A buoy for workers

Life is difficult, sometimes workers fall into difficult situation and they cannot find any support. Thus some workers have found black credit to borrow loans with high interest rates. Capital Aid For Employment Of The Poor Microfinance Institution (CEP) has joined hands to support laborers.

CEP - Thu Dau Mot City branch introduce its activities to trade union members and workers.

Laborers have access to capital

Nguyen Thi Gieng and her husband work at Shyang Hung Cheng Company (Thuan An town) and get a salary of over 12 million VND / month. This salary would be enough for her family to cover their life, if she did not have to pay for treatment of her son’s serious illness. Drug and medical bills for her child every day became a burden on the couple's shoulders. Being distraught, she had to ask friends to introduce to a "hot" loan. Since then, she has lived with the debt with very high interest rate. Knowing her situation, her company’s trade union introduced her to CEP, and then she borrowed a loan to pay the debt.

Similarly, Dao Thi Thu Van, a worker of Precious Garmant Company, also fell into difficult circumstance, needed money to pay for her two children’s study. The salary as a worker was only enough for family’s basic expenditure. Her husband works as a construction worker, and his salary is not stable too. If it had not been trade union of her company, she would not been able to take out a CEP loan, perhaps she could now become a "debtor" of black credit. Ms. Van said, black credit was very easy, she just had to provide information of identity card, and then got money in hand. But then we would get stuck, just one or two days of late payment, the creditors would call and threat us.

These above are just two of thousands of worker working at enterprises in the province. They have got loans from CEP. In order for workers to access this prestigious source of credit, Board of Directors of CEP and trade unions have put great effort into building a bridge for workers to safe loans.

To bring CEP closer to labor force

For CEP loans, workers are able to make monthly payment, the average interest rate is 0.6% - 0.65% / month with a maximum loan of VND 30 million. For low-income workers, who need a loan to improve their professional skills, average interest rate is 0.5% / month with a maximum loan of VND 30 million. For workers who need urgent cash (for unexpected expenses, like sickness, accidents...), the average interest rate is 0.5% / month, the maximum loan amount VND 15 million...

In order to help workers know and get access to CEP, CEP staff at two branches Thu Dau Mot and Thuan An cooperated with trade unions to carry out propagation and introduction during preliminary and summarizing conferences of trade unions... Ho Van Kiep, Director of CEP Thu Dau Mot branch, said that thanks to the activities to propagate CEP's activities, grassroots trade unions learned about CEP and announced to union members and workers in time, bringing practical benefits and preventing black credit.

However, according to statistics of the two CEP branches Thuan An and Thu Dau Mot, the rate of labor force accessing CEP loans is not high compared to the number of workers living and working in the province. Bringing CEP closer to the labor force, Doan The Luc, Director of CEP Thuan An, affirmed that he would strengthen development in the existing areas, expand into other areas, and develop segment of labor force directly working in industrial park VSIP 1, Song Than, Dong An... Loan procedures are simple, workers, who want to borrow loan, may contact their company trade union. Trade union will send the list to CEP. Workers only have to photocopy their identity card, family record book, and fill application form to get a loan.

Reported by Thien Ly – Translated by Ngoc Huynh