Attending the ceremony were Mr. Nguyen Anh Tuan – Member of the Party Central Committee and President of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor (VGCL); Hero of Labor Cu Thi Hau – former Member of the Party Central Committee and former President of the VGCL. Representing the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS) was Mr. Vu Duc Giang – Chairman of VITAS.
Representing the Vietnam National Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex) were Mr. Le Tien Truong – Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of Vinatex; Mr. Tran Quang Nghi – Vice Chairman of the Board; Mr. Cao Huu Hieu – Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and General Director; along with leaders of the Group’s Executive Office and functional departments.
Representing the Vietnam Textile and Garment Trade Union were Ms. Pham Thi Thanh Tam, Member of the VGCL Executive Committee and President of the Vietnam Textile and Garment Trade Union, together with former Presidents and Vice Presidents of the Trade Union over the years. Also attending were numerous leaders of member units, presidents of grassroots trade unions, and outstanding representatives of workers and trade union members.
At the ceremony, Ms. Pham Thi Thanh Tam – President of the Vietnam Textile and Garment Trade Union, affirmed that the Union’s 30-year journey represents a continuation of the traditions built by generations of textile and garment workers. Since its establishment on September 14, 1996, the Vietnam Textile and Garment Trade Union has gradually strengthened its organization, evolving from a focus on improving workers’ living conditions to representing and protecting their rights and interests. It pioneered the negotiation and signing of Vietnam’s first Industry-level Collective Labor Agreement, organized numerous programs to enhance professional skills and foster creativity, and implemented a wide range of welfare programs for workers and their families.
The greatest achievement after 30 years is the trust of workers, both in times of prosperity and hardship; enterprises’s trust that the Trade Union will participate in management and share responsibility for maintaining stable production; and the belief that solidarity is the foundation enabling textile and garment workers to overcome challenges together. This trust has been strengthened through difficult periods marked by natural disasters, pandemics, supply chain disruptions, and market volatility, when the Trade Union stood alongside enterprises to maintain production, safeguard employment, and stabilize the workforce.
Entering a new phase, amid the impact of AI, automation, digital transformation, green transformation, and increasingly demanding sustainability standards, the Vietnam Textile and Garment Trade Union has determined that workers must be protected “early and proactively” by equipping them with knowledge, skills, and the capacity to master new technologies. The goal is to build a “modern Trade Union” with professional trade union officials, a streamlined organizational structure, technology-enabled operations, substantive dialogue and collective bargaining, as well as strong forecasting and proactive representation capabilities. At its core, “Skilled Work – Higher Productivity – Better Income” serves as both the foundation, the objective, and the driving force for the sustainable development of workers, enterprises, and Vietnam’s Textile and Garment Industry.
Speaking at the ceremony, Mr. Nguyen Anh Tuan – Member of the Party Central Committee and President of the VGCL, affirmed that the 30-year legacy of the Vietnam Textile and Garment Trade Union is measured not only by its years of operation, but also by its practical contributions to workers, the development of the industry, and the experience it has provided to Vietnam’s Trade Union system. Given the industry’s labor-intensive nature, large female workforce, and strong exposure to global market forces, the Vietnam Textile and Garment Trade Union must simultaneously protect workers’ rights and interests, improve their well-being, enhance their capabilities, and contribute to building stable labor relations and sustainable development.
The President of the VGCL highly praised the Vietnam Textile and Garment Trade Union’s pioneering role in negotiating and signing the first Industry Collective Labor Agreement in the country, as well as its initiatives to improve workers’ skills, productivity, and the quality of the workforce.
Against the backdrop of AI, automation, green production, the circular economy, and the restructuring of global supply chains, the Vietnam Textile and Garment Trade Union needs to “stay one step ahead”, focusing on six key priorities:
- Foster pride and passion for the profession, building on the more than 130-year tradition of Vietnam’s textile and garment workers.
- Proactively identify changes in employment and skills, coordinating training and reskilling programs so that workers can adapt before changes in their jobs and employment take place.
- Continue to take the lead in improving the quality of social dialogue and collective bargaining, expanding the scope to include productivity-linked wages; training and career transition; sustainable welfare policies and gender equality; and employment policies throughout the digital and green transformation processes.
- Turn labor productivity into a shared benefit for both workers and enterprises, widely implementing the “Skilled Work – Higher Productivity – Better Income” campaign and ensuring that the gains from increased productivity are shared equitably.
- The Trade Union must renew itself to become a reliable source of support for its members and workers, building a professional team of trade union officials with strong knowledge of labor law, technology, and management; accelerating digital transformation while remaining closely connected to grassroots workplaces and placing members at the center.
- Leverage the distinctive role of the sectoral trade union, boldly pilot new models, and expand trade union coverage across textile and garment enterprises, while actively coordinating efforts to establish trade union organizations at enterprises that do not yet have one, with the goal of achieving 100% trade union coverage across textile and garment enterprises by the end of 2026.
