Lê Quốc Phong, Permanent Deputy Secretary of the HCM City Party Committee, presents gifts to workers before they get on buses to return to their hometowns on February 12. —VNA/VNS Photo Thanh Vũ

HCM CITY — As many as 5,000 workers and their relatives in HCM City on Thursday got on buses to return to their hometowns in the central and northern provinces to celebrate Tết (Lunar New Year) with their families under the “Trade Union Bus Trip – Spring” programme.

The programme, organised by the HCM City Labour Federation, is part of activities to care for union members and workers during the Tết holiday.

In addition to free bus tickets, the federation also gave out gifts worth VNĐ300,000 (US$12) a person and lucky money for workers’ children.

Speaking at the farewell ceremony for workers returning home for Tết on Thursday morning, Bùi Thanh Nhân, chairman of the federation, said that the federation supported a total of 350,000 union members and workers in difficult circumstances during Tết with the joint efforts of 146 ward, commune, and special zone labour unions and and more than 20,000 grassroots labour unions.

After its merger with Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu and Bình Dương provinces, HCM City has more than 7.2 million workers, with the majority of them being immigrants.

Workers and their relatives return to their hometowns in the central and northern provinces to celebrate Tết (Lunar New Year) under the “Trade Union Bus Trip – Spring ” programme on February 12. — VNA/VNS Photo Thanh Vũ

HCM City Labour Federation and trade unions at all levels have implemented various programmes to care for union members and workers during the Tết holiday.

It provided 2,293 train tickets, 820 airplane tickets, and 5,000 bus tickets to union members and workers in difficult circumstances who had not been able to return home to Tết for many years.

More than 350,000 union members and workers in difficult circumstances received financial support worth a total of VNĐ350 billion ($13.4 million) through bank transfers.

The federation also coordinates with the Việt Nam Fatherland Front and local authorities to visit, give gifts, and support union members who remain in the city during the Tết holiday. —VNS