Workers on strike at Pou Yuen Vietnam factory, which makes footwear for brands like Nike and Adidas, returned to their posts with a win on Thursday, after the government agreed with their demands.
Last Thursday, employees from Pou Yuen gathered peaceably around the factory and were on strike for a week, protesting against a social insurance law that would have changed the way they receive the insurance payments.
Currently, workers receive lump-sum payment when they leave a position, and the new law would have meant those payments weren’t distributed until retirement.
Workers requested an amendment to the law slated to take effect next year that would allow the social insurance payments remain as lump-sums so they have the freedom to use the funds for investments like starting a business or building a house.
The country’s Deputy Minister of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs Doan Mau Diep said the law was meant to provide monthly income for workers post-retirement and encourage them to keep paying until they retire. But fears of rampant mismanagement and never receiving those payments had workers unsettled and unhappy.
According to the Vietnam Investment Review, the country’s Minister and Head of Government Office Nguyen Van Nen said Wednesday that the government agreed with the workers requested amendment and that the proposed change would be on the National Assembly meeting agenda in May.
More than 70,000 on strike employees returned to work Thursday upon hearing the news.
