A survey in Binh Duong province near HCM City shows that workers in the industrial zones there are poorly nourished.
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Workers buy xôi (steamed glutinous rice) before work begins. |
Companies budget eight to ten thousand dong per meal per worker, but after deducting the fee for contractors and other service costs, the true value of a typical meal is only four to five thousand dong, roughly twenty-five US cents, according to a report summarized in Tuoi Tre. (For reference, a kilo of rice costs at least 10,000 dong, a kilo of pork about 55,000 dong, a kilo of beef 100,000 dong, and a bundle of greens about 3000 dong.)
The quality of worker meals is very poor, lacking vegetables, fat and protein, concluded the Food Hygiene and Safety Division (a Ministry of Health unit) in Binh Duong province after surveying firms in twenty industrial zones (IZ) employing hundreds of thousands of workers. In fact, it said, there’s not enough nutrition in the company rations to sustain the workers when they have overtime work.
Worker meals more plain
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A worker from the Tan Tao Industrial Zone in |
“The quality of worker meals is at ‘red alarm’ level. Many companies pay 8000 dong for a ration but after the contractors pay commissions and wages, the ration is worth less than 5000 dong. Meanwhile, workers have to work more than eight hours a day. They cannot work with poor meals,” said Nguyen Ngoc Son, a member of the Binh Duong province People’s Council. “I’ve been on the the province’s culture and social affairs oversight board for many years, and we’ve never seen it worse.”
Son said there around 500,000 factory workers in Binh Duong. If matters related to worker health are not dealt with, he warned, they can reach dangerous levels.
The real price of a canteen meal includes value added tax, wages for the kitchen staff, transportation fees, insurance and the commissions that contractors have to pay to the companies to get the canteen contract.
According to the survey, 65 percent of the meal providers have found it necessary to pay a ‘commission.’
At the time of the survey, the meal providers were reimbursed an average of 9400 dong per meal. Over ninety percent of them said that they were willing to provide meals for seven or eight thousand dong but they couldn’t guarantee that these would provide sufficient nutrition. Actually, many of these contractors were providing rations worth only four to six thousand dong at that time.
Most of the meal providers relied on imported frozen meats. Three out of five violated the regulations on keeping food samples, which would make it difficult to investigate food poisoning cases if they occur. Notably, many kitchens provided meals with little vegetables.
The Binh Duong Labour Federation recently met with managers of the Green River Wood and Lumber Company in An Phu commune, Thuan An district, in an effort to solve the complaint of hundreds of workers about the meal quality.
Workers said that this firm budgeted 8000 dong per meal but it organized a tender to choose a contractor so the true value a meal is only four to five thousand dong. The contractor explained that it had to pay 10 percent VAT, wages, transportation fees, etc.
Nguyen Van Khuong, vice chairman of the Binh Duong Labour Federation, said that most firms budget less than 10,000 dong/meal. Some companies paid their contractors as little as 6000 dong per meal. Meanwhile, the price for food has gone up since the Tet holiday.
A survey conducted last year in Dong Nai province, another home for IZs on the outskirts of HCM City, revealed the same situation. Companies were budgeting only 3500 to 8000 dong per canteen meal.
Besides poor nutrition, food poisoning is a big threat from industrial meals. A dozen food poisoning cases were recorded at plants last year.
Meals at home
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A meal in the dorm. |
Though meals at factories are at alarm level for quality, the meals that workers eat at their dormitories are not appreciably better. Workers often buy cheap food from mobile markets because their salary is low while the prices are going up.
At a row of boarding houses in front of the Linh Trung Export Processing Zone 1 (EPZ) in HCM City, workers have to get up at 5 am to prepare their breakfast. Some take instant noodles with vegetables. Some others roast cold rice left over from yesterday’s dinner. Some workers share a pot of rice and a pot of vegetable soup.
Near the gate of the Linh Trung EPZ, dozens of vendors sell xôi (steamed sticky rice), boiled maize and soybean milk as breakfast for workers. “Rich” workers can buy a 5000 dong portion of xôi with a small piece of grilled chopped meat. Others can only afford 2000 dong’s worth of xôi or a plastic bag of soybean milk worth 1500-2000 dong. Many more enter the plants with empty bellies.
“A 2000 dong (one American cent) portion of xôi is enough. I will get a free lunch at the factory,” said a female worker.
“Last month I had to pay 3000 dong more for electricity and 2000 dong more for water, and the rent on my room was raised by 50,000,” said Phuong Dung from the Tan Thuan Export Processing Zone in HCM City. “The price of food is also up since Tet. I have to calculate expenses very carefully.”
In the afternoon, Dung stops at a temporary market near the EPZ to buy food for herself and three roommates. Today she buys three tomatoes for 6000 dong, a small fish for 17,000 dong and a bundle of spinach for 3000 dong. Including spices, rice and gas, each worker in her dorm room pays around 8000 dong for their evening meal.
VietNamNet/Tuoi Tre
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