Vietnam and Labor Unions

Vietnam, being the equivalent of a social democracy, places prime importance on “workers rights” (officially anyway). That’s why the government allows the existence of party-approved trade unions who can only legally be represented by one party approved national organization. This organization, the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor (V.G.C.L.), is not truly representative of the proletariat. It is more representative of the capitalist “Communist” Party and its running dogs.

First off, let’s address what it means that Vietnam has an organization of trade unions. These trade unions, of which there are several, negotiate with Vietnamese capitalists over working conditions and wages. Their main reason for existence is to deal with problems which are characteristic of capitalism. This is not a fabrication we have made up. They openly admit this in a video by the International Labor Organization (an arm of the United Nations). They say:

“In Vietnam’s fast growing economy wages and working conditions in general have been changing for the better. However, many workers are struggling to achieve decent work. As a result of low wages they have to work more hours to be able to support their families. Discrimination in the workplace and unfair dismissals are also among the challenges they face every day. The workers need to be protected and an important way is through stronger and active roles of trade unions.”

1 (Our emphasis)

In short, they are bodies which address capitalist problems.

But does the V.G.C.L. at least do the bare minimum of protecting “workers rights” under capitalism? Unfortunately they do not. Strikes are an important weapon in the arsenal of any self respecting union. But, of the 6,000+ strikes which have happened in Vietnam since 1994 none of them were organized or led by unions in the V.G.C.L.. Now this may seem surprising, but it starts to come together when one realizes what it takes for a union to organize a strike.

Firstly, employers and trade unions bureaucrats have to be notified, by the union that wishes to strike, that they are striking. They have to be briefed on why the strike is happening, it’s demands, and who is participating in it. They must specify where and when it is happening as well. To put it bluntly: a union can only instigate a strike once it has completely washed away all that makes a strike powerful. No wonder the Vietnamese proletariat prefer the wildcat strike, which carries with it no paperwork.2

This does not mean that the Vietnamese proletariat has lost all hope in the union form, unfortunately. In 2006, some Vietnamese workers tried to create unions independent from the V.G.C.L. and the ruling “Communist” Party. These unions were declared illegal, however, and their leaders arrested. Their unions were later shut down.3

What is the real solution to the problem of the V.G.C.L. then? Simple: it’s complete abandonment. It is a body subservient to the C.P.V., and only the creation of independent revolutionary worker organizations will allow the proletariat to break the chains that bind them. Factory committees and workers councils must sprout up like flowers and form the basis for a revolutionary dictatorship of the proletariat, which will be a thousand times more communist than the ruling Party. The proletariat can waste no time creating a genuine revolution in Vietnam, one completely different from Ho Chi Minh’s war of national liberation, one truly international in scope and Marxist in character.