Keep Us Strong WikiLeaks logo

Currently released so far... 97115 / 251,287

Articles

Browse latest releases

Browse by creation date

Browse by origin

A B C D F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z

Browse by tag

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
ETRD EAGR ETTC EAID ECON EFIN ECIN EINV ELAB EAIR ENRG EPET EWWT ECPS EIND EMIN ELTN EC ETMIN EUC EZ ET ELECTIONS ENVR EU EUN EG EINT ER ECONOMICS ES EMS ENIV EEB EN ECE ECOSOC EK ENVIRONMENT EFIS EI EWT ENGRD ECPSN EXIM EIAD ERIN ECPC EDEV ENGY ECTRD EPA ESTH ECCT EINVECON ENGR ERTD EUR EAP EWWC ELTD EL EXIMOPIC EXTERNAL ETRDEC ESCAP ECO EGAD ELNT ECONOMIC ENV ETRN EIAR EUMEM ENRGPARMOTRASENVKGHGPGOVECONTSPLEAID EREL ECOM ECONETRDEAGRJA ETCC ETRG ECONOMY EMED ETR ENERG EITC EFINOECD EURM EENG ERA EXPORT ENRD ECONEINVETRDEFINELABETRDKTDBPGOVOPIC EGEN EBRD EVIN ETRAD ECOWAS EFTA ECONETRDBESPAR EGOVSY EPIN EID ECONENRG EDRC ESENV ETT EB ENER ELTNSNAR ECHEVARRIA ETRC EPIT EDUC ESA EFI ENRGY ESCI EE EAIDXMXAXBXFFR EETC ECIP EIAID EIVN EBEXP ESTN EING EGOV ETRA EPETEIND ELAN ETRDGK EAIDRW ETRDEINVECINPGOVCS EPEC ENVI ELN EAG EPCS EPRT EPTED ETRB EUM EAIDS EFIC EFINECONEAIDUNGAGM EAIDAR ESF EIDN ELAM EDU EV EAIDAF ECN EDA EXBS EINTECPS ENRGTRGYETRDBEXPBTIOSZ EPREL EAC EINVEFIN ETA EAGER EINDIR ECA ECLAC ELAP EITI EUCOM ECONEFINETRDPGOVEAGRPTERKTFNKCRMEAID EARG ELDIN EINVKSCA ENNP EFINECONCS EFINTS ECCP ETC EAIRASECCASCID EINN ETRP EAIDNI EFQ ECOQKPKO EGPHUM EBUD ECONEINVEFINPGOVIZ ENERGY ELB EINDETRD EMI ECONEFIN EIB EURN ETRDEINVTINTCS EIN EFIM ETIO ELAINE EMN EATO EWTR EIPR EINVETC ETTD ETDR EIQ ECONCS EPPD ENRGIZ EISL ESPINOSA ELEC EAIG ESLCO EUREM ENTG ERD EINVECONSENVCSJA EEPET EUNCH ECINECONCS ETRO ETRDECONWTOCS ECUN EFND EPECO EAIRECONRP ERGR ETRDPGOV ECPN ENRGMO EPWR EET EAIS EAGRE EDUARDO EAGRRP EAIDPHUMPRELUG EICN ECONQH EVN EGHG ELBR EINF EAIDHO EENV ETEX ERNG ED
KMDR KPAO KPKO KJUS KCRM KGHG KFRD KWMN KDEM KTFN KHIV KGIC KIDE KSCA KNNP KHUM KIPR KSUM KISL KIRF KCOR KRCM KPAL KWBG KN KS KOMC KSEP KFLU KPWR KTIA KSEO KMPI KHLS KICC KSTH KMCA KVPR KPRM KE KU KZ KFLO KSAF KTIP KTEX KBCT KOCI KOLY KOR KAWC KACT KUNR KTDB KSTC KLIG KSKN KNN KCFE KCIP KGHA KHDP KPOW KUNC KDRL KV KPREL KCRS KPOL KRVC KRIM KGIT KWIR KT KIRC KOMO KRFD KUWAIT KG KFIN KSCI KTFIN KFTN KGOV KPRV KSAC KGIV KCRIM KPIR KSOC KBIO KW KGLB KMWN KPO KFSC KSEAO KSTCPL KSI KPRP KREC KFPC KUNH KCSA KMRS KNDP KR KICCPUR KPPAO KCSY KTBT KCIS KNEP KFRDCVISCMGTCASCKOCIASECPHUMSMIGEG KNNB KGCC KINR KPOP KMFO KENV KNAR KVIR KDRG KDMR KFCE KNAO KDEN KGCN KICA KIMMITT KMCC KLFU