The fact that foreign bosses fled the country without paying months of salaries to thousands of workers just before Tet should enrage the public, and the state agencies that allowed it to happen should be blamed.
Most factocy workers employed at southern industrial zones in Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong and Dong Nai provinces come from poor northern and central areas. After their bosses abandoned ship, the workers now face a gloomy Tet as they have no money with which to buy food or pay months of back rent. And they can forget about a ticket home for the traditional holiday.
They have accepted their lives of thrift far away from home in hopes of helping their families escape poverty by sending money back home. These remittances allow their children to go to school and feed their elderly parents.
But all hopes have been suddenly dashed, disappearing into thin air.
We cannot blame the economic crisis for forcing businesses into a desperate situation after a bad year. This is the consequence of the authorities' long-term lack of care and it's creation of an environment that accepts any foreign investor, regardless of their credibility.
While investment licenses were granted to these foreign-owned firms, little was known about their owners.
In many cities and provinces around the country, there's little cooperation between agencies tasked with stimulating investment and those that manage immigration and labor issues. Only after the foreign bosses fled did the agencies notice the workers.
Our management gaps have not only led to the pains that the factory workers are now suffering, but they have also enabled foreigners to be employed in Vietnam without work permits and have allowed foreign firms to pollute the environment and use out-of-date machines when they had agreed to use high technology.
Experts always say that we should only invest in strong projects that don't damage the environment or violate human rights.
But though the story about foreign bosses leaving workers empty-handed is not an old story, it is becoming a popular one. We cannot keep learning from experience after experience. We need to stop having that experience.
By Truong Dien Thang
