‘Unions need to protect workers’ right to learn new skills’

The message was said by Minister of Science and Technology Nguyen Manh Hung at the 1st Science and Technology Trade Union Congress, on the morning of December 24 in Hanoi. He said that in the past, unions mainly protected wages, working hours, and benefits, but now they must protect the right to learn new skills, update new technology, and not be excluded from the labor market because of technological backwardness.

Emphasizing that the congress is a particularly important milestone, affirming the maturity, development and position of the science and technology union team in the period of the country’s transition to a development model based on science, technology, innovation and digital transformation. He also raised the issue of innovating trade union activities.

According to the Minister, unions in the new era not only protect jobs or represent workers, but also need to “protect long-term working ability”, accompanying workers throughout their career life cycle.

The first innovation is that unions must shift their focus to supporting the improvement of workers’ capacity and skills, considering lifelong learning and updating technology as core benefits. He suggested starting from supporting skills development in the digital environment, such as working with data, AI, technology project management, intellectual property protection, and managing results according to output. The Minister said that “these are skills that, without, workers can easily fall behind even if they have high professional qualifications.”

Next, the Minister proposed that the union change the way of representation, not only according to administrative units but closer to each specific labor group such as engineers, journalists, reporters, cultural workers… to properly address the issues and properly protect the rights and development opportunities of workers.

Another important direction emphasized by the Minister is that the union must become a service provider for union members, from legal advice on labor, contracts, intellectual property to career change support and minimizing risks in innovation. In addition, they also need to participate in co-designing policies instead of just stopping at the recommendation level, and at the same time organize emulation movements that need to be associated with real values, standing on the side of “real doers, not just good reporters”.

He also asked the union to apply strong digital technology in all activities, moving from an organization that operates with paperwork, meetings, and procedures, to one that operates with data, digital platforms, and smart tools. “Trade unions must digitalize themselves before protecting workers in the digital era,” he said, making suggestions such as each union member having a digital profile, deploying virtual assistants, and union member data being analyzed to detect labor risks and predict skills shortages.

According to the Minister, with the core values ​​and action guidelines of the Science and Technology industry, the industry union will continue to affirm its role as a representative organization of union members and workers, and at the same time be a pioneer in promoting innovation, developing science and technology, and promoting digital transformation.

At the event, Chairman of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor Nguyen Dinh Khang also suggested promoting training and fostering innovation skills for union officials. “Each union official must become a ‘digital nucleus’ and ‘digital instructor’ at the grassroots,” he said, emphasizing that union workers need to have an open, innovative, flexible mindset, suitable for the scientific and technological environment and adapt to the requirements of the digital labor market.

The 1st Vietnam Science and Technology Trade Union Congress was held in the context that Vietnam is entering a new stage of development with a growth model based on knowledge, science, technology, innovation and digital transformation, in the spirit of Resolution No. 57.

According to Deputy Minister Pham Duc Long, Chairman of the Science and Technology Trade Union, this field is not just a specialty, but has become the foundation of national competitiveness, labor productivity and sustainable development. In particular, the role of officials, intellectuals, scientists, engineers, and workers in the Science and Technology industry is becoming increasingly important.

According to Mr. Long, science and technology labor includes creative activities and continuous innovation, under great pressure in terms of knowledge, skills, professional ethics and social responsibility. “That poses a new requirement for industry trade unions, which is to accompany workers not only in life, but also in professional capacity, creative environment and the journey to adapt to rapid changes in science and technology,” said the Deputy Minister.

The Chairman of the Science and Technology Trade Union affirmed that the consistent ideology in the new term of the industry union is to build this place into a modern representative organization, sustainably taking care of and effectively protecting workers in the environment of science – technology and digital transformation.