KMSG KSEC KUM KCUL KMNP KSMT KCOM KOMCSG KSPR KPMI KRAD KIND KCRP KAUST KWAWC KTER KCHG KRDP KPAS KITA KTSC KPAOPREL KWGB KIRP KJUST KMIG KLAB KTFR KSEI KSTT KAPO KSTS KLSO KWNN KPOA KHSA KNPP KPAONZ KBTS KWWW KY KJRE KPAOKMDRKE KCRCM KSCS KWMNCI KESO KWUN KPLS KIIP KEDEM KPAOY KRIF KGICKS KREF KTRD KFRDSOCIRO KTAO KJU KWMNPHUMPRELKPAOZW KEN KO KNEI KEMR KKIV KEAI KWAC KRCIM KWCI KFIU KWIC KCORR KOMS KNNO KPAI KBWG KTTB KTBD KTIALG KILS KFEM KTDM KESS KNUC KPA KOMCCO KCEM KRCS KWBGSY KNPPIS KNNPMNUC KWN KERG KLTN KALM KCCP KSUMPHUM KREL KGH KLIP KTLA KAWK KWMM KVRP KVRC KAID KSLG KDEMK KX KIF KNPR KCFC KFTFN KTFM KPDD KCERS KMOC KDEMAF KMEPI KEMS KDRM KEPREL KBTR KEDU KNP KIRL KNNR KMPT KISLPINR KTPN KA KJUSTH KPIN KDEV KTDD KAKA KFRP KWNM KTSD KINL KJUSKUNR KWWMN KECF KWBC KPRO KVBL KOM KFRDKIRFCVISCMGTKOCIASECPHUMSMIGEG KEDM KFLD KLPM KRGY KNNF KICR KIFR KM KWMNCS KAWS KLAP KPAK KDDG KCGC KID KNSD KMPF KPFO KDP KCMR KRMS KNPT KNNNP KTIAPARM KDTB KNUP KPGOV KNAP KNNC KUK KSRE KREISLER KIVP KQ KTIAEUN KPALAOIS KRM KISLAO KWM KFLOA
PHUM PINR PTER PGOV PREL PREF PL PM PHSA PE PARM PINS PK PUNE PO PALESTINIAN PU PBTS PROP PTBS POL POLI PA PGOVZI POLMIL POLITICAL PARTIES POLM PD POLITICS POLICY PAS PMIL PINT PNAT PV PKO PPOL PERSONS PING PBIO PH PETR PARMS PRES PCON PETERS PRELBR PT PLAB PP PAK PDEM PKPA PSOCI PF PLO PTERM PJUS PSOE PELOSI PROPERTY PGOVPREL PARP PRL PNIR PHUMKPAL PG PREZ PGIC PBOV PAO PKK PROV PHSAK PHUMPREL PROTECTION PGOVBL PSI PRELPK PGOVENRG PUM PRELKPKO PATTY PSOC PRIVATIZATION PRELSP PGOVEAIDUKNOSWGMHUCANLLHFRSPITNZ PMIG PREC PAIGH PROG PSHA PARK PETER POG PHUS PPREL PS PTERPREL PRELPGOV POV PKPO PGOVECON POUS PGOVPRELPHUMPREFSMIGELABEAIDKCRMKWMN PWBG PMAR PREM PAR PNR PRELPGOVEAIDECONEINVBEXPSCULOIIPBTIO PARMIR PGOVGM PHUH PARTM PN PRE PTE PY POLUN PPEL PDOV PGOVSOCI PIRF PGOVPM PBST PRELEVU PGOR PBTSRU PRM PRELKPAOIZ PGVO PERL PGOC PAGR PMIN PHUMR PVIP PPD PGV PRAM PINL PKPAL PTERE PGOF PINO PHAS PODC PRHUM PHUMA PREO PPA PEPFAR PGO PRGOV PAC PRESL PORG PKFK PEPR PRELP PREFA PNG PGOVPHUMKPAO PRELECON PINOCHET PFOR PGOVLO PHUMBA PRELC PREK PHUME PHJM POLINT PGOVPZ PGOVKCRM PGOVE PHALANAGE PARTY PECON PEACE PROCESS PLN PRELSW PAHO PEDRO PRELA PASS PPAO PGPV PNUM PCUL PGGV PSA PGOVSMIGKCRMKWMNPHUMCVISKFRDCA PGIV PRFE POGOV PEL PBT PAMQ PINF PSEPC POSTS PHUMPGOV PVOV PHSAPREL PROLIFERATION PENA PRELTBIOBA PIN PRELL PGOVPTER PHAM PHYTRP PTEL PTERPGOV PHARM PROTESTS PRELAF PKBL PRELKPAO PKNP PARMP PHUML PFOV PERM PUOS PRELGOV PHUMPTER PARAGRAPH PERURENA PBTSEWWT PCI PETROL PINSO PINSCE PQL PEREZ PBS

