STUDY Trade Unions in Transformation Enhancing and Mobilizing Structural and Organisational Power to Better Protect the Rights and Interests of Workers in Vietnam DONG XUAN HIEU, PHAM TUAN PHUC AND ERWIN SCHWEISSHELM August 2017 n The rapid changes in the Vietnamese economy has put pressure on the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor(VGCL) to develop effective strategies to truly rep­resent the interests of workers in Vietnam. n The VGCL case underscores that by pooling the union's efforts and resources into the core union functions and by strengthening and applying its structural and as­sociational power resources, while reducing the tasks assigned by the state and the party, the VGCL would gain the autonomy needed to become a strong organization of the workers and members. n Trade Unions in Transformation is an FES project that identifies unions’ power re­sources and capabilities that contribute to successful trade union action. This study features among two dozen case studies from around the world demonstrating how unions have transformed to get stronger.