Labour Law and (In)justice in Workers' Letters in Vietnam

Date

2018

Authors

Nguyen, Tu

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Cambridge University Press

Abstract

This article explores whether and how labour law matters in factory workers' grievances and demands in their letters sent to the unions and state authorities in Dong Nai Province, an industrial hub in the south of Vietnam. An examination of the letters demonstrates that the legalistic language of rights and other provisions in the Labour Code plays little role in shaping workers' accounts. A majority of letter writers instead referred to moral aspects of subsistence, reciprocity, and their subjective views of fairness to make their claims. Yet the moral constructions of workers' claims may overlap and derive from values imbricated within the Labour Code. These observations raise the need to consider the subtle way in which law generates workers' resistance against management and/or the state, as well as the fluid boundary between law and morality in workers' narratives of (in)justice.

Description

Keywords

labour law, resistance, justice, factory workers, Vietnam

Citation

Source

Asian Journal of Law and Society

Type

Journal article

Book Title

Entity type

Access Statement

Open Access

License Rights

Restricted until

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