Companies strive to create useful playgrounds for workers

Besides taking care of the material life, many grassroots trade unions and business leaders also strive to take care of the mental life of employees. That is building football fields and volleyball courts in enterprises, organizing competitions, exchanges, trips for workers. In addition, many enterprises also set up libraries at enterprises to improve knowledge of workers.

TCL Vietnam Smart Electronics Co., Ltd invested more than 1 billion VND in building football fields and volleyball courts to create playgrounds for employees.

 Bringing books to workers

In the past five years, 1,500 employees of Scancom Company (Di An City) have gotten used to reading books every day. The company library always has about 3,000 books and adds new books monthly and quarterly. In addition to setting up a library, creating a spacious and airy reading room, the company also arranges a permanent staff to look after the library, lending books to workers to read every day.

Nguyen Thi Thu Huong, Trade Union’s Vice President of Scancom Company, said that all books in the company's library are supported by Di An City Library. Based on the needs of readers, the company will choose the right books, in accordance with the wishes of employees. There are series, books about science and technology, marriage and family, and even comics for children, learning books for children of workers. Because the time to read at the company is not much, every day employees go to the reading room to find their favorite books, or books for their children and then borrow them to take home.

“In order to improve the reading culture for employees at the company, the trade union has a lucky draw program every month. Those who read books or borrow books at the library receive coupons, then randomly drawn. The highest prize is VND1 million, the remaining prizes range from VND200,000 to 500,000," Huong said.

Nguyen Tan Phuong, employee of Scancom Company, said: "The company's employees are well taken care of by trade union as well as the company's leaders by many fun and entertainment activities, taking care of both material and mental lives, such as organizing trips annually, children of disadvantaged families are supported with books, school fees, allowances when workers are sick, or have accidents of all kinds... The company's trade union always maintains physical training and sports activities for employees to practice, compete, and exchange with friends. Personally, I find it very good to maintain the library and improve the reading culture for workers, provide more knowledge for employees."

Besides bringing books to businesses, Di An City Library also cooperates with cultural lodging house’s owners in the city to deliver books to lodging houses. As a result, workers can have many books for themselves and their children. Phan Thi Long, owner of a lodging house in Noi Hoa 1 quarter, Binh An ward, Di An city, said: “My lodging house always has about 300 book titles and changes every month. Besides the priority which is books for children of workers, neighbors who want to read books can borrow books without fees. Every month, the tenants ask the City Library to exchange mainly learning books for their children. I personally feel that this is a very meaningful activity and needs to be replicated.”

Build football and volleyball courts

In order to create a playground for workers, many businesses now build modern football and volleyball courts right at their businesses, helping employees relax and have fun after work. For example, recently, TCL Vietnam Smart Electronics Co., Ltd (VSIP 2) has invested more than 1 billion VND to build two football fields and 1 volleyball court for employees.

Dao Minh Tinh, Chairman of Trade Union of TCL Vietnam Smart Electronics Co., Ltd, said: “The football fields have been inaugurated for less than 3 months, but we organized many tournaments, very useful exchanges with other companies, creating an interesting playground for workers, as well as helping them to exercise every day”. According to Tinh, grassroots trade union of the company always listens to opinions of employees to make suitable proposals to the business leaders. In addition to suggestions on regimes, policies, wages and bonuses, suggestions on entertainment and sports activities for employees were also noted by business leaders to have suitable models and activities.

For four years, every afternoon, workers, who love football and volleyball, in Maruichi Sun Steel Joint Stock Company (Di An City) put their shoes on, come onto the field, and have fun, instead of renting an outside football field as before.

Nguyen Minh Hoang, Trade Union President of the company, said: “The company invested hundreds of millions of VND to build a standard football and volleyball field, creating a playground for employees. We also regularly invite other company's football teams playing here to exchange. All trade union activities are aimed at employees and protect the interests of workers. Therefore, those who do trade union work at enterprises do not hesitate to propose and create useful activities for employees of their companies. Every year, our trade union also organizes many other activities, such as organizing trips for employees, taking care of poor workers, poor students who are children of workers ... "

Some other companies, such as ShoWa Gloves Vietnam Co., Ltd (Thuan An City), Thien Nam Investment and Development Joint Stock Company (Di An City), Yazaki EDS Vietnam Co., Ltd (Di An City)... not only create a playground for employees by building football and volleyball courts but also build and present houses, kindergartens right in their factories to take care of employees as well as their children... It can be said that these jobs help employees feel stress-free to work effectively and stay with their companies.

 Reported by Quang Tam - Translated by Ngoc Huynh