INTERNATIONAL TRADE UNION CONFEDERATION (ITUC)
ITUC Online
184/011210
European Multinationals’ Position on Vietnam Wages “Totally Unacceptable”, Say ETUC and ITUC
Brussels, 26 November 2010 (ITUC Online): John Monks, General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC)
described as “totally unacceptable” the position of the European Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (EuroCham) threatening
withdrawal of European investment in the country if minimum wages are raised. ITUC General Secretary Sharan Burrow has
described EuroCham’s intervention as “offensive”.
John Monks said that the ETUC expected European companies to contribute to decent work and sustainable development in
their host countries. He pointed out that the European Union (EU) had consistently pressed for sustainable development
chapters to be included in Free Trade Agreements (FTA) with third countries in line with those objectives. The EU is
planning to engage in negotiations with Vietnam on such an FTA. In a letter to Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht, he
asked the Commission to ask EuroCham, which the ETUC understood received support from the Commission, “to desist from
making such statements which can only undermine the development of proper trade relations with Vietnam”.
Sharan Burrow described the Eurocham’s position as “an offensive intervention in Vietnam’s wage-setting, at a time when
many foreign companies are actually finding it hard to attract workers due to the low wages they offer. European
companies should not be trying to export poverty wages to Vietnam or anywhere else - decent incomes are central to
economic growth and development.”
Link to ETUC’s letter to EU Commissioner for Trade: http://www.etuc.org/IMG/pdf/251110_Karel_de_Gucht.pdf