Background

On 25 August and 03 September 2015, the NWC organized the 2nd and 3rd plenary meeting to discuss proposals on minimum wage adjustments. Consensus was not reached over specific increase rates. As the revised Social Insurance Law will take effect on 1st January 2016 stipulating that the basis for social insurance contribution includes both the basic wage and wage allowances, the employers argue that this will largely increase labour cost enterprises. The employers’ side finds it hard to accommodate trade union’s proposed minimum wage increase rate of 16.8%. The negotiation is confrontational rather than cooperative and problem-solving.
Within this context, the Vietnam- ILO Industrial Relations Project (through technical support of ILO ROAP) committed to provide partial support for the National Wage Council to organize the 3rd meeting to discuss the regional MW adjustment proposals to cover some cost for participation of the resident and non-resident participants. The other cost of the meeting will be funded by the Government budget.

Objectives of the meeting

The objective of the meeting is to help members of the National Wage Council examine the “third” proposals presented by workers group, employers group and MoLISA group respectively. The meeting also enables workers’ representative and employers’ representative to engage in real and more cooperative negotiation over MW adjustment.
Upon the completion of the meeting, the participants will be able to:

• Understand concerns, views and positions of the workers’ organization, employers’ organizations and MoLISA on regional MW adjustment 2016;
• Present their proposals and provide inputs for the discussion;
• Negotiate regional minimum wage increase in 2016;
• Reach an agreement on minimum wage adjustment;