Based on the global framework agreement (GFA) between Spanish fashion retail giant Inditex and IndustriALL Global Union, a meeting was held in Ho Chi Mihn City, Vietnam, recently, to discuss the creation of a national trade union network for Vietnam.
At the meeting, held in March, VNUTGW factory level union leaders from the Southern provinces of Vietnam were brought together to discuss how to implement the existing GFA, while making sure that international labour standards are adhered to in the over 100 Inditex suppliers and sub-contractors.
The Spanish affiliate of IndustriALL Global Union, Industria-CC.OO, the Vietnamese trade union centre VGCL and German foundation Friedrich Ebert Stiftung have all joined forces to organise Inditex’s global supply chain and make the GFA locally applicable.
The plan to create such a network began in 2015, when IndustriALL, together with the VGCL, Vietnamese garment union VNUTGW, and the FES initiated an array of workshops to discuss on ways to organise the country’s garment and footwear industry.
Addressing the meeting, IndustriALL textile and garment industry director Christina Clausen urged the participants to use the GFA to set up a well-knit network to build solidarity and establish a smooth exchange of information among factory level union leaders.
Meanwhile, Isidor Boix, from Industria-CC.OO and IndustriALL’s coordinator for implementation of the GFA with Inditex, said that “the network is interesting both for workers in Vietnam and global trade unionism”. “This is about defending labour rights in the global supply chain and organising workers in factories producing for the big brands,” he said.
Workers at Inditex factories, meanwhile, discussed issues faced at work, like long working hours, widespread use of precarious work, low wages, hot, dusty and noisy work environment, violation of workers’ rights, lack of real collective bargaining, and reluctance from the employer’s side to pay full-time shop stewards and to allow time for union activity to build sound labour relations.
“FES is supporting the process as part of our global trade union programme,” Erwin Schweisshelm, country director of FES Vietnam, said.