Hanoi (VNA) – Party General Secretary and State President To Lam has urged the Vietnam Trade Union to build a modern and robust working class, befitting its role as a pioneer in the nation’s industrialisation and modernisation process.
He made the call at the plenary session of the 14th Vietnam Trade Union Congress for the 2026 – 2031 term in Hanoi on June 4, which drew 789 distinguished officials representing the will, aspirations, and collective wisdom of nearly 10 million union members nationwide.
With the country pursuing its 2030–2045 goals, the working class and labour force play an especially critical role and require comprehensive training and genuine listening to secure sustainable development, he said. The congress, he added, must answer a central question: how should the union reform to truly become a trusted support for workers, a strong bridge between the Party, State and the working class, and a key force for national development in the new era.
Basically endorsing the political report, orientations, goals and tasks set out by the congress, the top Vietnamese leader commended and congratulated the working class, civil servants, employees and trade unions on their significant achievements in the previous term.
While flagging existing limitations, he urged the Vietnam Trade Union to reform more rapidly, deeply and substantively. It must work together with the State, enterprises and training facilities to improve workers’ professional qualifications, digital skills and adaptability.
Union activities must place members and workers at the centre. Every agenda, plan and movement must answer key questions: what do workers gain, what rights are protected, what difficulties are resolved, and whose voices are being heard. The effectiveness of trade unions should not be measured by the number of meetings, documents or campaigns, but by the trust of members, the satisfaction of workers, the quality of collective bargaining agreements, the number of successfully resolved cases, and the improvement of living conditions at the grassroots.
In his view, enterprises should be encouraged to operate efficiently, innovate and integrate deeply into global value chains, while strictly complying with labour laws, ensuring occupational safety and hygiene, fully contributing to social insurance, and improving workers’ welfare. Investment in workers, he noted, is also an investment in productivity, brand value and long-term business growth.
He underscored the need to build a modern, professional, digitalised, transparent Vietnam Trade Union capable of effectively representing workers in the new context, enabling them to easily submit feedback, access legal advice, check their rights, register for support, and join surveys and evaluations of union activities. This would also help trade unions better understand labour conditions, anticipate disputes, and provide timely and targeted support.
Trade union officials, he said, must be professionally trained in labour law, collective dispute settlement, social welfare, digital communications, data management, organisational governance and crisis response. They must also have dedication to workers, resilience under pressure, skills in working with enterprises, persuasive ability and credibility among workers.
Trade unions must also play a more active role in Party building and strengthening the political system, contributing to consolidating the Party’s social foundation within the working class. More outstanding workers should be identified, nurtured and introduced for Party membership, so that industrial zones, factories and enterprises increasingly have Party members who are frontline workers with strong professional competence and peer credibility.
The Party, State, National Assembly, Government and the entire political system must always accompany and share responsibility with the VGCL, the Vietnam Fatherland Front and workers, he said.
Trade unions must also play a more active role in Party building and strengthening the political system, contributing to consolidating the Party’s social foundation within the working class. More outstanding workers should be identified, nurtured, and introduced for Party membership, so that industrial zones, factories, and enterprises increasingly have Party members who are frontline workers with strong professional competence and peer credibility.
The Party, State, National Assembly, Government, and the entire political system must always accompany and share responsibility with trade unions, the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF), and workers, he said.
To ensure the success of the Vietnam Trade Union’s tasks, he called on Party committees at all level, authorities, the VFF, socio-political organisations, and the business community to continue creating supportive conditions for trade unions to operate more effectively.
Local Party committees and authorities must consider caring for the working class a key political task, regularly engage in dialogue, listen to workers, and promptly address their legitimate concerns. Policies on wages, housing, insurance, vocational training, occupational safety, and cultural facilities for workers must be endorsed substantively, with clear supervision and measurable outcomes.
Immediately after the Congress, the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour (VGCL) was tasked with translating its resolution into concrete action with clear responsibilities, tasks, deadlines, and outcomes, ensuring that the Congress’s spirit reaches every trade union level, industrial zone, enterprise, production unit, and worker.
Delegates discussed issues directly related to trade union members, workers, and activities in the new period, including representing, caring for, and protecting the legitimate rights and interests of union members and workers; developing grassroots trade unions; improving the quality of trade union officials; renewing outreach and launching patriotic emulation movements, among others./.
