133,000 HCMC workers yet to get pandemic relief money

They are among those who had to stop working in July last year when companies could not meet Covid safety requirements such as having employees stay at the workplace, the Ho Chi Minh City Labor Union said Monday.

Most then remained unemployed for at least four months as HCMC locked down until early October.

To help unemployed workers the government announced a national relief package worth VND26 trillion (US$1.13 billion at that time).

The beneficiaries were to get VND1.8-3.71 million.

With 133,000 laborers yet to receive money, more than VND246 billion from the package has not been disbursed, the union said.

Le Van Thinh, head of the city Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, said the payment has been slow “due to financial difficulties” and his agency is asking the city to allocate funds, as it is disbursed through the city’s budget.

The VND26-trillion package followed an earlier one of VND62 trillion ($2.6 billion) for poor people and businesses.