Audited concluding the case of ‘accumulating 29,000 billion VND’, what did the General Confederation of Labor say?

The President of the General Confederation of Labor of Vietnam, Nguyen Dinh Khang, gives gifts to workers affected by the COVID-19 epidemic – Photo: Đ.L LOI

It is known that on the afternoon of September 10, the president of the Vietnam Labor Confederation had a report and an explanation to the Standing Committee of the National Assembly.

Mr. Phan Van Anh shared that since the union was organized (for 81 years) there has been a fund. According to central resolution 6, the Labor Confederation decided to create a resource strong enough for the union to perform professional functions for social stability and economic development.

At this point, when another employee organization emerges, with strong resources, the union will have the resources to take care of the organization, its union members and employees, as well as to invest in better facilities.

* How is the cumulative source of nearly VND 29 billion being used, sir?

– By virtue of the provisions of the Law on Trade Unions (2012) and the Government Decree (Decree 191/2013 / ND-CP, of November 21, 2013), the union is assigned income and balance to spend. of the fiscal year, if not fully spent, it will be carried over to the next year for use.

Almost 29 billion VND is an accumulation from a long time ago when there was a union. In the absence of the Trade Union Law (before 2012), the accumulation at the union level was based on about 10 billion VND.

Since the Trade Union Law, we are cheaper, more efficient, which is why we have accumulated close to 29,000 million VND. While they don’t run out, they send us to the bank for a term, all interest rates are added to the union’s income to return the money to the union.

The balance of nearly VND 29 billion is available at all four levels of the union: the VGCL is 3.793 million; in 63 provincial and municipal Labor Confederation and 20 unions of the central sector 10,334 billion VND; 1,269 upper-level unions (district, district) is 6,644 million dong; in nearly 121,000 grassroots unions and non-commercial units, it was 7,593 million dong.

In fact, the base level balance as of December 31, 2019 has been spent on all service workers and union members for the 2020 Lunar New Year, so the cumulative balance is just over VND 20 billion. . .

With the balance in the superior union, the VGCL has developed a project to use and exploit effectively saving time in 4 state banks, approved by the Ministry of Finance in official clearance. 16838 / date BTC-TCT 11-13-2015. Therefore, it is not accurate to say that the VGCL has not used almost 29 billion VND ineffectively.

* So, if VGCL loans or contribute capital to the establishment business?

– The VGCL does not buy shares in any economic unit that is not a union. On the issue of the contribution of loan capital, we confirm that it does not exist.

Previously, implementing the state’s equalization policy, rank-and-file unions were allowed to buy preferential shares, then, of course, they bought them in coordination with direct superior unions in accordance with state regulations. There is no external investment, there is no capital contribution.

The VGCL will continue to review and inspect the use of accumulated finances at the subordinate levels, if it detects a violation, it will be handled immediately to ensure compliance with State regulations and the VGCL.

Mr. Phan Van Anh – Vice President of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor (VGCL)

* There is an opinion that the VGCL is the same as the union level on the basis of “loose” union funds, but at the grassroots union level, is it difficult?

– The distribution rate of union funds in recent years has been earmarked for grassroots unions from 65% in 2016 to almost 74% in 2020 (according to the VGCL resolution, the roadmap to 2025 will be 75% ), not as the conclusions reflect 46%.

In the file for the reform and supplementation project of the Trade Union Law (2012) presented to the National Assembly, the total expenditure in the 2013-2019 period of the base union represents 73.2% of the total expenditure of the entire system (56,331 / 76.985 billion VND), of which at the base union level, spending on care and protection of employee interests represents 81.5%; spending on salaries and benefits of union leaders is only 13.1%; administrative management expenses only represent 5.2%.

As a general rule, grassroots unions can spend all savings from top unions except 10% per annum according to recurring expenses, thus becoming a reserve fund. Unlike the monthly administrative and non-business units, which are awarded money at the beginning of the year, the VGCL only has money year after year. If the money is only kept in the treasury, it will not generate a profit, the VGCL takes deposits in state commercial banks to earn additional interest on union activities.

It is this reserve source that has been promoted in the COVID-19 epidemic, which is why the VGCL has proactively deducted around 1 billion VND so far to support union members and workers in difficulty (500,000 VND / productivity). If the epidemic persists, affecting union members and employees, the VGCL will continue to spend this reserve fund to spend.

* The VGCL is known to still have an internal loan. With the conclusion of the State Audit, does the VGCL need to stop lending and debt collection immediately?

– It is true that before the Trade Union Law, since 2009 we have two so-called loans for two units directly dependent on the General Confederation, one is the Trade Union Travel Company Limited and the Trade Union Printing Company. These two loans are around 300 billion VND and so far the two units have paid almost half, only around 170 billion VND. According to the roadmap, the two units will complete the payment of both principal and interest by 2028.

The time to lend the VGCL can provide capital, but the leaders at the time think that to increase the liability of their two companies, it is necessary to make loans, with interest rates such as banks, internal loans and annual debt and interest payment process .

* With the findings and recommendations of the State Audit, how will the VGCL manage the accumulated financial resources?

– As mentioned above, the fund currently exceeds VND 20 billion. Unions continue to support COVID-19, recurring expenses of several trillion dong and building of union institutions (worker housing, amusement parks, kindergartens …) around 3 billion dong …

After balancing, this accumulated fund will be created by 4 separate funds. The first is the ordinary expenses fund. The second is the investment fund for development (repair, construction of a new headquarters …). The third is the charitable social fund, which takes care of union members. Finally, the employee protection fund.