July 22, 1997
Editor
Far Eastern Economic Review
Dear Editor,
Your editorial, "Striking Out", on July 17 1997, criticized Vietnam officials for asking foreign enterprises to obey Vietnam’s labor laws. These officials should be commended for trying to protect their workers from exploitative and abusive labor practices of a few foreign companies. Most foreign companies should welcome the fact that Vietnam is trying to establish the rule of law in its factories. They also should be encouraged to see that while embracing capitalism, Vietnam is going to be different from some of its East Asian neighbors where labor code violations are often ignored and official labor unions are weak resulting in the exploitation of millions of workers.
It is difficult for a poor country to balance the needs of foreign investors versus the interests of its workers. The unemployment rate in Vietnam is quite high and foreign investment is crucial in providing many needed jobs. But these jobs should not be traded with the human dignity of Vietnamese workers. Especially when companies like Nike and its contractors which made tremendous profit from products made in Vietnam, Nike workers in Vietnam deserve at least a wage on which they can live. They definitely should not be subjected to corporal punishment, wage cheating and various shenanigans that Nike contractors have used.
Considering recent criticism from Vietnam officials, most foreign companies should have nothing to worry about. The majority of foreign investors in Vietnam have very good labor practices because they have no interest in exploiting Vietnamese workers. Jobs from these companies are often sought after by the Vietnamese workforce. And Vietnam officials welcome these jobs with open arms.
Only a handful of foreign companies, however, should take notice. These companies are violating Vietnam’s labor code not because the laws there are complicated. In our investigation into labor practices of shoe manufacturers in Vietnam, the companies that violated Vietnam’s labor code are not those ignorant of the country’s laws. These companies understand the labor code very well but instead of observing them, they found ways to circumvent them to squeeze further profit from Vietnamese workers. For example, instead of hiring workers outright, Nike contractors in Vietnam hired workers as "student-trainees" for three months making it possible to pay these workers a sub-minimum wage during this period.
Sincerely yours,
Thuyen Nguyen
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