Implementing the directive of the Resolution of the 1st Central Conference, the Southern Liberation Trade Union proposed labor mobilization work for each urban area and plantation. For the rubber plantation area of the Southeast region as a command point, the Central Highlands plantation area (Area 5) and Khanh Hoa (Area 6) were taken as the areas[15;205].
The regional trade union determined that the central task of the workers' movement was to contribute to the overthrow of the puppet government, complete the people's national democratic revolution, and first of all defeat the US-puppet strategic hamlet policy, maintain the rights won by the workers, thereby gathering workers into revolutionary organizations, building and developing political and armed forces, and building bases. The trade union emphasized that economic struggle must be combined with political struggle, combining the three main struggles of politics, military, and military agitation[31;404].
To meet the requirements of the Southern revolution in the new situation, the Central Bureau reorganized and rearranged the areas of the Eastern provinces[20;208]. Thu Bien province was separated and re-established into two provinces, Ba Ria, Bien Hoa and Thu Dau Mot; and Phuoc Thanh, Binh Long, Phuoc Long and Long Khanh provinces were established. These were provinces associated with the Eastern base area (Phuoc Thanh), which had very large rubber growing and exploitation areas, especially Binh Long and Long Khanh provinces with the largest exploitation areas and the largest number of workers[19;212].
After the re-division of territory, Thu Dau Mot, Phuoc Thanh, Binh Long, and Phuoc Long urgently built bases, built armed forces, and perfected the Party's grassroots organization. Cadres of the Party Executive Committees at the provincial, district, and communal levels were rotated and supplemented sufficiently to promptly consolidate the local revolutionary government and lead the struggle movement.
Rubber plantations in the provinces, by the end of 1961, had built a complete revolutionary base among the workers. All struggles, whether political, armed or military, were controlled and supported by the local revolutionary government. The ethnic minority movement, with the construction of “revolutionary plantations” by ethnic rubber workers being a typical example, raised the workers’ mastery and contributed more food to the revolutionary forces.
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According to the situation and to facilitate leadership and direction, in early 1964, the Regional Public Works Committee was officially established in Binh Long. Bui San - Secretary of the Regional Party Committee of Zone 10 was appointed as Head of the Public Works Committee. Cuu Long and Chin Liem were appointed as deputy heads.
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The committee, the Regional Movement Committee, and the Eastern Region promptly changed direction of direction towards the rubber workers' movement. The Regional Movement Committee pointed out that the US-Diem strategic hamlet policy was a form of high-level collusion between the puppet government and plantation capitalists aimed at attacking the rubber workers' movement, but the more widely the strategic hamlets were deployed, the more intense the conflict between the puppet government and plantation capitalists became, and the greater the conflict over class interests and national interests between the rubber workers and the puppet government became [15;312].
Grasping the enemy situation in each region, the Workers' Movement Committee, in July 1964, issued a resolution, determining the position and role of the rubber workers' movement in rural and urban areas, and proposed three key tasks of the movement: Strive to destroy strategic hamlets, expand comprehensive bases, build armed forces, and maintain the relationship between the organization and public activities with the secret organization and activities of workers[20;217].
3.2.3.2. Rubber workers' struggle movement to protect and promote the achievements of Dong Khoi
After Dong Khoi, rubber workers took control of part of the village's assets, raising their position to a higher level.
To protect and promote the achievements of Dong Khoi and maintain ownership, in early 1961, the Dau Tieng Party Committee and the Self-Management Committee proactively sent letters and directly communicated with representatives of plantation owners, requesting them to implement the labor regime, businesses must have the obligation to pay taxes to the revolution, comply with the laws of the revolution, and issues related to workers must be discussed through the trade union and the Self-Management Committee. This request was accepted by the plantation owners.
In June 1961, workers in Dau Tieng village 6 went on strike many times to demand a reduction in their share of scraping wood[166;5]. Each strike lasted longer than the previous, forcing Huynh Hieu Nghia (Minister of the Interior) to urgently report continuously to the Minister of Security, the Vice President and the Minister of Labor of Saigon, as quoted below:
“On October 3, 1961, at the Mitsulanh plantation in Dau Tieng district, Binh Duong province, the plantation's Board of Directors presented to the General Labor Inspectorate 77 applications from a number of workers requesting a wage increase of 15 to 20 dong per day, or 40 to 50%. The reason was the high cost of living.
The Mitsulan Company added that there would be many similar petitions… The Viet Cong even came to the site to control the workers' petitions.
