VietNamNet Bridge – Members of the National Wage Council at a meeting in Hanoi on August 5 did not agree on a new regional minimum wage rise next year.

Illustrative image -- File photo

This year the economy has improved but the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) proposed a minimum salary hike of around 10% and this is unacceptable, Mai Duc Chinh, vice chairman of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor, said before he walked out of the meeting.

The proposed salary increase was lower than the 14.8% last year when the economy was struggling with a slew of difficulties, Chinh explained.

Last month, the confederation proposed increasing the 2016 regional minimum wages by VND350,000-550,000 per month against this year, or a rise of around 17%.

However, at the meeting on August 5, the confederation suggested a monthly wage rise of around VND400,000, which is lower than last year’s spike in terms of percentage. With such a proposed hike, the minimum wage could not meet laborers’ basic living needs as mentioned in Article 91 of the labor code, according to Chinh.

Meanwhile, VCCI vice president Hoang Quang Phong said on the sidelines of the meeting that the organization agreed that the minimum wage for laborers should go up. But related parties are still discussing the capabilities of employers and considering an appropriate road map to prop up economic growth and support workers as well.

VCCI, the agency representing employers, initially proposed a wage rise of over 10%, with 4-5% calculated for the consumer price index, 3% for average labor productivity and 3% for basic needs of workers.

Nevertheless, VCCI has changed its mind by lowering its proposed wage increase to 6-7% at the meeting on August 5.

Early this week, the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association told local reporters that the minimum wage hike should be 6% next year, and 7% in 2017 and 2018. Besides, the association suggested a minimum wage rise every two years instead of every year to avoid hurting the competitiveness of enterprises.

The technical team of the National Wage Council also offered three minimum wage adjustment plans with average hikes of 12.4%, 11.4% and 10.7%.

Pham Minh Huan, Deputy Minister of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, said the council would organize another meeting in the next two weeks to further discuss the wage rise plan before presenting it to the Government for consideration.