very expensive to organize rapid tests for workers periodically during the week. Therefore, the representative of this business proposed: "The province should considers allowing businesses to self-test for Covid-19 on employees to reduce costs for businesses.”
Representatives of some enterprises also raised some difficulties and proposed recommendations: due to the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic, enterprises have faced difficulties in production and business activities for many months, thereby, affecting their revenues. The province considers and proposes to have policies to support businesses in tax exemption and reduction, housing rent etc. and has more policies to support female workers raising small children who are facing difficulties due to the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic.
VND 150 billion paid to assist “3 on site” production
Standing Deputy Chairman of the provincial Trade Union, said the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic and unpredictable developments had greatly affected the jobs and lives of trade union members and workers in the province. Currently, the province has about 150,000 employees who have to reduce their social insurance contributions due to termination of labor contracts, suspension of labor contracts, unpaid leave and 790,000 employees had to stop working. Workers' lives face many difficulties because of income reduction and lack of food. Understanding these difficulties, the province has actively implemented urgent solutions to remove difficulties for production and business to ensure social security; support and guide businesses to implement policies according to Resolution 68 of the government. In particular, the province has developed a number of specific supporting policies of the province such as support for accommodation (VND 300,000/person) and food for resident workers (VND 500,000/person); focus on implementing solutions to maintain and restore production and business through business supporting policies according to the government's Resolution 105 on supporting businesses, cooperatives and business households in the context of the Covid-19 epidemic.
As for the supporting policies of the provincial Trade Union, since the 4th outbreak of the Covid-19 epidemic, with the spirit of standing side by side sharing difficulties with trade union members and workers, Binh Duong Trade Union has accumulated to working together with all levels and sectors to share difficulties with businesses and focus on taking care, supporting and protecting union members and employees with 253,386 beneficiaries at a total budget of VND 252 billion. In which, the provincial Trade Union has used the accumulated trade union finance to support union members and employees by making joint contributions to the province's supporting package with a budget of VND 65 billion; exempt from paying union fees for low-wage members; delay payment of funds for businesses facing difficulties; spend to support union members, workers and frontline workers against the epidemic, totaling at more than VND 1.5 billion with over 1 million turns of benefiting union members and employees.
In addition, many policies have been issued by trade unions such as emergency supports for union members and workers in quarantine, blockade, F1, F0, deaths at maximum from VND 500,000 to 3 million dong; supporting nutritional supplements, improving the quality of meals for medical staff and doctors working in hospitals at the rate of VND 1 million a person. Up to now, trade unions in the province have spent VND 42 billion VND. In particular, in order to share difficulties with businesses when implementing "3 on the spot" solution, the provincial Trade Union has provided meals for employees participating in "3 on the spot" with the amount of VND 1 million a person. Up to now, Binh Duong Trade Union has supported 1,637 “3 on the spot” enterprises with a total amount of nearly VND 150 billion. In addition, the trade unions at all levels have promptly visited, encouraged and shared difficulties with the families of workers who are quarantined or undergoing treatment and whose relatives have died from Covid-19; visited and supported learning materials for children of disadvantaged workers.
After listening to suggestions and recommendations of enterprises and trade union officials, the provincial leaders have recorded, answered and explained in detail each question. Regarding the opinions of businesses and trade union officials at the meeting on policy support for pregnant female workers in difficult circumstances affected by the Covid-19 epidemic, Ms. Nguyen Kim Loan, Chairwoman Binh Duong provincial Trade Union, said the provincial Trade Union has submitted a petition to the Vietnamese General Trade Union to soon issue more policies to support pregnant female workers affected by the Covid-19 epidemic. At the same time, the provincial Trade Union has also applied for an additional support package of VND 40 billion to continue to provide necessities to union members and workers in difficulties. In the coming time, the Communist Party officials will continue to grasp the situation of enterprises and employees to make recommendations as well as propose timely solutions.
Mr. Nguyen Hoang Thao, Standing Deputy Secretary of the provincial Party Committee, Deputy Head of the provincial Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control, said that through this meeting, the provincial leaders wanted to listen to their thoughts, aspirations and suggestions, proposals and recommendations of the business community and employees' thoughts through reflections of the trade union organization to substantially, objectively and comprehensively assess the difficulties and challenges of enterprises and employees. Then, the province continues to have specific, practical and effective solutions in the current and long-term urgent situation. At the meeting, Mr. Nguyen Hoang Thao also expressed his wish that businesses and employees continue to uphold the spirit of Covid-19 prevention and control in the coming time.
Reported by Do Trong – Translated by Vi Bao