Browse by classification

Community resources

courage is contagious

Viewing cable 06HOCHIMINHCITY31, HCMC STRIKES FORCE AN INCREASE IN VIETNAM'S MINIMUM WAGE

If you are new to these pages, please read an introduction on the structure of a cable as well as how to discuss them with others. See also the FAQs

Understanding cables
Every cable message consists of three parts:
  • The top box shows each cables unique reference number, when and by whom it originally was sent, and what its initial classification was.
  • The middle box contains the header information that is associated with the cable. It includes information about the receiver(s) as well as a general subject.
  • The bottom box presents the body of the cable. The opening can contain a more specific subject, references to other cables (browse by origin to find them) or additional comment. This is followed by the main contents of the cable: a summary, a collection of specific topics and a comment section.
To understand the justification used for the classification of each cable, please use this WikiSource article as reference.

Discussing cables
If you find meaningful or important information in a cable, please link directly to its unique reference number. Linking to a specific paragraph in the body of a cable is also possible by copying the appropriate link (to be found at theparagraph symbol). Please mark messages for social networking services like Twitter with the hash tags #cablegate and a hash containing the reference ID e.g. #06HOCHIMINHCITY31.
Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
06HOCHIMINHCITY31 2006-01-10 03:22 2011-08-25 00:00 UNCLASSIFIED Consulate Ho Chi Minh City
This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

100322Z Jan 06

ACTION EAP-00   

INFO  LOG-00   AID-00   CEA-01   CIAE-00  CTME-00  INL-00   DODE-00  
      ITCE-00  DOTE-00  DS-00    EB-00    EXME-00  E-00     FAAE-00  
      FBIE-00  UTED-00  VCI-00   FRB-00   H-00     TEDE-00  INR-00   
      IO-00    LAB-01   MOFM-00  MOF-00   VCIE-00  NSAE-00  ISN-00   
      NSCE-00  OES-00   OIC-00   OMB-00   NIMA-00  ISNE-00  SP-00    
      IRM-00   SSO-00   SS-00    STR-00   FMP-00   BBG-00   IIP-00   
      DSCC-00  PRM-00   DRL-00   G-00     NFAT-00  SAS-00   SWCI-00  
        /002W
                  ------------------7C1E6C  100323Z /38    
FM AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0214
INFO AMEMBASSY HANOI PRIORITY 
USDOC WASHINGTON DC
DEPT OF AGRICULTURE WASHINGTON DC
USMISSION GENEVA PRIORITY 
DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC
DEPT OF AGRICULTURE USD FAS WASHINGTON DC
ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS
AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY
UNCLAS  HO CHI MINH CITY 000031 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/MLS AND DRL 
DEPARTMENT PLEASE PASS DEPARTMENT OF LABOR 
DEPARTMENT PLEASE PASS TO USTR, ELENA BRYAN AND GREG HICKS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB ECON ETRD PGOV VM
SUBJECT: HCMC STRIKES FORCE AN INCREASE IN VIETNAM'S MINIMUM WAGE 
 
