Workers at a garment factory in the northern province of Thai Nguyen. Photo by VnExpress/Ngoc Thanh
Vietnam is set to increase the minimum wage in the business sector by 6% from July 2024, as agreed between union and business representatives at a meeting on Wednesday.
The Vietnam General Confederation of Labor proposed a wage increase of 6.48% or 7.3%, based on companies seeing increased orders.
The Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, representing businesses, proposed a rate of 4.5 to 5 percent, saying new orders were just coming back and it was important to keep business operations sustainable.
This is the second meeting held to discuss raising the minimum wage next year, after the first in August resulted in no agreement.
After negotiations, the 16 members of the National Wage Council voted for a rate of 6%, which means that the minimum wage will be increased to between 200,000 and 280,000 VND ($8.22 to $11.50), depending on the region. , at 3.45 to 4.96 million VND per year. month.
The minimum wage was increased by 5.88 percent to VND4.68 million ($197.07) per month in July last year.
Le Van Thanh, council chairman and deputy labor minister, said the 6 percent rate, currently awaiting government approval, guarantees “harmonious” benefits to workers and businesses.
The wage hike is being considered as Vietnam recorded inflation of 4.27% and CPI of 3.22% in the first 11 months of this year, and businesses grapple with falling orders, leading to waves of layoffs since the end of 2022.
The International Labor Organization in Vietnam said wage increases should take into account inflation and economic growth. It says Vietnam increased the minimum wage by 6% between 2020 and 2022, but given inflation, workers’ real income increased by only 0.7%.
A survey conducted by the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor in the first half of this year found that factory workers earned an average of 7.88 million VND per month, while their family expenses amounted to 11. 7 million VND.
The survey reveals that the cost of living has increased by 19% compared to 2022.
