Over the past 70 years, leaderships and commands at all levels have paid due regard to building strong Military Trade Union (MTU) organizationally; it has effectively operated according to its functions and tasks and greatly contributed to the Military’s process of building, maturing, fighting, and winning. Promoting its traditions, the MTU continues to improve the effectiveness of its operation to meet the requirements for the Military build-up and Homeland protection in the new situation.

In the war against the French, the Military Weaponry Sector in charge of manufacturing materiel was founded and quickly developed; its workers joined the trade unions within their factories. To meet the requirements for the political task, under the decision of the Central Public Mobilization Commission, all trade unions within military weaponry factories were unified into an organization under the Vietnam General Federation of Labour. The Conference on establishing the Vietnam Weaponry Manufacture Trade Union (the forerunner of the present-day MTU) was held on March 6^th 1949 in Pac San village, Yen Dinh commune, Cho Moi district, Bac Kan province. Afterwards that day was acknowledged as the traditional day of the MTU within the heroic Vietnam People’s Army (VPA). Since then, the VPA’S process of maturing and developing has always been accompanied by generations of unionists and defence workers and MTU branches.

During the struggle for liberating, reunifying and defending the country, in spite of facing hardships and fierceness of the wars and both combating and joining production, the MTU cadres and members and defence workers always maintained their will of offensive and creative passion, designing and managing to manufacture a great deal of weapons and technical equipment, taking part in building roads, greatly contributing to the VPA’s victories. In the process of production and combat, there appeared many heroic examples, such as Tran Dai Nghia, Ngo Gia Kham, Cao Viet Bao in the war against the French Colonialists, various movements, such as “working overtime, turning towards the front line”, “gaining 5 peaks”, “determination to win for the heroic front line” in the war against America as well as thousands of emulative soldiers across the country.

To meet the requirements for building and defending the Homeland in the renewal period, unionists and defence workers have always boosted the emulation movements, while actively undertaking researches, innovating, manufacturing, repairing, replacing, and restoring many weapons and equipment, and producing public goods of various types, thereby promoting the socio-economic development, saving and contributing trillions of VND to the State and VPA’s budgets. With those achievements, the MTU has been presented many noble awards.

The tasks of defending the Homeland, building the VPA, and developing defence industry now impose very high requirements and necessitate the MTU branches grasping and well implementing resolutions of all-level party committees, particularly the Resolution of the 12^th Congress of Vietnam Trade Union and the 5-Year Action Program by the MTU (2018-2023). At the same time, they should closely follow the leadership and direction of the Central Military Commission, particularly the General Department of Politics and the Vietnam General Federation of Labour, while adopting synchronously measures for enhancing the effectiveness of operation, with a focus on the following.

First, enhancing the leadership and direction of all-level party committees, commanders, commissars and political offices over the trade union operation. Grasping the Party’s guidelines on building the working class, its mass mobilization work, and the importance of the trade union work, the all-level party committees, commanders, commissars, and political offices should raise their responsibility for leading, directing, inspecting and facilitating the MTU branches’ fulfilment of their function, authority, and responsibility under the law and the Regulations on the trade union work within the VPA. In the process, it is necessary to opportunely grasp difficulties in organization and operation of MTU branches to formulate the remedial measures.

Second, continuing to improve the quality of propagation and education within the MTU branches. The MTUs at grass-roots level must be the place where unionists and workers express their thought and aspirations, helping them deal with difficulties in their life. However, the work of propagation and education within the MTU branches has been boring and irrelevant to the unionists and workers’ life. Thus, MTU branches should renew and improve the quality of propagation and education, combine this work with political education, emulation movements and campaigns launched by sectors, offices, and units, and promote the effectiveness of groups of self-management workers, “workers’ month”, legal bookshelves. Focuses of propagation should be placed on the Party’s guidelines, the State’s law, the VPA’s tasks, resolutions and action programs by MTU congresses at all levels, legal knowledge, professional competence, occupational ethnics, and working style. As a result, this work will help build a contingent of MTU cadres, unionists and defence workers who have political stuff, always promote the virtues of Uncle Ho’s soldiers, overcome all difficulties to fulfil their task, maintain revolutionary vigilance, thwart the hostile forces’ “peaceful evolution” strategy and plots of “depoliticizing the VPA”, and prevent and combat “self-evolution” and “self-transformation” from within effectively.

