Vietnam shaken
by wildcat strikes
Published
on 06/02/06 at 13:07:19 CET by chinaworker.org
During the month to
mid-January, 40,000 workers in Ho Chi Minh City’s export processing zones (EPZs)
and the southern industrial parks (IP) staged wildcat strikes against sweatshop
wages – posing a major dilemma both for Vietnam’s dictatorial regime and the
foreign companies that have grown fat off the super-exploitation of Vietnamese
labour.
Elin Gauffin (CWI Sweden)
Demonstrating the enormous potential power of the working class in Vietnam and
other low-wage economies, the strikes forced Vietnam’s “communist” rulers to
raise the minimum wage by nearly 40 percent, with effect from February, bringing
wage levels up to 45-50 dollars a month. But following this concession, the
goverment is now trying to cheat on the deal by postponing implementation until
April. This has been met by new strikes involving tens of tousands of workers.
At the same time, tempers are rising among workers employed by Vietnamese-owned
companies, who have begun their own industrial action for wage increases. These
workers earn even less than workers employed by foreign companies. This has
shaken the government and Prime Minister Phan Van Khai had to intervene last
week.
Wages cut six years ago
Capitalist globalisation, increased exploitation and the resistance of the
working class has created a political crisis. Workers in Vietnam are among the
most exploited in the world. Official statistics show that Vietnam attracted
almost $8 billion in foreign direct investment last year, much of it from
Taiwanese and Korean companies looking for cheaper labour than in China, where
basic wages are currently $63 a month.
Indicating its ”investor-friendly” credentials, the Vietnamese government
"adjusted" the basic wage downwards in 1999 to between $35 and $45 (depending on
the location) from a level of about $45-$50, this with the explicit purpose of
pleasing capitali! st ”inve stors”. In the country’s IPs and EPZs there are 700
enterprises operating with more then 130,000 workers. They produce the stuffed
animals that are sold by Hallmark, Disney and Starbucks for example. Taiwanese
companies, such as Freetrend, that makes shoes for brands like Nike and Adidas,
account for a big share of these foreign enterprises. The minimum wage in
Vietnam is 13 percent lower then in China. Even after the last hike workers in
the EPZs will earn less than two dollars a day.
Mass unemployment
The current worker unrest It is not only due to wages failing to keep pace with
inflation and the rising cost of living. Poor working conditions, such as
management harassment especially from non-Vietnamese managers is an important
issue.
"We are always on guard at work, the officials yell and swear at us and mistreat
workers" Houng, employed at Freetrend, tells Asia Times (see labourstart.org).
Sonja Grusch from the CWI in Austria, who visited Vietnam, talked about the
process of capitalist restoration there at the CWI’s international conference in
December 2005: “The so-called communist regime operates from a bourgoise
standpoint,” she said, citing figures that 90 percent of households receive
income from private companies. The shift to a capitalist economic system has
been accompanied by high unemployment. One third of the population is unemployed
or under-employed, only ten percent have a full-time job. Sonja also warned of
the effects that the next economic crisis will have. The banks in Vietnam have a
huge exposure to bad lones. In the crisis of 1997-98 multinational companies
left the country, and that will happen again.
Independent unions needed
“There has been a social polarisation. There are illusions in capitalism but
there is also a history of determined resistance,” she explained. “The state
union VGCL is more an agent of the communist party, CPV, than an organisation
representing the rights of the working class. There are attempts to form ind!
ependent organisations – amongst taxi drivers, cooks and others – taking place.
The CWI wholeheartedly supports this developement.”
That has been even clearer during the recent strike wave. The strikes have
unavoidably taken the form of wildcat actions and this has proved effective. It
doesn’t matter that Vietnam’s labour code recognises the right to strike.
Strikes are invariably declared illegal by the authorities, and the dictatioral
one-party system. The VHCL, shaken by the recent movement, has said it must
undertake the organisation of workers in the zones, but this of course is not
with the aim of furthering the struggle on behalf of working class, It is an
attempt to stop the struggle from spreading and aquiring a generalised form
which could threaten the regime itself. Vietnamese workers have however felt
their own strength through collective action, meaning that it will become more
an more difficult for the regime to keep them in check.