Unable to reach a consensus, the National Wage Council held its second meeting yesterday afternoon, August 2nd, in Tam Dao district, Vinh Phuc province.
Speaking at the meeting, the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), representing employers, initially maintained its stance of only increasing the regional minimum wage in 2017 by 4,5%–5%. However, it later agreed to a slight increase to 6%.
On the part of the workers' representatives, the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor, after calculations, has temporarily lowered its proposed wage increase to 10%, compared to the previous proposal of 11,11%.
However, the proposed difference remained at 4%, and to reach a final decision, the National Wage Council unanimously voted.
With 13 out of 14 votes in favor, a rate of 92,85%, the proposed salary increase was approved at 7,3%.
Specifically, the proposed increase in the regional minimum wage for 2017 compared to the previous year's minimum wage is as follows: Region 1 will increase by 250.000 VND (7,1%), Region 2 by 220.000 VND (7,1%), Region 3 by 200.000 VND (7,4%), and Region 4 by 180.000 VND (7,9%).
On average across the four regions, the National Wage Council proposed a minimum wage increase of 213.000 VND in 2017, representing a 7,3% increase compared to 2016.
Minimum Wage Region 2016 * Minimum Wage 2017 *
Region I 3,5 3,75
Region II 3,1 3,32
Region III 2,7 2,9
Region IV 2,4 2,58
(*): Estimated, in million VND/month
Commenting on this increase, Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Pham Minh Huan said that the 7,3% increase chosen by the council will ensure the real wages of workers, plus the factor of labor productivity, contributing to stabilizing the lives of workers, ensuring competitiveness and other factors of businesses, helping businesses to stabilize and develop.
"We appreciate the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor for sharing the difficulties faced by businesses, because they must be able to survive and develop in order to create jobs for workers," Mr. Huan said.
Meanwhile, Mr. Hoang Quang Phong, Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), believes that this increase is a result of the efforts, empathy, and sharing of employers with their employees.
This person believes that while business has shown signs of recovery, it remains very challenging, and any change would force businesses to choose between survival or extinction.
"Businesses need room to compete, improve labor productivity, and especially the ability to pay the required increase in the minimum wage," this person explained, but also shared that after negotiations, VCCI agreed to finalize the wage increase at 7,3%.
Previously, at its first meeting in mid-July, the National Wage Council considered a proposal to increase the minimum wage by 11% across four regions (equivalent to 250.000-400.000 VND per month), significantly higher than the final proposed plan.
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