“Labor union calls for sharp increases in Vietnam's minimum wage”, 1 August 2014

The head of Vietnam's only labor union warned that a pledge to ensure an equitable minimum wage by 2017 will fail unless the authorities hike it by at least 23 percent next year…Dang Ngoc Tung, chairman of Vietnam General Confederation of [said]…“wages remain low as living costs continue to rise. This means salaries are actually falling making life harder for everyone”…According to a recent survey by the Vietnam Worker and Trade Unions Institute, actual minimum wages range between VND2.5-VND4 million a month…However, even that salary only covers 69-77 percent of a Vietnamese person's basic living costs…Up to 13 percent of workers said their salaries don't cover their basic living costs, 25 percent said they had to spend carefully and 50 percent said their salary only affords the most basic standard of living…