Trade Union Plays an Important Role in the Improvement Movement of Professional Skills, Productivity and Production Efficiency in Dong Nai Rubber Company.

    Dong Nai Rubber Company is an affiliate of Vietnam rubber corporation, a State owned enterprise which particularly produces and processes raw rubber. So far, the company’s branches have been located in six districts and one town in Dong Nai province, managed 13 agricultural farms, three joint-stock companies, two factories, one hospital, one cultural center and eight offices with total employees reaching 15,000. In order to expand its production, the company has focused on key investment programs on intensive cultivation of rubber plantation, product quality improvement, product diversification and continual arrangement, renewal and development of workforce. Especially, the company pays most attention to employees’s professional skill qualification.

    Due to employment demand, the company used to employ cadres and workers with low educational background. Because most of the farms are located far from townships and towns, it is difficult for their staffs to attend supplementary training course. The company realizes that educational background is the base for is employees to qualify their working skills. Therefore, the steering board of the company’s Trade Union proposed to give continuation education classes in the farms’ zones. It is estimated the company invests VND300 million (US$18576) in the training courses annually. In the last five years, the Union gave junior secondary education to 1.117 workers and senior secondary education to other 1.803 workers. Currently, about 10,000 of the workers have reached secondary educational background.

    Up to now, the company employs about 10,000 worker exploiting rubber latex. The Trade Union and company directors board jointly enhance movements of theoretical review and working practice for the contest on skillful workers to better their working skills. Every year the contest is held in the farms and every two years in the company. About 2,800 workers take part in these activities each year, which costs about VND500 million (US$30,960) annually. The professional contest is a great festival and helps to create a movement of working kills improvement. Thanks to the contest, the workers’ professional skills are continually better improved. According to statistical data, proportion of workers of the 3rd to 4th grades of 40% in 2003 decreases at 12% now, workers of the 3rd, 4th to 5th grades reach 75% of total. Current productivity of each worker is 5.413 kilos (compared with 4,710 kilos in 2003) up productivity of each rubber plantation from 1,3 tons/ha/year in 2003 to 1,752 tons/ha/year in 2007. Total output in the past five years reached 248.413 tons, up 13.913 tons compared with that in 2003. Due to the contest, workers’ incomes currently get VND5 million (US$ 309) (up 293% compared with that in 2003). Living standard of all workers has steadily been improved and poverty has been eliminated. Also thanks to the contest, 47.571 workers achieved the title of progressive laborers and 7.048 others obtained the title of “emulation soldiers” which play part in achievements in the company’s production and business.

    The competition movement on professional skill enhancement helped workers to improve specializing and working skills, and enable them to access, apply updated technical processes that require sophisticated skillful manipulations in exploiting and processing rubber latex. The positive signals from the workers help the company to achieve continual growth and development, and improve its prestige, trademark and quality of products and services for domestic and foreign customers. As a result, in the past five years, the company was awarded with a golden cup for Vietnam quality and a cup for Asia Pacific quality. Movements by cadres and workers and Trade Union were fostered. In fact, 3.500 members were admitted to Trade Union; 20/20 grass-root Trade Unions were rewarded with the strong unit title; the company’s Trade Union was awarded certain titles namely flag for its excellent emulation movements of skilled laborers and  a strong unit building in the 2003-2008 period.

(Reported by Phuong Thuy, Translated by L.H)