Trade union communication in the current context: Innovating for greater practicality.

Over the years, the Trade Union of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities has consistently been one of the strongest and most pioneering trade unions within the Vietnam National University, Hanoi. The University's Trade Union has carried out many meaningful and diverse activities; actively caring for the well-being of its staff and vigorously protecting the legitimate rights and interests of its employees. Our Trade Union is also a model in the movements of higher-level and sectoral trade unions, while actively participating in social and charitable activities. However, when searching for information about the activities of the Hanoi University of Social Sciences and Humanities' Trade Union in the mass media, we found that the information is insufficient and does not fully reflect what we have accomplished.

In reality, it can be said that we have done a good job in trade union propaganda activities in the past, but trade union communication skills have not been given enough attention. Trade union information is internal in nature, focusing heavily on the policies, laws, and regulations of the Party, the State, the industry, Hanoi National University, and the School. Meanwhile, information about the thoughts, feelings, aspirations, lives, camaraderie among colleagues, and the extremely rich social activities of the School, or of each Faculty, Department, and Center, seems to have not received adequate attention.

We already have many mechanisms and forums for communicating information about policies and guidelines. Regarding trade union communication specifically, we should prioritize information on simple yet practical, relevant, and effective issues to foster a spirit of solidarity and a sense of belonging among staff and employees within the school and the organization. That would be a success.

Based on the above premise, we would like to boldly share the following five suggestions:

Firstly, trade union communication needs to be more fully understood and receive greater sharing and attention from the Party Committee, the Board of Directors, the leaders of relevant departments, and the leaders of faculties, departments, and centers within the University.

Secondly, information about trade union activities should be regular and continuous, addressing practical issues that arise daily in the lives of faculty and staff, such as: ensuring teaching and research hours, income outside of salary, social activities (or social activities related to professional work), fieldwork, surveys, and practical experiences of faculty and staff, and even information about field trips, sports, and cultural and artistic activities of faculty and staff within the University. Avoid focusing information only on a few general conferences or congresses.

Thirdly, the form of information also needs to be innovative, rich, and diverse. It shouldn't be just a few isolated news items or a propaganda essay, but could include interviews with union figures, photos, videos, banners, posters… even social media statuses.

Fourth, we should focus on utilizing various media channels to disseminate information about union activities. Activities of a large scale, with broad social significance and topical relevance, can be reported by newspapers and online publications. However, simpler, everyday activities of departments, faculties, and centers can be posted on the university website, student forums, and social media. Furthermore, we should explore using simple tools that can effectively convey our message, such as standees, leaflets, notebooks, pens, etc.

Fifth, there needs to be interconnectedness and sharing of information, news articles, photos, and videos from the activities of the departmental trade unions. This will provide us with a rich, diverse, and multifaceted source of information to carry out trade union communication work regularly and continuously. Most importantly, from an internal communication perspective, the university's staff and faculty can learn more, understand more, and share more about the university's trade union activities in particular, and other university activities in general.

These few shared thoughts have no other expectation than the hope that the trade union activities of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities will become increasingly strong and developed, with actions matching words, and becoming more practical and effective.