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Through the above dispute, my Ministry realized that in Tay Ninh area and Dau Tieng district, the Viet Cong were operating vigorously… causing many harmful consequences to the national economy. As my Ministry presented in Official Dispatch No. 344/BLD/LD/M dated September 12, 1961, the most effective method to solve the security problem was to launch an operation at the above plantations to hunt down the Viet Cong”[145;2]
On November 19, 1961, Huynh Hieu Nghia urgently reported on the "Viet Cong inciting plantation workers to strike", mentioning the October 9, 1961 strike of Dau Tieng workers:
On October 9, 1961, 120 rubber tappers from villages 3, 4, and 5 went on strike to demand that the plantation owner reduce the amount of trees tapped and increase wages by 40 to 50%. This demand was truly outrageous… This dispute was instigated by the enemy… certainly the Viet Cong were in control, and the strikes spread to other plantations, such as Binh Long, Phuoc Long, etc.[145;2-3]
Nguyen Van Thoai, Chief of the Department of Reconciliation of Disputes, General Inspectorate of Labor of Saigon, reported to the Ministry of Interior, especially paying attention to the strikes of Dau Tieng workers in 1961:
“…B. Workers' demands instigated by the Viet Cong :
… at Dau Tieng plantation, some workers submitted individual petitions demanding a wage increase of about 40-50%. Instigated by the Viet Cong, workers went on strike on October 9, October 20, November 6, November 7, 1961 and are now threatening to strike again.
According to the report of the Director General of Police and Public Security, the Viet Cong demanded to collect 200,000 VND in taxes from the plantation owners and 100 VND from each family...
…political disputes hidden behind the guise of labor are difficult to resolve…” [145;3].
In Phuoc Thanh, together with the people of Phu Giao and Tan Uyen, workers of Phuoc Hoa rubber plantation mobilized to donate 4,000 liters of rice to send to the troops of the Zone. The workers' guerilla team, together with guerrillas of the communes and troops, participated in destroying enemy posts and contributing to the resistance forces in liberating Phuoc Thanh provincial capital (September 17, 1961) [46;62].
Promoting the victory of Phuoc Thanh, on September 26, 1961, Thu Dau Mot Provincial Party Committee mobilized 12,000 workers from Dau Tieng, Lai Khe, and Quan Loi plantations to coordinate
Struggle against repression, against worker terrorism, against the Diem-Tho election. Workers submitted a petition demanding Ngo Dinh Diem's resignation. Soldiers stationed at the district headquarters surrounded and fired threatening shots. Immediately 7,000 more workers joined in. The struggle took place fiercely in Dau Tieng town, forcing the district chief Nga to personally come out to appease him: "People are demanding Mr. Diem's resignation, I cannot resolve it, my people's petition will be submitted to Mr. Diem" [34;290]...
After these struggles, the workers achieved their demands: being allowed to go to the market to buy 10 kg of rice (at that time, 8 Saigon coins per kg), 1 jar of fish sauce, 2 boxes of milk... things that they previously did not allow workers to go to the market to buy for their own use[34;290].
Throughout 1961, workers in Phuoc Hoa, Dau Tieng, Lai Khe, Hon Quan… continuously fought against capitalists to demand democratic rights and fight against the oppression of the local puppet government. In each wave of struggle, workers knew how to combine legal, semi-legal and illegal forces to complete the mission of liberating the plantations and maintaining their position of mastery after Dong Khoi.
3.2.3.3. Rubber workers combine economic struggle with political struggle
The rubber workers' movement in the struggle against the plantation capitalists always aimed at the goals of people's livelihood and democracy. Economic struggle combined with political struggle. People's livelihood slogans combined with political slogans created a comprehensive struggle during this time.
In most political struggles, rubber workers did military propaganda work. They knew how to win the revolutionary sympathy of soldiers and their families. They knew how to promote collective strength to create strengths to win victories.
There were nearly 1,200 direct struggles between rubber workers and the puppet army against the gathering of people and against terrorism [31;416]. With collective strength, rubber workers united to delay the plan to establish strategic hamlets on a large scale. The US and puppet army used motor vehicles to bulldoze houses, workers helped each other rebuild houses. Soldiers gathered people into concentration areas, workers returned to their old land. Soldiers fired artillery into villages and blocks, burning down houses and killing people, workers immediately carried the victims' bodies back to town to fight for compensation. The US and puppet army used tanks to bulldoze fields, workers cut down trees blocking the road. The movement against destroying strategic hamlets took place fiercely. In Dau Tieng, workers burned all 11 vehicles of the agency in blocks 16 and 54 to protest the US and puppet army using the plantation's means of transport.
transport workers to work in strategic hamlets. Afterwards, the workers mobilized the owners to fight and force the puppet government to compensate the plantations[166;12].
