Learning Vietnamese Labor Law with Rija!

Today was a typical day for us at TDTU. The quadruple we were all staying in was hustling and bustling by 9 AM, and we were ready for our day. The first order of the day was ‘café su da’ from the English Café, which arguably has the best coffee on campus even though the barista had no fancy machines and poured the brew from her thermos. 

Coffees in hand, we made our way to our classroom, where we learned about Vietnamese Labor Law. Being ILRies and having focused on American Labor Law in the past, it was fascinating to learn about the Labor Law System in Vietnam. On paper, most agree that the law is very favorable to workers and their rights. However, enforcement of the law is weak, and penalties for those who violate it are non-existent. We also happened to be in Vietnam, just as the new labor laws were being introduced and had the opportunity of discussing their ramifications with both professors. In particular, the new law would allow freedom of association in Vietnam as opposed to the central union, the VGCL.

I found the paternalistic role of the government in labor law very interesting as laws like paid maternity leave, minimum wage and a cap on overtime suggest good intentions. However, the government needs to balance the interest of Foreign Direct Investment. These are questions that many countries in the region are no doubt battling with. 

The other highlight of my day and I daresay my trip, was being introduced to the all-encompassing service app called ‘Grab’. Grab works like Uber, Uber eats, a hotel booking service, payment portal, and even package delivery service. This allowed me to start tasting different kinds of bubble tea every day! I recommend ‘Bobapop,’ but the local favorite seems to be ‘Koi’.