[olympiaworkers] Vietnam: 7,000 workers go on strike

Wednesday, March 07 2007

Vietnam: 7,000 workers go on strike

HANOI, Vietnam: Nearly 7,000 workers at a Japanese-owned engine
manufacturing plant in southern Vietnam have gone on strike, demanding
better pay and work conditions, a trade union official said on Tuesday.

Mabuchi Motor company in Dong Nai province normally gives its employees an
8 per cent annual raise, but the employees want a bigger increase, said
Nguyen Van Thang, Vice Chairman of Dong Nai Trade Union for industrial
zones. They are also requesting better food at the company cafeteria.

Company officials declined to comment on Tuesday. The workers' average
monthly salary is currently US$62 (euro47), higher than the US$52
(euro39.50) minimum wage required by the government.

Workers at several Vietnamese companies in southern Vietnam have gone on
strike recently to demand pay increases.

Last week, more than 3,000 workers at Vinh Tuong, a Taiwanese electronics
company, walked off the job, Thang said. Vinh Tuong is also situated in
Dong Nai province, some 30 kilometers (19 miles) east of Vietnam's
southern business hub, Ho Chi Minh City.

In early February, 4,500 workers went on strike at a South Korean-owned
garment factory in nearby Binh Duong province. Last year, an even bigger
wave of strikes hit companies across southern Vietnam, with tens of
thousands workers at foreign-owned factories stopping work.

In response, the government increased the minimum wage at foreign firms by
at least 25 per cent.

http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/show_news.pl?country=Vietnam