Contributing to the sustainable development of society
Mr. Huynh Van Tuan - Deputy Head of the Standing Committee of the Ho Chi Minh City Labor Federation's Professional Affairs Department - said that the Party's regulations and the State's laws have clearly stipulated the role and function of criticism of the Vietnam Trade Union organization.
In particular, Article 17 of the 2024 Trade Union Law (effective from July 1, 2025) clearly stipulates: "Union members have the right and responsibility to participate in giving opinions and social criticism on draft legal documents, planning, plans, programs, projects, and proposals of State agencies directly related to the rights and interests of union members and workers".
"This clearly demonstrates the role and importance of the social criticism function of the trade union organization" - Mr. Tuan commented.
Mr. Huynh Vinh Lam - Vice Chairman of the District 1 Labor Federation, Ho Chi Minh City - said that the District Labor Federation was invited to participate in social criticism on many issues in the district and city. "The criticism of the trade union organization has contributed practically and helped the issues that were consulted to get closer to real life" - Mr. Lam shared.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Tuyet Thanh - Vice President of the Binh Thanh District Labor Federation, Ho Chi Minh City - said that the comments and social criticisms of union officials related to the rights of employees help make legal regulations easier to apply and easier to implement.
According to Dr. Phan Thi Thanh Huyen - University of Water Resources, promoting the critical role of trade union organizations not only plays an important role in protecting the rights of employees but also contributes to the sustainable development of society.
Lack of resources and human resources for social criticism
Mr. Huynh Vinh Lam informed that many union officials were transferred from other fields and many were quickly transferred to other fields, so sometimes they lacked understanding and in-depth knowledge in the field and were invited to comment. In addition, there is a lack of clear regulations, rules, and processes in social criticism by the Trade Union.
According to Mr. Tran Huu Nghia - Deputy Head of the Department of Democracy - Law - Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Ho Chi Minh City - social criticism helps bring the issues closer to social reality.
Every year, the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Ho Chi Minh City issues a document asking the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee which documents are expected to be issued in the coming year, on that basis, the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Ho Chi Minh City selects documents closely related to the rights of the people to proactively criticize.
In addition to inviting experts and experienced people, when giving comments, the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Ho Chi Minh City also invites those affected by the document expected to be issued to directly contribute opinions. Thanks to that, when issued, documents are easier to put into practice.
However, according to Mr. Nghia, a difficulty in current social criticism is the regulation that each criticism by an expert is only paid a maximum of 1 million VND/excerpt. "With such limited finances, it is difficult to invite good experts to write reviews," said Mr. Nghia.
Mr. Nghia also recommended that trade union organizations need to build a team of experts in social criticism, not only relying on trade union cadres, because trade union cadres often have to rotate work. Along with that, it is necessary to focus on building a force of external experts in the field of trade unions and workers so that when necessary, these experts can be invited to participate in social criticism.
Mr. Huynh Vinh Lam said that it is necessary to improve the mechanism, policies, and social criticism process of the Trade Union organization, while improving the skills of listening, communicating, debating, and persuading for trade union officials, avoiding the situation of relying only on personal experience. In addition, it is necessary to enhance the ability to apply digital technology and AI in social criticism.