REF: 05 HCMC 1146 
 
1.  (SBU) Summary:  A rash of strikes in foreign-owned factories 
in the Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) area since December 28 has led 
local authorities to urge the GVN to raise the national minimum 
wage for employees in Foreign-Invested Enterprises (FIE) by as 
much as 40 percent.  The strikes started in factories where 
employees were only paid a minimum wage of as little as VND 
600,000 (about USD 38) per month, but then spread to companies 
that paid their employees wages significantly above the minimum. 
 In most cases, factory owners were forced to accede to worker 
demands to raise salaries an average of 40 percent regardless of 
whether or not the wage already exceeded the minimum wage before 
police and local authorities would intervene to stop the 
strikes, many of which caused significant property damage and 
some personal injury.  In response to the strikes the GVN 
announced Decree 03/2006/ND-CP on January 6 which will provide 
for a 40 percent increase in the national minimum wage level for 
FIEs.  If implemented, this increase will exacerbate the already 
dramatic difference between minimum wage levels mandated for 
Vietnamese companies and those mandated for foreign-invested 
enterprises, which would appear to be a violation of national 
treatment principles mandated by the WTO and BTA.  End Summary. 
 
2.  (SBU) Since December 28 striking workers at as many as 
two-dozen companies in HCMC and neighboring provinces have 
demanded an increase in their minimum, or base, wage.  The 
strikes mostly have involved Taiwanese and South Korean-owned 
textile companies in a few industrial parks located in Ho Chi 
Minh City and Binh Duong province.  HCMC DoLISA reported that 
these strikes are illegal.  However, MOLISA clarified that 
employees have the right to strike, but only if the Vietnam 
General Confederation of Labor (VGCL) approves and a majority of 
the employees at a worksite support the strike.  According to 
MOLISA, none of the nearly 1,000 strikes since 1995 has met this 
requirement.  Thus, all the strikes in Vietnam have been 
"illegal."  The HCMC demonstrations varied in size from 300 to 
18,000 workers at a time.  Local police were unable or unwilling 
to provide protection against the strikers, who caused property 
damage and even physical injury, in some cases.  An unconfirmed 
press report said that one footwear factory suffered USD 700,000 
in damage to its sewing machines and factory while another such 
report said that one management labor liaison officer was badly 
beaten and hospitalized. 
 
3.  (SBU) The minimum salary for employees at foreign-invested 
companies has been VND 626,000 (about USD 39) per month in urban 
districts of HCMC and Hanoi; VND 556,000 (USD 35) in the rural 
districts of HCMC and Hanoi, and in Hai Phong, Bien Hoa City and 
Vung Tau City; and VND 487,000 (USD 30) elsewhere in the 
country.  These wages were set in March 1999.  Since then, 
consumer prices have risen 28 percent.  Vietnamese companies are 
required to pay employees a minimum of VND 350,000 (about USD 
22) per month, but every employee at State-owned enterprises 
(SOEs) receives more than the minimum wage.  DoLISA noted that 
these minimum wage levels are meant to be a base salary for 
untrained workers and commented that many managers have kept 
salaries permanently at these levels.  In Vietnamese companies a 
common practice is to have a base salary and then various 
"allowances" (similar to US employee benefits) for things such 
as meals.  These allowances can significantly increase an 
employee's real income.  For SOE employees, an employee's 
monthly salary is calculated by multiplying the minimum wage by 
the wage threshold.  The existing wage threshold is a rate 
determined by factors such as the responsibility and education 
level rated from 1 to 8.5. 
 