Immediately after the US-puppet regime completed the work of establishing strategic hamlets, rubber workers persisted in political struggle with one goal: to fight against forced labor, not to join the army... In addition, workers contacted revolutionary forces outside the rubber plantations to provide information, transfer food, and supply medicine. Rubber workers in Dau Tieng, Ben Cui, Loc Ninh... regularly pulled up poles, cut wire fences... collected spoils and sent them outside the plantations. The form of struggle against pacification and against destroying strategic hamlets always maintained legal, semi-legal and illegal status. At this time, each revolutionary worker became a soldier, both fighting against pacification and supporting the army and guerrillas in the rubber plantations to destroy evil and break the shackles. Rubber workers put great pressure on the two opponents, the US-puppet regime and the exploitative plantation owners.
Forms of struggle such as the “struggle to enter the city” movement, or shouting and beating gongs at night when soldiers harassed or eliminated villains and informants, etc., although effective in deterring some reactionaries, were not strong enough to undermine the prestige of the entire enemy government apparatus at the grassroots level and their armed units. Forms of political struggle using individual violence were not strong enough to fundamentally change the situation in the entire South.
In the condition of the US-puppet regime's strong military control, the building and development of local armed forces became more urgent.
In the struggle, rubber workers always combined the glue between political and armed struggle with the struggle for economic rights. After the victory in Phuoc Thanh (September 1961), the Dau Tieng Party Committee mobilized workers in villages 2, 6, 6bis, 7 to demonstrate, strike, and go on hunger strike against the French boss (whom workers often called “Tay pipe”) who often bullied and beat workers. The struggle was enthusiastically supported by Ben Cui workers. Hundreds of workers marched into town to demonstrate, forcing the puppet government to intervene. The struggle steering committee cleverly took advantage of the puppet government to put pressure on the capitalist owner. As a result, the owner had to fire the evil French boss, and at the same time agreed to let the workers buy 10 kilos of rice and other supplies each[166;22].
The Party Committee, Executive Committee, and Party Cells in the villages and offices were flexible in directing the struggle, using the contradiction between the capitalists and the puppet government as a strength for the revolutionary side.
network; take advantage of the puppet government to fight against capitalist exploitation, demand salary increase, improve living conditions, oppose fines, oppose beatings to workers; mobilize capitalists to support workers in fighting against the puppet government, against shelling into villages, into plantations, against conscription... In Dau Tieng, the local Party cell took advantage of the head of the department to sign a petition against shelling into rubber plantations, and mobilized 5 or 6 trucks carrying rubber latex from the department to take workers to town to fight.
In Phuoc Hoa, Dau Tieng, Thuan Loi..., when the US-puppet government recruited soldiers, workers volunteered to join the militia, working as undercover youth in the puppet government's ranks, both working as soldiers to get guns and bullets to send to the army, and bringing forces from outside to destroy evil and break the shackles inside the hamlets [191;25]
The struggle of rubber workers against the puppet government and plantation owners was not only to protect workers' rights, but also aimed at the larger goal of contributing wealth to the revolutionary economy. In November 1963, at Dau Tieng, workers inside created conditions to bring armed forces into the plantation and brought the Deputy Director of the Department to the base. This official was indoctrinated with the Front's policy. As a result, the Mitsulanh rubber company agreed to pay 15 million VND in taxes for 1960-1964 with the promise to contribute 5 million VND to the revolution every year. By doing so, in February 1964, the SIPH company also contributed over 50 million VND to the revolution[31;419].
The struggle movement of Thu Dau Mot rubber workers during this time created a synchronous and rhythmic coordination with the struggle movement of farmers in rural areas such as Thanh An, Long Nguyen communes... or coordinated to support the struggle movement of workers in Saigon. In August 1964, 15,000 rubber workers in Dau Tieng, Loc Ninh, Thuan Loi went on strike to support the struggle of workers at Vi-my-tex textile factory. During the years 1961 to 1964, the workers' struggle movement demonstrated the spirit of class solidarity for the common cause. The great result from 1,500 struggles of workers counted throughout the region was that the rubber plantation owners in the whole region had to accept the demands and increase workers' wages by 30%[31;420].
The fighting spirit of Thu Dau Mot rubber workers was tenacious, persistent, and maintained their strength after Dong Khoi. The political struggle was intense, combined with the economic struggle to demand practical people's rights, fighting from little to much, from low to high, from
negotiation to open violence, from point to point. Use revolutionary violence against counter-revolutionary violence, overcome the enemy's terror.
3.2.3.4. The rubber workers' guerrilla war movement fought for " pacification " and " destroyed strategic hamlets "
In response to the revolutionary movement of Thu Dau Mot rubber workers and people in the Southeast provinces, on March 23, 1962, the US-puppet launched the "Sunrise" campaign to "wipe out the Viet Cong" in the Southeast provinces.
