VietNamNet Bridge - Around 300 workers of two seafood processing companies in the Tra Noc Industrial Zone in the Mekong Delta City of Can Tho refused to work, asking for Tet bonuses and seniority allowances.

Nearly 100 workers of the Phuong Dong Seafood Processing Company refused to work yesterday. Photo: Dantri

In the afternoon of January 21, 90 workers of the Phuong Dong Seafood Processing Co., based in Tra Noc Industrial Zone, did not work but grouped up in front of the factory to claim seniority allowances.

The same day, more than 200 workers of the Thien Ma Seafood Processing Co., also in Tra Noc Industrial Zone refused to work and asked for Tet bonuses.

Workers of Phuong Dong Co. said that in early 2013, their bosses promised to grant seniority awards at the year’s end. However, a few days ago, the company announced to grant only Tet bonuses.

Workers said that most of them have been working for this firm for nearly ten years but they were not paid the seniority allowances. When they asked their employers about it, managers told them that if they did not accept the fact, they could quit their job to find a better one.

The answers of the company managers upset the workers and nearly 100 workers went on strike.

Mr. Tran Nhat Phuong, Business Manager of Phuong Dong Company, said that the firm faced a lot of difficulties in 2013 but it tried to pay the Tet bonus worth 1.4 times of monthly salary to the workers. For the seniority allowances, the company only promised to pay it if the firm does business at profit.

The same day, the trade unions of Tra Noc Industrial Zone and Phuong Dong Company had a dialogue with the workers. Meanwhile, Thien Ma Company also eased its workers by releasing an announcement on Tet bonuses and seniority allowances.

Thousands of workers won’t have Tet bonus

In the current big economic difficulties, businesses would have to fasten their belt and reserve limited budgets for Tet bonus for workers, according to the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA).

A lot of businesses said they would offer the Tet bonuses equal to workers’ one-month salary.

Pham Van Thanh, a senior official of MOLISA, who has checked the Tet bonus reports submitted by the enterprises in Hanoi, noted that there is a big difference in the Tet bonus budgets of the enterprises.

The highest monthly salary offered by domestic enterprises to managers is VND37 million, while the lowest level is VND10 million.

The workers at foreign invested enterprises receive better pay than domestic ones. Managers can earn up to VND80 million a month, while workers VND6-7 million.

According to Thanh, a lot of workers would not get salaries or Tet bonuses as their enterprises have been dissolved or stopped operation. In Hanoi alone, 12,000 businesses out of the 140,000 businesses in the city have stopped operation so far this year, which means that thousands of workers may not receive salaries and Tet bonuses.

According to the Vietnam Labor Union, from January 1, 2014, the regional minimum wage would increase by 15 percent. Therefore, foreign invested enterprises are considering adjusting the salaries and Tet bonuses for their workers.

Most of the foreign invested enterprises in HCM City and Binh Duong province have planned to award one-month salary to workers, about VND3-5 million to each. Besides, the workers in some companies also receive rice, vegetable oil and sugar, worth VND200,000-500,000.

Mai Duc Chinh, Deputy Chair of the Vietnam Labor Union, has denied the fact that the minimum wage increase, to be valid from January 1, 2014, would affect the enterprises’ pay fund, saying that in reality, a lot of enterprises pay higher than the minimum levels.

Na Son