Illustrative photo (Source: VNA)Thua Thien – Hue (VNA) - Trade unions should workto ensure workers’ rights and interests amid challenges arising from theimplementation of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-PacificPartnership (CPTPP), a trade union official stated on August 3.
Vice President of the Vietnam General Confederation ofLabour (VGCL) Tran Thanh Hai made his statement at a seminar on CPTPPopportunities and challenges facing workers’ jobs and rights, held by the ThuaThien – Hue Labour Confederation in the central province.
The seminar received 26 papers by experts, lecturers, andtrade union officials. Their contents revolved around a number of issues,including advantages – disadvantages in ensuring workers’ rights when the CPTPPtakes effect, as well as suggestions to the revision of the 2012 Labour Code andthe Law on Trade Union in order to facilitate and promote the role of tradeunions.
Le Dinh Quang, deputy head of the VGCL’s Labour RelationsDepartment, said when the deal comes into effect, it will be more likely forworkers to lose their jobs, as companies with weak performance will face highrisks of bankruptcy.
Labour relations will also become more complicated due tothe formation of more organisations following different purposes, Quang noted.
Speaking from the current operation of the Thua Thien – HueLabour Confederation, Nguyen Quoc Dat, member of the confederation’s standingboard, said for membership development, trade unions should overhaul theirestablishment method, particularly the election process.
The scope of their eligibilities for membership should alsobe expanded to cover part-time workers, domestic workers, and foreign workersin Vietnam, he added.
The original Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) was signed by12 countries in February 2016, but US President Donald Trump pulled his countryfrom 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 inChile.
The CPTPP will create one of the world’s largest free tradeblocs with a combined market of 499 million people and GDP of around 10.1trillion USD, accounting for 13.5 percent of the global GDP.
Mexico, Japan and Singapore have ratified thepact.-VNA
VNA
