Workers receive free motorbike repairs for safe Tet trips home

Truong Hong Duc, a worker at the Thien Loc shoe factory in District 12, on Sunday brought his motorbike to the Young Employee Assistance Center (YEAC), located about a kilometer away from his apartment, for a check-up.

The mechanic said Duc's motorbike, which is over 5-year-old, works fine, although the oil should be changed and some gears should be adjusted.

"I can now return to my hometown rest-assured," said Duc, who's from Tra Vinh Province in the Mekong Delta.

On Saturday and Sunday alone, the YEAC and other units had cooperated with the Global Insurance Corporation (GIC) and the AP Saigon Petrol company to replace the oil and perform check-ups on motorbikes from 1,000 workers in factories across the city. Workers took their motorbikes to YEAC offices in districts 7 and 12 for support.

Duong Minh Trung, one of the 30 mechanics who were enlisted to help the workers, said around 200 motorbikes had been checked over the weekend. He and his colleagues changed the oil and adjusted motorbike parts, and if there were parts that need to be replaced, they told the motorbikes’ owners to go to private shops for more work.

The entire motorbike repair campaign cost over VND200 million ($8,150).

Hoang Quoc Cuong, the business marketing development director of GIC, said many motorbikes were in bad shape when they were sent in for check-ups, posing safety risks on the road. As such, besides repairing the motorbikes, mechanics also gave recommendations on how to maintain the vehicles, he said.

Cuong said due to precarious economic situations this year, many workers chose to ride their motorbikes back to their hometowns instead of purchasing bus or train tickets.

"We hope people can have a safe journey home for Tet," he said, adding that if the program is well-received by workers, GIC would consider launching similar programs for future Tet festivals.

Several factories in HCMC and neighboring Binh Duong have been providing motorbike check-ups for workers for years, especially before Tet, to ensure safe trips back home.

From Jan. 23 to 26, around 200 motorbikes from workers at the Datalogic Vietnam factory, located within the hi-tech area of Thu Duc City, were repaired. The program has been implemented annually for nearly 15 years to make sure workers stay safe while traveling on their own vehicles.

Dang Van Chung, general director of Datalogic Vietnam, said motorbike check-ups are done every quarter. There are programs to track the repair process so parts can be replaced at the right time. The costs for hiring mechanics and purchasing tools and parts amount to at least VND60 million for each session. Mechanics are told to pay special attention to the motorbikes as Tet nears so that workers can safely return home on their vehicles.

Similarly, the Diversatek Vietnam company at the VSIP 1 industrial park in Binh Duong also organized motorbike check-ups in December last year, where 60 workers had certain motorbike parts replaced. The firm said such check-ups are regularly done throughout the year.

Tran Tien Phat, general director of Diversatek Vietnam, said the company spends around VND50 million a year to fix workers’ motorbikes.