Patriot Huynh Ngoc Hue devoted his whole life to the nation and the working class.

Phan Xuan Quang – Chairman of Quang Nam Provincial Labor Federation – Thursday, August 8, 2024 12:15 (GMT+7)

Although only 35 years old (August 10, 1914 - August 10, 1949), and having participated in the revolution for 15 years (1935 - 1949), patriot Huynh Ngoc Hue, Deputy Secretary of Inter-Zone Party Committee 5, founder and Deputy General Secretary of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor (VGCL), left for posterity a shining example of the spirit of fighting without a moment's rest for the interests of the nation and the working class, as stated in the eulogy of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor at his memorial service, held in the Viet Bac resistance base on June 15, 1949.

Join the fight

After completing primary school, the young Huynh Ngoc Hue left his hometown of My Hoa, Dai Loc district, Quang Nam province to take the entrance exam to Hue Practical Technology School (now Hue Industrial College). Here, he had the opportunity to better understand life and immerse himself in the working environment of workers; gradually becoming the nucleus of the revolutionary movement at the school and in Hue City.

Portrait of patriot Huynh Ngoc Hue (1914 – 1949), who devoted his whole life to the nation and the working class. Photo archive

Since 1936, comrade Huynh Ngoc Hue was admitted to the Party and was trusted to be the Party Cell Secretary and member of the Hue City Youth Committee. As a member of the Hue Practical Industrial School's Union Leadership Board, he was able to contact many outside organizations such as the power plant, public works, etc. to support each other in the process of gathering students, workers and organizing the struggle.

From late 1939 to early 1945, he was arrested by the French colonialists five times, imprisoned and exiled to many prisons and concentration camps. In 1942, after escaping from Dak Glei prison, he returned to Da Nang to find a way to reconnect with the secret bases of railway workers, and was arrested again there.

The tomb of patriot Huynh Ngoc Hue is currently in Xuan Ba ​​village, Hanh Thinh commune, Nghia Hanh district, Quang Ngai province. Photo by Thanh Phuong

When Japan staged a coup against France (March 9, 1945), comrade Huynh Ngoc Hue was freed from Da Nang prison. Just released from prison, but with responsibility for the revolutionary movement, in a short time, he took control of all the bases among the workers in Da Nang and Hue.

As Secretary of the Da Nang City Party Committee, together with the City Party Committee, Comrade Huynh Ngoc Hue put forward many policies, especially in gathering and building working class organizations in the city. Most factories and important offices such as power plants, railways, public works, ports, etc. had revolutionary bases, with the core being national salvation workers.

Comrade Huynh Ngoc Hue also worked hard to build about 500 self-defense forces armed with primitive weapons, and it was this force of workers who made an important contribution to the success of the uprising to seize power in August 1945, in Da Nang.

Building a Trade Union

In September 1945, the Central Region Party Committee was re-established. With experience in the workers' movement, comrade Huynh Ngoc Hue was elected as a member of the Standing Committee of the Central Region Party Committee, assigned to be in charge of labor mobilization work and directly worked as the secretary of the Central Vietnam Workers' Association for National Salvation, editor-in-chief and secretary of the "Tay Tho" newspaper; in January 1946, he was elected as a delegate to the 1st National Assembly.

As secretary of the Central Vietnam Workers' Association for National Salvation, in June 1946, he went to Hanoi, participated in founding and was appointed Deputy Secretary General of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor in charge of the Central region, then was appointed to join the Executive Committee of the World Federation of Trade Unions.

He took great care in developing the National Salvation Workers' Association, establishing the National Salvation Workers' Association in localities, especially in places with many workers and craftsmen... His point of view was that building the National Salvation Workers' Organization must be closely linked to building the workers' team; only with a large and strong workers' team can there be a strong National Salvation Workers' Organization.

Leaders of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor and leaders of Quang Nam and Quang Ngai provinces visited the tomb of patriot Huynh Ngoc Hue. Photo: Thanh Phuong

In August 1946, comrade Huynh Ngoc Hue directly directed the Quang Nam Province National Salvation Workers' Association to organize a congress. At this congress, the National Salvation Workers' Association changed its name to the Federation of Trade Unions to suit the new situation and directed the establishment of industries in Quang Nam and their strong development such as railways, automobiles, boats, civil servants, etc. He also directed the correction of the situation of admitting the wrong people to the association, focusing on quantity and neglecting quality.

