More Reasons to Tell Our President "No TPP" and "No Fast Track"

[Fred Sanders]

14. NAFTA "forced" American workers to compete with Mexican workers, but the sky has not fallen.

Vietnamese workers are not paid in American dollars, and their minimum wage is about as good as America mimimum wage in terms of cost of meeting basic needs.

"Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has given the go-ahead to the increase in Vietnam’s minimum monthly salary by between VND250,000-VND400,000 (US$12-$19) starting next year.

Under a government decree that takes effect January 1, 2015, Vietnam will raise the wage floor to VND2.15 million–VND3.1 million ($101.4-$146.2), depending on the location. In August, the National Wage Council, which advises the government on wage policies, proposed that the minimum wages be raised to VND2.42 million-VND3.1m"

"However, even that salary only covers 69-77 percent of a Vietnamese person's basic living costs, according to the survey, which polled 1,500 workers in 12 cities and provinces during the first half of this year.
Up to 13 percent of workers said their salaries do not 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."