Workers’ right must be ensured amid CPTPP implementation: unions

Thua Thien – Hue (VNA) - Trade unions should work to ensure workers’ rights and interests amid challenges arising from the implementation of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), a trade union official stated on August 3.

Vice President of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour (VGCL) Tran Thanh Hai made his statement at a seminar on CPTPP opportunities and challenges facing workers’ jobs and rights, held by the Thua Thien – Hue Labour Confederation in the central province.

The seminar received 26 papers by experts, lecturers, and trade union officials. Their contents revolved around a number of issues, including advantages – disadvantages in ensuring workers’ rights when the CPTPP takes effect, as well as suggestions to the revision of the 2012 Labour Code and the Law on Trade Union in order to facilitate and promote the role of trade unions.

Le Dinh Quang, deputy head of the VGCL’s Labour Relations Department, said when the deal comes into effect, it will be more likely for workers to lose their jobs, as companies with weak performance will face high risks of bankruptcy.

Labour relations will also become more complicated due to the formation of more organisations following different purposes, Quang noted.

Speaking from the current operation of the Thua Thien – Hue Labour Confederation, Nguyen Quoc Dat, member of the confederation’s standing board, said for membership development, trade unions should overhaul their establishment method, particularly the election process.

The scope of their eligibilities for membership should also be expanded to cover part-time workers, domestic workers, and foreign workers in Vietnam, he added.

The original Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) was signed by 12 countries in February 2016, but US President Donald Trump pulled his country from the deal upon his inauguration in January 2017.

The remaining 11 countries – namely Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam – signed the pact and renamed it the CPTPP during their meet-up in March 2018 in Chile.

The CPTPP will create one of the world’s largest free trade blocs with a combined market of 499 million people and GDP of around 10.1 trillion USD, accounting for 13.5 percent of the global GDP.

Mexico, Japan and Singapore have ratified the pact.-VNA