4.  (SBU) Though the strikes started in Asian-owned companies 
that seem to have pegged their salaries to the 
government-mandated minimum wage, the strikes spread to other 
foreign-owned companies that pay their employees more than the 
base wage.  Scancom, a Danish furniture manufacturer that 
employs more than 5,000 people at its factory in Binh Duong 
province, reported to Econoff that after watching neighboring 
factories get hit with strikes all week, 2,000 of its employees 
went on strike late on January 6.  Local police and labor 
officials would not remove the strikers from the factory until 
Scancom raised worker salaries by 40 percent.  Having had all 
the windows in the factory broken and narrowly avoided injuries, 
Scancom gave in to these demands.  Scancom had paid its workers 
a base wage of VND 950,000 (about USD 60) per month, well above 
the minimum VND 600,000 (about USD 38) per month mandated by 
Binh Duong province.  Not only did the police decline to assist 
Scancom during the strike January 6, but they had visited the 
company a couple days before and warned that Scancom would also 
experience strikes if it did not raise its wages, the Managing 
 
Director of Scancom told Econoff. 
 
5.  (SBU) Scancom's Managing Director and other factory managers 
in Binh Duong opine that provincial authorities have wanted to 
raise the minimum wage, unchanged since 1999, but have been 
reluctant to do so because they believed such a move would be 
unpopular with employers, domestic and foreign.  Instead, over 
the past month they have engaged in a whispering campaign to the 
media and in business meetings about the need to increase the 
minimum wage.  The factory managers believe Binh Duong 
authorities quietly endorsed the strikes in the hopes that the 
strikes would force employers to raise their wages (which has 
been happening) and then the local government could "correct" 
the minimum wage after the fact. 
 
6.  (SBU) In response to these events, the People's Committee of 
Ho Chi Minh City January 3 submitted a memo to the GVN asking 
for an increase in the minimum salary at foreign invested 
companies.  On January 6, 2006 Prime Minister Phan Van Khai 
signed Decree No. 03/2006/ND-CP on minimum wage for FIEs, which 
take effect on February 1, 2006.  According to the decree, the 
monthly minimum wage for foreign-owned businesses will be VND 
870,000 (USD 54.70) in the urban districts of Hanoi and HCMC; 
VND 790,000 (USD 49.60) in the suburban districts of Hanoi and 
HCMC, as well as in the districts of Hai Phong, Bien Hoa, and 
Vung Tau (Ba Ria - Vung Tau), Thu Dua Mot town, Thuan An, Di An, 
Ben Cat and Tan Uyen districts of Binh Duong province; and VND 
710,000 (USD 44.60) for the remainder of the country.  The 
minimum wage level regulated in the decree would become the 
basis for calculating salaries, payrolls and allowances.  The 
decision also stated that the lowest salary paid for trained 
workers must be seven per cent higher than the minimum rate. 
The minimum salary set by the decree will be adjusted in 
accordance with the country's economic growth, CPI and labor 
market.  However, the decision encouraged companies to offer 
salary levels that are higher than the minimum wages. 
 
7.  (SBU) Comment:  Separate minimum wage levels for local and 
foreign companies appears to be a long-standing violation of the 
national treatment principle of Article 2, Chapter IV of the 
U.S. Bilateral Trade Agreement.  The further increase of 40 
percent to the minimum wage level at foreign firms will only 
exacerbate the gap between local and non-Vietnamese firms.  It 
is interesting that the official minimum wage seems to be 
treated not as a minimum at all by many firms but as a pegged, 
regulated wage level.  In our view, the old minimum of USD40 per 
month was in fact a highly exploitative wage.  Most of the 
better plants that we have visited, including plants producing 
for, or owned by Western interests have wage levels more closely 
in line with Scancom's $60 per month.  However, once violent 
strike action at the lowest wage foreign invested firms proved 
effective, it is not surprising that the strikes spread to 
better employers as well.  In some cases, a base wage of USD 85 
per month will make plants uncompetitive.  The garment industry, 
in particular, is already struggling to compete with Cambodia 
and Bangladesh, as well as China (reftel).  MOLISA unofficially 
commented that these strikes were not only about raising the 
minimum wage, but also highlight the problems that many 
industries face with industrial and worker relations. 
WINNICK 
 
 
NNNN