At the 2023 Workers' Forum held on the afternoon of July 28th, many representatives of union members, workers, and union officials at all levels expressed their concern about housing for workers.
On the sidelines of the forum, in an exchange with Nguoi Dua Tin (The Informer) , Mr. Dinh Sy Phuc - Chairman of the grassroots trade union of Taekwang Vina Company, Dong Nai province, shared his views on the issue of housing for workers and employees.
Mr. Phuc stated that there are a large number of migrant workers in his unit, and a significant proportion live in rented accommodation. Therefore, these workers are very concerned about how to access social housing.
He also pointed out that workers typically earn 7-8 million VND a month, so their savings are negligible, or at most, only a very small amount remains.
Mr. Dinh Sy Phuc wondered how workers could access social housing with such limited funds (Photo: Huu Thang).
"With such limited funds, how can we access social housing?", Mr. Phuc stated, expressing the concerns of workers and their fervent hope that the National Assembly and relevant ministries will provide solutions to help them in the future.
At its 5th session, the 15th National Assembly discussed the draft Law on Housing (amended) and is expected to pass it at its 6th session.
"Workers have high expectations for this amendment to the Housing Law. Because workers have always wanted to have access to their own apartments, houses, or rooms," Mr. Phuc expressed.
At the same time, Mr. Phuc also hoped that the law would be drafted in a way that would make housing accessible to workers (low-income groups).
Earlier, speaking at the forum, Mr. Nguyen Viet Anh - a member of the Viettel Post Corporation - expressed his opinion that several decades ago, when the country was still very poor, almost every place with a factory or enterprise employing many workers had a residential area, a school, a health station, and a cultural center.
To date, the country has developed further, but many industrial zones employ hundreds of thousands of workers, yet apartment buildings have not met the needs of the laborers, affecting their lives. Workers are forced to rent houses from private individuals, and due to limited funds, these houses are often cramped and unsafe.
Mr. Viet Anh shared: “We witnessed many worker families of 4-5 people living in cramped spaces of just over 10 square meters, with children sleeping on beds and parents on mats on the floor. Many families didn't want their children living with them and sent them back to their hometowns to save money. Some workers were about to give birth but the landlord demanded the rent back; others, during the Tet holiday, were afraid to go home because the company owed them wages, and the landlord demanded money again. Fortunately, the trade union provided timely support during that time…”
Therefore, he earnestly hopes that the National Assembly and the Government will pay attention to the issue of housing for workers, because if they are cared for, they will have stable housing and employment, better labor productivity, and contribute to building the country.
Delegates attending the forum (Photo: Huu Thang).
Responding at a forum on issues related to policies supporting the development of social housing and accommodation for workers, the Chairman of the National Assembly's Law Committee, Hoang Thanh Tung, stated that one of the important contents stipulated in the draft Housing Law currently being submitted to the National Assembly is the incentives and investment support to promote social housing and accommodation for workers.
Accordingly, the draft law has proposed many support policies, such as allocating suitable land for the development of social housing, which is the responsibility of local authorities; allocating suitable land for low-income workers; and providing preferential policies (exemption or reduction of land use fees and land lease fees to help investors access land for social housing development; preferential tax and credit policies, etc.) to attract more investors.
Workers also benefit from interest rate subsidies to access social housing. For worker accommodation, this is considered an important institution in industrial zones.
The infrastructure developer will invest in worker accommodation, then rent it out to workers at preferential rates to solve the housing problem for workers right within the industrial park.
Developers who build housing for workers also benefit from the same policies as those who build social housing.
Currently, the National Assembly's Law Committee is coordinating with the Ministry of Construction to gather feedback from National Assembly deputies, the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor, and businesses to finalize the mechanisms and policies, which will be submitted to the National Assembly for approval at the 6th session .
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