I wouldn't usually do this, but given that my expertise is Vietnamese labour and union politics, and @LunaOi_VN has started talking about that, I feel compelled to comment:

First, Vietnam has not legalised independent unions. At all. 1/n https://twitter.com/LunaOi_VN/status/1380348171122049027

It has legalised Worker Representative Organisations (WROs) that do not have to be affiliated with the state-led union federation, the VGCL. These are different legal entities to unions, with different rights and restrictions. The only unions are still those that are part 2/n

of the VGCL. If WROs decide to affiliate to the VGCL, they become unions. This is outlined in chapter XIII of the 2019 Labour Code.

Another, albeit minor, error from Luna: while the law was passed in 2019, it didn't become law until 2021. There are also major problems 3/n

with establishing WROs, even though they have technically been legal since January. The law is too vague for workers to form WROs in practice. What is required is a further regulation (there are parts of chapter XIII that explicitly say "this will be further regulated") but 4/n

it has not appeared yet.

Next issue: when @LunaOi_VN says "every workplace [has] an independently organized union structure", this is misleading. There are enterprise-level unions, but they are part of the VGCL. There is a *major* issue with enterprise-level unions in that 5/n

union reps are often members of management, such as the HR director or similar. Enterprise-level unions are probably the weakest part of the union structure.

Just as a simple factual point, it is just not true that "EVERY worker" is unionised. 6/n https://twitter.com/LunaOi_VN/status/1380348174376689666

The VGCL itself estimates that about 10% of workers are unionised, and each year one of its main aims is to increase the number of unionised workers.

Surprisingly enough, I actually agree with a lot of what @LunaOi_VN says next. There are huge amounts of strikes 7/n

in Vietnam, far more than in the USA. Some labour scholars go as far as saying that Vietnam has more strikes than any other Asian country. Although strikes have fallen significantly since 2011, they are still a prominent force, and often successful. 8/n

It is right that every single strike is wildcat (not led by the union), but slightly wrong to say that "not a single worker has gotten into trouble". Occasionally, workers have, but rarely

It is wrong to say that "the local union gets in trouble with 9/n https://twitter.com/LunaOi_VN/status/1380348177409175555

the national union for not taking care of employee grievances." Firstly, it is much more likely to be regional (provincial or municipal) union which talks to the local union, rather than the national-level. Second, this isn't monolithic. Depending on the dynamics of each 10/n

enterprise-level union and regional union, they may get in trouble for not dealing with employee grievances, but they may also get in trouble for the opposite - not picking up on and suppressing the strike earlier. More likely, though, they will not get in trouble, but be 11/n

praised if they manage to intervene and resolve a strike quickly and peacefully. The overriding mantra is quan hệ lao động hài hoà (harmonious labour relations).

Finally, I would say that I agree that the VGCL shouldn't be dismissed just because it's state-led. 12/n

Yes, it has huge problems, but also there are good people inside the VGCL who are working very, very hard to reform and improve things, and become more representative of workers. 13/end