Third, actively renewing and improving the contents, methods, and quality of operation; heightening the role of the MTUs at grass-roots level, encouraging a large number of cadres, officers, professional servicemen and workers to join the MTU branches. To do so, the MTUs at grass-roots level should continue to grasp and execute the Resolution 6a/NQ-TLĐ, dated January 6^th 2011, by the Standing Board of Vietnam General Federation of Labour (10^th tenure) on “renewing and improving the contents, methods, and quality of operation of grass-roots level trade unions”, diversify and turn forms and contents of operation towards the political task of each office and unit, take care of and protect the legitimate rights and benefits of the unionists and defence workers. Significance should be attached to renewing emulation movements in accordance with reality to attract their members and workers’ participation, particularly the movements, such as “good, creative labour”, “green, clean, beautiful, and labour hygiene and safety” in line with the Determined to Win emulation movement and the Campaign entitled “promote tradition, devote talent, deserve to be Uncle Ho’s soldiers”, putting and developing those movements in order across the MTU branches. Due regard should be paid to reviewing the movements and drawing lessons, detecting, cultivating, honouring, rewarding and multiplying typical examples in order to encourage the unionists and workers’ fulfilment of their assigned task.

Fourth, unceasingly building strong MTU cadres and branches as an important measure to improve the effectiveness of operation of the MTUs at grass-roots level. To that end, party committees and commands of offices, units and enterprises should pay due attention to training and cultivating MTU cadres under the Resolution 4a/NQ-TLĐ, dated March 4^th 2010, by the Standing Board of Vietnam General Federation of Labour (10^th tenure) on “continuing to enhancing the quality of training and cultivating trade union cadres in the 2010-2020 period”. It is necessary to make plans for training and building a contingent of MTU cadres both qualitatively and quantitatively, particularly building a pool of trade union presidents with the prestige and capability to give sound advice to party committees, commissars and political offices on leading, guiding and effectively organizing the workers’ movement and the trade union operation within the VPA. It is important to undertake researches and counsel the completion of the organizational structure of trade unions in the process of rearranging, renewing and equitizing military-run enterprises. At the same time, it is vital to foster the work of initiating new members into the MTU and encourage officers, professional servicemen, and defence workers, particularly in academies, schools, hospitals, and research centres, to join the MTU in order to improve the quality of trade unions.

Fifth, frequently taking care of and defending the legitimate rights and benefits of unionist and labour. This is a main function of a trade union which should be well fulfiled to gather the labour force. Thus, the MTU branches at all levels should raise their responsibility for protecting the rights and benefits of the labour under the Regulations on Democracy at grass-roots level and via the labour meetings and soldiers’ congresses to encourage their mastery over the production and the development of offices, units, and enterprises. At the same time, it is essential to step up dialogues between trade unions, labour and employers, sign and realize the collective labour agreements as the basis for defending the rights and benefits of unionists and labour. Importance should be attached to building a harmonious, stable, and advanced labour relationship within enterprises under the 10^th Party Central Secretariat’s Directive 22-CT/TW, dated June 5^th 2008. Besides, it is vital to enhance legal consultation and assistance, well perform the trade unions’ role in supervision and social criticism, coordinate the work of inspecting and supervising the implementation of policies related to the rights and obligations of unionists and labour, particularly the policies on social insurance, health, and labour safety, and take part in settling proposals, denunciations and complaints under the law. It is necessary to promote the synergy, step up social, cultural, sports activities, use the funds and carry out programs in an effective manner, such as the MTU funds for developing household economy, “trade union homes - comradeship” in order to improve the material and spiritual life of unionists and labour.

Well implementing those above-mentioned measures will contribute to enhancing the effectiveness of trade unions at grass-roots level, promoting the tradition of “Worker soldiers - Uncle Ho’s soldiers”, overcoming all difficulties and challenges to fulfil all assigned tasks and deserve the Central Military Commission and National Defence Ministry’s praise: “loyalty, responsibility, creativity, and development for the Homeland construction and protection.

Sr. Col. Nguyen Dinh Duc, Member of the Presidium of Vietnam General Federation of Labour, Head of the MTU