While the pandemic has affected all of us — businesses and employees — heavily when it comes to emotional wellbeing, the impact that it has on blue collar workers in Vietnam is much more immense than we could ever have imagined or gone through. And yet, it is rarely ever acknowledged or talked about. Businesses that went through a significant financial crisis during the pandemic have put their employees, especially blue-collar workers, at the worst place possible — with no payment or even a decent place to live.
The most recent story that has been given rise to is about 300 waste collectors from the South Tu Liem company who have not been paid for 6 months during the pandemic and are living without even the bare minimum. It is no longer a surprise that the bare minimum wage in developing countries is never enough for workers to afford a normal lifestyle, let alone a decent one. The pandemic has worsened the situation even more when companies went bankrupt and executives fled away from any of their responsibilities, especially to blue-collar workers who they have little to none contact with.
One of the workers, Ms. Uyen Nguyen, said the company continuously promised workers that there will be payment the following month everytime they came to ask, and yet, that promise is broken every month. Uyen has a kid who is in 3rd grade that she can no longer pay for his tuition, and a sick mother who is mentally abusive.
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Another worker, Mr. Dang Nguyen, who is a disabled senior, doesn’t even have a place to live and has to sleep in a tent he built near the city where he works. There are many other stories about how miserable and difficult life has been for people like these two who work so hard everyday to live by and have not been paid for months. And yet, corporations who are responsible for their payments and benefits have neither done anything to help them nor been punished for their actions.
Fortunately, as stories like these gain popularity, the Vietnam national television broadcaster VTV has helped create a donation fund to raise financial support from people all over the country to help these blue-collar workers when their company is still abandoning them. It was not until a week ago that these workers could receive a decent amount of payments from the funds so they could afford to eat a full meal and have something to live by.
This is a perfect example of how great the gap between blue collar and white collar workers is when it comes to payments and benefits. It has always been a long overdue debate as the minimum wage in developing countries is unacceptable to consider fair labor when the working hours and effort put forward are not the same. The pandemic has shown how white collar workers that are enjoying the high wage and better benefits from the comfort of their own homes in comparison to blue collar workers who are directly and dangerously exposed to more health risks as they have to continue working without as much safety measures.
However, COVID has also proven how utterly important and essential blue collar workers are as they are the only ones who could provide service to others and help people stay warm and well even though they are not given the payments and benefits that they truly deserve. Specifically in developing countries like Vietnam, blue collar workers have become a good selling point for huge global corporations due to the low minimum wage set by the governments (0.69$/hour).
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While this brings profits for the country, it is at the cost of our own people. This exposes and dangers the health and wellbeing of these workers even more as they are not only overworked, they are also underpaid. As the pandemic goes on, blue-collar workers are left empty handed as companies cut down on salaries and lose employees to stay alive. Many are promised to be given their jobs back when the pandemic ends but that seems like such a far future with the condition going on in Vietnam.
So what exactly could we do with this conversation of payments and benefits between these two types of workers, one of them being the readers right now? The biggest factor that affects this issue is the government — with its regulation and requirements for minimum wage. While this factor is significant, being able to change it is even a bigger issue.
Therefore, this is not the most effective solution as of right now, especially during the pandemic. What we can do, as white collar workers, to support our comrades, is to advocate for higher payments and better benefits for blue collar workers in our own company. While there are heavy measures to take that can help white collar workers get the salary they are signed to get, there is nothing and no one to fight for these workers who are out there everyday under heavy weather conditions and high exposure to COVID with very few supporting facilities.
Making sure your company gives a good balance between work and life should be applicable to people at all levels and backgrounds, not just those who go to the office from 9 to 5 with ACs on hot days and heaters on cold ones.
Everyone is struggling during this hard time, both physically and mentally, but we need to learn to sympathize with those who are suffering much more than we are. Sharing is caring. Remember to thank them for their hard work and tip them if possible because they need that more than you could ever know. Be grateful for what you are having because that can be the dream for thousands of people — just to have a roof over your head and decent meals to eat everyday. It is not until all workers receive the fair payments and benefits that they deserve can businesses truly grow and fulfill their mission to contribute to a better society for everyone around.
Bibliography:
https://vtv.vn/xa-hoi/bat-dau-tra-luong-cho-cong-nhan-ve-sinh-moi-truong-20210623101236163.htm