Vietnam labor union suggests three more public holidays

By Doan Loan September 17, 2019 | 05:33 am PT

A couple takes a selfie with fireworks on the Independence Day holiday, September 2, 2019, in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran.

Vietnam's trade union wants to add three days to the public holiday calendar, saying the added breaks will help people work better.

The Vietnam General Confederation of Labor is proposing two options to add three public holidays into the working calendar.

The first will provide four holidays in a row from the National Day, September 2, to September 5.

Ngo Duy Hieu, vice chairman of the confederation, said the National Day is close to September 5 when students across the nation attend a back-to-school ceremony. On that occasion, many parents usually take a day off to take their children to schools. To facilitate this, the confederation wants September 3 and 4 to be break days as well so that families have time to prepare.

In the second option, workers will get a break of two extra days for the New Year (January 1-3), and the Vietnamese Family Day on June 28 will be declared a public holiday.

The confederation will propose the two options to the National Assembly next month and seek the parliament's permission for the proposal to be included in draft amendments to the Labor Code, which is still receiving feedback before it is finalized.

More public holidays means laborers will have more break time to relax, take care of their families and recharge energy for working better, the confederation said.

Most recently, another suggestion for the draft amended Labor Code of the confederation to cut working hours of laborers from 48 to 44 hours per week has drawn opposition from businesses.

The Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs in July proposed making July 27, War Invalids and Martyrs Day, a public holiday but the government later crapped the proposal after lawmakers vetoed it.

Many legislators said that such a day should only be for tribute and should not be a day break, and that there is no need to remind the wound of wars.

For public holidays, Vietnamese people now enjoy break on the New Year Day; the commemoration day of the Hung Kings, the nation's mythical founders, on the 10th of the third lunar month; the Reunification Day on April 30; the Labor Day on May 1; the National Day of September 2; and Tet or Lunar New Year which normally lasts from seven to nine days.