Collective Agreements. a Comparative Study of Swedish and Vietnamese Labour Law Systems
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Collective agreements. A comparative study of Swedish and Vietnamese labour law systems Thi Minh, Hoang 2011 Link to publication Citation for published version (APA): Thi Minh, H. (2011). Collective agreements. A comparative study of Swedish and Vietnamese labour law systems. The Faculty of Law, Lund University. 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LUND UNIVERSITY PO Box 117 221 00 Lund +46 46-222 00 00 UNIVERSITY OF LUND HANOI LAW UNIVERSITY HOANG THI MINH COLLECTIVE AGREEMENTS - A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF SWEDISH AND VIETNAMESE LABOUR LAW SYSTEMS Supervisors: - Prof. BIRGITTA NYSTROM - Prof. DAO THI HANG HANOI -2011 0 Acknowledgement My study is the result of a process to which many people contributed. First, I am greatly indebted to my Swedish supervisor, Prof. Birgitta Nystrom, for her dedicated guidance, advice, and support. As her student since 2002, I have constantly benefited from her expertise. I was so fortunate to have the opportunity of learning from her not only legal knowledge, but also the way to work professionally. This study would not have existed or completed if she had not given me her precious guidance. I did not understand that collective agreements are so important to a labour market until I started digging deeper in the subject. To help me develop my study and reach the necessary understandings, she spent a great deal of time reading my manuscript, commenting on and discussing its content. She made herself constantly available to me, encouraged me so much and inspired me to work on my subject from its beginnings to the final stages of the study. I would also like to express my deepest gratitude to my Vietnamese supervisor, Prof. Dao Thi Hang, whose suggestion and guidance contributed greatly to my work. Being her colleague at Hanoi Law University, I could meet her regularly and discuss various matters in the field of labour laws, receive her encouragement and helpful information about our labour market. She gave me insightful comments. She was always available for any discussion regarding my thesis and gave me her full support in any activities related to the research, thus creating favourable conditions for me. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Prof. Christina Moell and Asst. Prof. Bengt Lundell who always supervised and gave all the Vietnamese students their wholehearted support and helped us handle any difficulties during the course of our studies. After seminars held to assess my progress towards the completion of this study, I also received many thoughtful, objective and constructive comments, advice and suggestions from members of the examination panel. I would like to specially thank Asst. Prof. Bengt Lundell, Prof. Per Ole Traskman, Prof. Michael Bogdan, Dr. Nguyen Kim Phung, Prof. Nguyen Viet Ty and Prof. Nguyen Huu Chi. Their opinions helped very much in developing and improving my thesis. I am indebted to many professors and colleagues in Lund University, Suffolk University Law School, Max Planck Institute and Swedish National Mediation Office. I am especially grateful to Prof. Reinhold Fahlbeck, Prof. Hans-Heinrich Vogel, Prof. Holger Knudsen, Prof. Daeubler Wolfgang, Prof. Lars Goran Malmberg, Prof. Hans Henrik Lidgard, Asst. Prof. Mulder Johann, Dr. Mia Ronnmar, Niklas Selberg and Mr. Kurt Eriksson, for their kind support, instruction, helpful materials, valuable advice, explanations of legislative systems and their encouragement. Also, I would 1 like to take this opportunity of sincerely thanking the librarians, assistants and staff for providing me the most favorable study facilities and technical support. Also, I am indebted to my colleagues in the Ha Noi Law University, especially in the Labour Law Section who supported me by undertaking additional teaching duties, providing me with the precious gift of time off to do the research. I would also like to thank the institutions concerned including the Ministry of Labour - War Invalids and Social Affairs, the ILO Office in Hanoi, the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour, and the Vietnamese Supreme Court as well as the research centers and businesses in Vietnam for providing relevant information and data for the thesis. I would like to give my warmest thank to Prof. Pham Huu Nghi, Prof. Pham Cong Tru, Dr. Luu Binh Nhuong, Dr. Do Ngan Binh and Mr. Nguyen Viet Thung, Mr. Dao Van Thu for materials and interesting discussions or opinions regarding specific issues relating to my study. My gratitude and appreciation go to my dear friend, Harry Larsen Rice, for his great help in my study of English and the search for materials. He made his help available by way of explanations of Latin phrases, English idioms and special expressions in documents that I was dealing with as well as translating short texts in French/German when necessary. He also gave me encouragement and valuable advice on how to handle difficulties during the research process. I would like to thank the Sida, for financing my research as part of the project "Strengthening of Legal Education in Vietnam". I owe my deep gratitude to the Project Management Board and those who helped organize our studies and offered adequate conditions enabling us to complete our research tasks. My special thanks belong to Asst. Prof. Bengt Lundell, Dr. Nguyen Quoc Hoan, Dr. Nguyen Van Quang, Ms. Cu Thuy Trang and Ms Nguyen Thu Thuy. I am also grateful to Philip Horowitz, who helped me proof read the whole text and suggested many corrections and improvements. Finally, I wish to express my deepest gratitude to my parents and my son for their unlimited support and love. I had most favourable conditions for work; I was fully energized by having them beside me. I would very much appreciate receiving any further constructive opinions and comments on this study. I can be reached at [email protected]. Hanoi. December, 2010. Minh Thi Hoang 2 Table of content Abbreviations..........................................................................................7 Chapter 1: Introduction.......................................................................... 0 1.1. Background ....................................................................................8 1.2. Previous researches .................................................................... 11 1.3. Research tasks, delimitation and definitions ...............................12 1.4. Methods and materials................................................................. 15 1.5. Dissertation outline ...................................................................... 23 Chapter 2: Some basic issues on collective agreements................25 2.1. Concept of collective agreements................................................25 2.2. Interrelation between collective agreements and other legal instruments regulating the labour market ........................................... 28 2.2.1. Collective agreements and international labour law ............................ 29 2.2.2. Collective agreements and national labour law .................................... 30 2.2.2.1. Collective agreements and individual labour relations law...................... 30 2.2.2.2. Collective agreements and collective labour relations law...................... 31 2.2.3. Collective agreements and individual contracts................................... 32 2.2.4. Collective agreements and work rules................................................... 36 2.2.5. Collective agreements and work agreements ....................................... 38 2.2.6. Collective agreements and company practices .................................... 41 2.3. Features of collective agreements...............................................43 2.4. Nature of collective agreements ..................................................44 2.4.1. The "contract" nature .............................................................................. 44 2.4.2. The “legal norm” nature.......................................................................... 47 2.5. Role of collective agreements......................................................48 2.5.1. Implementing labour legislation............................................................. 48 2.5.2. Balancing social partners' interests, stabilizing labour relations ....... 50 2.5.3. Creating equally competitive environment for enterprises.................. 53 2.5.4. Consolidating discipline at work and supporting production ............. 54 2.6. Forms of collective agreements...................................................55 2.6.1. Written form.............................................................................................