Depending on the number of laborers living and working, every year, each locality has a way of mobilizing and giving good care to them, but these deeds are difficult to statistic by specific numbers. In the 2023Tet (Lunar New Year) festival alone, communes and wards supported gifts worth billions of dong for employees. This work has continued being implemented widely in the context of workers' lives still facing many difficulties.
Communes or wards ready to offer help to poor households
Over the past years, a great source of support for employees, but rarely mentioned, was the work of mobilizing and directly supporting employees from communes and wards. Localities with a large number of workers with temporary residence, namely Phu Hoa, Phu Tan, and Hoa Phu wards in Thu Dau Mot city; Tan Binh, An Binh, Tan Dong Hiep in Di An city; My Phuoc, Thoi Hoa, An Tay, An Dien in Ben Cat town; Thuan Giao, An Phu, Binh Hoa, Binh Chuan in Thuan An city...were proactive to take care of employees in many ways. That was to mobilize organizations, individuals to give gifts for employees on Tet and great holidays; provided regular support for households with extremely difficult circumstances; took care of children going to school...
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Leaders of Phu Hoa ward in Thu Dau Mot city give Tet gifts for hundreds of employees in quarter 9 of the ward
Phan Cong Khanh, Secretary of the Party Committee of Phu Hoa Ward in Thu Dau Mot city shared: “Through proprietors, the management boards of quarters and localities know the list of workers with temporary residence, poor households for timely support. This work is done throughout the year, not waiting for Tet or great holidays. The ward is always ready with food and necessities for cases in need. Sources are mobilized from the local business households, enterprises and donors. Taking care of employees is the responsibility and duty of the locality. In addition to food support, depending on the situation, the ward also has long-term support activities such as job application support, connectivity with donors for monthly support”.
Typically, in the last months of 2022, when some enterprises lacked production orders, making employees face many difficulties and it was expected that many workers would stay in Binh Duong for Tet, communes and wards had good preparation in taking care of workers. Localities urgently grasped the number of workers staying in Binh Duong to celebrate Tet, the number of difficult workers and immediately carried out mobilization to support workers. Noticeably, Phu Hoa ward mobilized organizations and individuals to support 3,000 gifts worth more than VND 1.5 billion for employees. In other localities, the number of gifts for needy workers also amounted to VND 1 billion or VND2 billion...
Ton Quang Vinh, Chairman of Binh Chuan ward’s People's Committee in Thuan An city shared: “From the beginning of 2023, when workers came back to work after Tet, the locality has directed the management boards of quarters to cooperate with proprietors to check and see whether there are unemployed workers or not. The locality will directly introduce unemployed workers to businesses that are in need of laborers. For disadvantaged households, the ward will give gifts and necessities for them while proposing relevant units to exempt and reduce tuition fees, donate bicycles to the offspring of workers with difficult circumstances ... ".
Housing rental assistance
Another very effective form of support for employees over the past time was that communes and wards mobilized proprietors to give housing rental assistance for employees during difficult periods, especially the peak period of the Covid-19 in 2021 and the last months of 2022 when employees at some enterprises lost their jobs or stopped working, due to the lack of orders. The amount of exemption and reduction was estimated at tens of billions of dong. Typically, during the peak period of the Covid-10 pandemic in 2021, Phu Hoa ward in Thu Dau Mot city mobilized nearly 800 local proprietors to give housing rental assistance for employees with a total amount of more than VND3 billion. In December 2022 and January 2023, the locality mobilized more than 100 proprietors to give housing rental assistance with more than VND 600 million for workers. Other localities such as An Tay commune, An Dien commune, My Phuoc ward in Ben Cat town also excelled at this task.
Nguyen Thi Kieu, the owner of a 30-room lodging facility in Phu Hoa ward’s quarter 3 shared: “The locality has well realized the task of mobilizing proprietors to exempt and reduce housing rental for laborers. Our family reduced by VND 500,000 per room in December 2022 and January 2023 for lodgers…”. Nguyen Van Quyet (from Binh Phuoc province), an employee who is living at the lodging facility shared: “I am working for a furniture manufacturing company in the locality. After Tet, the company is still facing difficulties, so workers have not been able to work overtime, making their income being very low. Thanks to getting housing rental assistance, my wife and I can reduce the burden of living expenses. We acknowledge the heart of the proprietor as well as local authorities at all levels.”
In the last months of 2022, when seeing workers lose their jobs and stop working in large numbers, An Dien commune pioneered in mobilizing proprietors to give housing rental assistance for laborers, sharing difficulties with them. For the movement spreading soon, the ward’s officials (who have lodging facilities) pioneered in giving housing rental assistance, so other proprietors soon joined hands in this task. Besides, the local proprietors also did a very meaningful thing that was to give Tet gifts to all lodgers. On average, each gift was worth between VND 300,000 and 500,000 VND...
It can be said that with the above-mentioned support forms, communes and wards in the province made efforts in accompanying employees over the past time. The specific deeds of these localities helped employees overcome the most difficult times, creating conditions for them to further stick with their jobs here.
Reported by Quang Tam-Translated by Kim Tin