From the enterprise perspective, Mr. Le Tien Truong – Chairman of Vinatex affirmed that although the Vietnam Textile and Garment Trade Union has a 30-year history as a sectoral trade union, the tradition of Vietnam’s textile and garment workforce has been cultivated for more than a century, becoming an important part of the history of the workers’ movement and trade union organization in Vietnam. Over the past 30 years, the Vietnam Textile and Garment Trade Union has developed in tandem with the industry and the Group, evolving from a role focused on representing, supporting, and protecting workers to becoming an integral part of enterprises. Together with Party committees and management teams, the Trade Union has contributed to building collective strength, enhancing competitiveness, and improving the quality of the workforce.
Coordination among enterprises – the Trade Union – workers has produced tangible results: over the past five years, average labor productivity has increased by more than 60%, workers’ incomes have risen by 68%, and enterprise profits have doubled. Average monthly income per trade union member reached more than VND 12 million in 2025 and continued to increase by over 10% in the first nine months of 2026 compared with 2025. These results are the outcome of a long-term process of building trust and fostering strong engagement, not a short-term solution.
The core perspective of Vinatex is that caring for workers must shift from short-term support to sustained investment in their long-term capabilities: enhancing their qualifications and skills, strengthening their ability to adapt to technology, ensuring stable employment, and creating opportunities for career development. In the context of automation and AI, “protecting workers” must mean proactively developing new capabilities so that they are not displaced by technology.
In the next phase, Vinatex aims to increase workers’ income by more than 10% annually, which means productivity must also rise by more than 10%. Therefore, the Vietnam Textile and Garment Trade Union needs to work with enterprises to translate the three criteria of “Skilled Work – Higher Productivity – Better Income” into specific targets and measurable approaches, ensuring that skills development, productivity growth, and income improvement are closely interconnected.
Building on this foundation, the 30th anniversary should mark a transition from a “modern Trade Union” to a “knowledge-based Trade Union” — one that serves as a source of creativity, helps workers master technology, adapt to sustainable development standards, and build a highly skilled, professional, modern, and effective textile and garment workforce.
Alongside the orientations and tasks set for the Vietnam Textile and Garment Trade Union in its new phase, Mr. Le Tien Truong also put forward three recommendations to the VGCL, focusing on issues of long-term significance to workers and the operations of the sectoral trade union.
First, building a comprehensive welfare ecosystem together, with priority given to addressing workers’ housing needs: In addition to wages, greater attention should be paid to housing, schools for workers’ children, and healthcare in order to retain skilled and experienced workers. The Group proposed studying the conversion of former production facilities, following factory relocations, into housing for workers.
Second, continue to develop appropriate recruitment mechanisms and policies for Vietnam Textile and Garment Trade Union officials: Flexible mechanisms covering recruitment, income, age, and working conditions are needed to reflect the specific characteristics of the sectoral trade union, helping attract and retain highly capable and experienced officials with an in-depth understanding of textile and garment production.
Third, gradually bring trade unions at Vinatex’s member companies and second-tier enterprises under the Vietnam Textile and Garment Trade Union: thereby strengthening organizational unity and expanding sector-specific welfare programs and activities. At the same time, the sectoral trade union model should be reviewed after nearly 20 years of implementation, with its theoretical foundations and legal framework further developed to support the sector’s next phase of growth.
At the 30th anniversary ceremony, the Vietnam Textile and Garment Trade Union and Ms. Pham Thi Thanh Tam – President of the Vietnam Textile and Garment Trade Union, were honored to receive the Third-Class Labor Order, a prestigious distinction bestowed by the Party and the State in recognition of the contributions made by the Trade Union organization and generations of trade union officials, members, and workers. On this occasion, the Trade Union also honored 30 outstanding workers and 15 exemplary trade union officials, while presenting the “Outstanding Enterprise for Workers” Awards and the Nguyen Thi Sen Award to excellent female employees.
The Executive Committee of the Vietnam Textile and Garment Trade Union will embrace the guidance and strategic directions provided by Mr. Nguyen Anh Tuan – President of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor, and Mr. Le Tien Truong – Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of Vinatex. Building on its 30-year tradition, the Trade Union will continue to promote solidarity and innovation, put workers at the center, and align its work with the sustainable development of enterprises and the Textile and Garment Industry. Its goal is to build a modern, strong trade union organization that truly serves as a trusted source of support for its members and workers.
Entering a new chapter, the Vietnam Textile and Garment Trade Union faces higher expectations: anticipating changes in employment, proactively providing skills training, turning productivity gains into higher incomes, leveraging data and technology to better serve its members, and contributing to the competitiveness of enterprises.
Accordingly, supporting workers must mean building their capacity to adapt to change; identifying and preventing risks “early and proactively”; ensuring that emulation movements are linked to productivity, innovation, efficiency, and income; and using digital transformation to fundamentally improve how the Trade Union connects with and serves workers.
This is the meaning of the Trade Union’s new journey: “Firm in tradition, strong in knowledge, full of aspiration” — building a Vietnam Textile and Garment Trade Union that is more modern in its methods, stronger in knowledge and capabilities, more substantive in representation, and more people-centered in its support; continuing to serve as a pillar of support for workers, a responsible partner to enterprises, and an important contributor to the sustainable development of Vietnam’s Textile and Garment Industry.