Sending into this war 8,000 troops, 50 helicopters and many other types of aircraft, the US-puppet carried out hundreds of sweeps, destroyed over 3,000 houses, and took away
32,000 bushels of rice, killed 250 people, injured nearly 200 people, imprisoned 1,337 people... Eastern rubber workers closely coordinated with local people and main force troops to continuously fight and defeat this campaign. In total, the resistance forces fought nearly 500 large and small battles, destroyed thousands of soldiers and carried out nearly
1,200 direct struggles with the puppet government[98;148].
The policy of “wiping out” the Viet Cong was unsuccessful. The US-puppet continued to gather people, establish more “strategic hamlets”, plotting to regain the initiative and pacify the South within 18 months.
Tran Quoc Buu followed the US-puppet army, marching day and night to retake the land, gathering people to establish hamlets, increasing artillery fire on the places where workers lived and worked, causing many scenes of pain and sorrow.
With this fierce pacification action, the Central Office of the South and the Eastern Regional Committee decided to initiate a workers' uprising movement everywhere against pacification and against the Staley-Stallo plan. Everywhere, the fighting spirit of the workers and local people boiled up every day. Soldiers swept into the villages to fight back. Soldiers grouped troops, workers did military agitators. During the day, soldiers forced them to dig trenches in strategic hamlets, and at night, workers gathered together to destroy them. For every one plot by the US-puppet, the workers fought back ten times[34;220].
During the 18 months of pacification, the US-puppet regime caused untold damage to the people of the South and rubber workers. The US-puppet regime's strategy of establishing strategic hamlets was comprehensive. In Binh Long, the number of strategic hamlets in the entire region reached 75. Because the revolutionary forces had an internal political base and were actively mobilized by the working group, in May 1961, more than 4,000 workers from Minh Thanh, Xa Cat, Xa Co, Tra Thanh, Xa Trach, Phu Mieng plantations... moved into the town.
An Loc directly confronted the US-puppet to demand the cancellation of the 18-month pacification plan and the abolition of strategic hamlets. This struggle won the sympathy and support of all classes of people in the town and of ethnic minorities, forcing the provincial governor Toan to stand up and accept the petition and promise to resolve the workers' demands to appease the movement. After that, the workers of Minh Hoa and Minh Thanh rose up to break down all the fences, kill the hamlet chief, and liberate the villages of 2 and 3 of Minh Thanh. In other places such as Xa Cat, Xa Trach, Tan Khai, Nha Bich... the workers and local people broke down and loosened the US-puppet's control apparatus. In Xa Trach, revolutionary workers killed 02 hamlet chiefs, including the notoriously evil Xu Tuan. In Tan Khai, workers killed the village chief Dau, Nguyen Van Tuan, a puppet lackey. In Tau O, workers killed a series of Tam Ai, Tu Don, Bay Hoa, Bay Dung. In Nha Bich, workers killed the pacification man Lam Hen and Cuong in Soc Lon. Rubber workers continuously fought soldiers on Highway 13, capturing Captain Tran Van Giau, the chief of the Binh Ninh (Binh Long-Tay Ninh) [19;234]. The puppet soldiers were afraid, huddled together, and hid in the central areas of towns and cities. The liberated areas were expanded. In the strategic hamlets, the grip was partially loosened.
In Loc Ninh, from June 1961, the US-puppet forces carried out a sweeping plan to gather people to establish strategic hamlets. The revolutionary forces also responded promptly. The Loc Ninh armed platoon coordinated with the guerilla teams of the workers' villages to fight against the soldiers' sweep, destroy evil, eliminate traitors, and arm propaganda. Rubber workers broke into the center of Loc Ninh district, hung the front flag, and distributed leaflets warning the evil henchmen. The front flag and leaflets were an imminent danger to the puppet soldiers, so they concentrated their forces to sweep into the rubber villages to fire and arrest. Having prepared in advance, the armed teams C31 Loc Ninh and B70 of the province ambushed and resisted this sweep, resulting in the complete annihilation of a security platoon, the capture of 10 guns, and the breakup of the sweep. [85;65]
After gathering people into strategic hamlets, soldiers issued identity cards. The executive committee of village 10 (Loc Ninh) directed people and workers to burn the cards to maintain legality, continue to contact and supply the resistance. Ethnic minorities were supported by guerrillas, and took advantage of soldiers who were sympathetic to the revolution, to clean up their belongings and take them outside, burn their houses with their own hands, abandon the strategic hamlets, and return to their old hamlets to take refuge. Thanks to the establishment of bases inside the strategic hamlets and even inside the ranks of the puppet soldiers, and the good work of military propaganda, the revolutionary struggles took place continuously. The content of the struggles took place from low to high, maintaining contact with the resistance forces. Many rubber plantations in Quan
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