Spain-based clothing firm, Inditex has officially launched a supplier union network in Vietnam that will cover its 130 factories and around 150,000 workers who make products for its seven brands, including ZARA, Pull&Bear, Massimo Dutti, Bershka, Lefties and Oysho, in the country, at a two-day seminar organized by IndustriALL Global Union in DaNang.
“The Global Framework Agreement between IndustriALL and Inditex gives the Vietnamese textile and garment unions a base to collectively organize their work. This is key to building sound and democratic industrial relations, said Christina Clausen, Textile and Garment Industry Director – IndustriALL.
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The network has set several key goals including mobilizing of workers to increase density, harmonizing collective bargaining themes to begin to work towards national standards, developing training for network base unions for collective bargaining and exchange information between local unions in Vietnam.
Additionally, representatives of the union network underlined that, first, trade unions need to play an active role to ensure that the principles treasured in the ‘Global Framework Agreement’ are respected at the workplace; and secondly, workers need to be active in ensuring that their rights are respected as well. The network requested Inditex and its supplier factories to support their work to contribute to stable industrial relations in the Vietnamese textile and garment sector.
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At the seminar, unions from provinces – Bac Giang, Hai Duong, Thanh Hoa, DaNang, Ho Chi Minh, Long An, Binh Duong, Dong Nai; Vietnam General Confederation of Labour (VGCL); and Vietnam National Union of Textile and Garment Workers discussed current trends in the T&C industry by evaluating the situation for collective bargaining, labour productivity, minimum and living wage (in Vietnam), and international brands’ purchasing practices, mentions IndustriALL on its website.