The resistance war against French colonialism broke out, although he also took on the role of Political Commissar of the Quang Nam - Da Nang Front, he still spent time on trade union activities. He regularly discussed with the Provincial Federation of Trade Unions about the situation of workers during the resistance war and discussed the policy of consolidating and promoting the trade union movement, especially the trade union in the military workshops to be the core in the emulation movements. This was also the time when Huynh Ngoc Hue paid attention to building a team of trade union cadres, because according to him, cadres were the first factor to gather workers and build a strong trade union.

Comrade Huynh Ngoc Hue advocated opening training courses and fostering union cadres in many forms such as opening short-term training courses and organizing conferences to share work experiences. He also paid attention to the location of the union's working offices.

During his work trips to Quang Nam, he saw that the provincial Federation of Trade Unions sometimes worked in Thang Binh, sometimes in Que Son, so he directed that they be moved to the inner city of Tam Ky, where many workers and craftsmen from the localities were gathered after the outbreak of the national resistance war. According to Mr. Huynh Ngoc Hue, trade union officials must be close to the workers, only then can they understand them better and through that, they can propagate and gather them into the organization.

Closely follow workers' lives

During his revolutionary activities, he always closely followed the lives of workers and gave them special attention.

At that time, in the area of ​​Inter-zone 5, many engineering workshops were opened to produce weapons for the battlefield and workers had to work in poor conditions. Despite being busy with many jobs, Huynh Ngoc Hue was still often present at the engineering workshops to meet with the workers.

Once, when he heard that a hunger strike had occurred at the Cao Thang factory in Tan An, Que Son district (now Hiep Duc district), he cried and told the factory leaders: “You have resolved it but have not yet clearly seen the cause. You leaders are all workers. But when the leaders are not close and do not fully understand the thoughts, feelings, and lives of the workers, but only give general encouragement, the workers cannot bear it. You are leaders but you eat your own meals, how can you understand the lives of the workers; how can you understand the feeling when the fish sauce is full of maggots, the rice is mixed with dried cassava and is not cooked. That is not to mention the way each person thinks differently, then subjectively comments and evaluates good and bad, without taking production results as the basis.”

Party Central Committee member, President of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor Nguyen Dinh Khang offers incense at the tomb of patriot Huynh Ngoc Hue. Photo by Thanh Phuong

Understanding the hardships of defense workers, comrade Huynh Ngoc Hue repeatedly proposed to the Inter-zone Party Committee to distribute clothes to them, but due to common difficulties, some people discussed it. He resolutely fought to get it done.

Comrade Huynh Ngoc Hue paid little attention to his own personal life but was always attentive and meticulous to the people around him. For cadres working in harsh and fierce places, especially female cadres, Huynh Ngoc Hue always gave them special affection and care. When he returned from a business trip, he always had some gifts for his colleagues, sometimes a few cans of sticky rice, sometimes a pair of crushed sugar, sometimes just a handful of green tea leaves... Sometimes relatives in areas temporarily occupied by the enemy sent gifts, he gave sugar and milk to the sick; cloth and wool blankets to his colleagues in difficulty, keeping nothing for himself.

While he was concentrating on his work and preparing to take on a new assignment, unfortunately, comrade Huynh Ngoc Hue contracted tetanus and passed away at 10:00 on April 27, 1949 (August 10, 1949) to the infinite sorrow of his comrades, compatriots and the working class throughout the country. The World Federation of Trade Unions sent a telegram of deep condolences to the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor. He was buried in Nghia Hanh district, Quang Ngai province.

The book "Huynh Ngoc Hue - An excellent son of Quang Nam" was released by Da Nang Publishing House in 2019. Photo: Le Nang Dong

75 years have passed since the day he left us, but the contributions of patriot Huynh Ngoc Hue to the revolutionary cause of the country in general, to the workers' movement and the building of the Trade Union organization in particular are always respected, honored and praised.

Many schools, streets and an award named Huynh Ngoc Hue for outstanding union members are established by the People's Committee of Quang Nam province and is awarded every 5 years on the occasion of the anniversary of the Vietnam Trade Union (July 28) - as a recognition and reminder for each of us to continue to study and follow the example of Huynh Ngoc Hue.

Commemorating the 110th birthday of Comrade Huynh Ngoc Hue, former Deputy General Secretary of the Vietnam Confederation of Labor (August 10, 1914 - August 10, 2024).

Source: https://laodong.vn/thoi-su/chi-si-huynh-ngoc-hue-tron-doi-cong-hien-cho-dan-toc-va-giai-cap-cong-nhan-1377504.ldo