After the two people sighed, Lena continued to introduce:
"My brother used to say that his boss was a good man, but that's true."
"According to the workers, Mr. Elvin will not only privately give additional subsidies to 'bonded workers', but also give those' affiliated workers' equal treatment to formal apprentices."
"In other factories, most business owners will try their best to lower the salaries of these 'affiliated workers' -"
"Because the official status of these affiliated workers is that they are domestic servants of the employer, their existence itself is a loophole in the regulations."
"So they can't find jobs as free as ordinary apprentices, can't change jobs, and can only continue to work in Picheng by relying on their employer's shadow."
"Therefore, there has been a de facto personal dependency relationship between employers and affiliated workers."
"So, aren't they slaves of employers?" Victor asked in surprise.
"What a slave!" Lena sighed helplessly: "The dependent workers are really squeezed hard, and the worst thing is to escape back to Zu'an."
"And those 'bonded workers' are the real slaves!"
"Their personal freedom is completely controlled by the head contractor, and at the same time, they are subject to the double oppression of the employer and the head contractor. Not only are they treated lower than ordinary apprentices, but also the main part of their wages have to be divided by the head contractor."
"If you want to escape... hehe."
"Professor Victor, did you know -"
"In fact, most of the contractors in Pirtwaff are Zu'an gangsters like the Iron Fist Gang."
"Those bonded workers are actually debt slaves controlled by them through usury."
"If they escape, they deserve to be killed."
"The law enforcement officer of Picheng doesn't care about such matters."
"This..." Victor was even more shocked.
Now he understood why Lena said Elvin had a conscience and was a good man.
Those affiliated workers are called workers, but they are actually domestic servants.
Elvin could have squeezed them twice with lower treatment. But he didn't.
Those bonded workers are called workers, but they are actually slaves.
As an employer, Elvin only needs to pay "rent" to those contractors, that is, slave owners. But he evaded the contractor and secretly subsidized these slaves with his own money.
Think about it
It's not too much to say that Elvin is a good man.
However, such a good man, such a conscientious factory They only checked for one afternoon and found out so many shocking facts.
"What else?" Victor instructed Lina to continue reporting. But the tone was heavy, and it seemed to be asking myself.
"Well, let me continue... There are 148 apprentices in all forms, including 52 male workers, 72 female workers, and 24 child workers under the age of 14..."
And child labor on horses?
Elvin, do you have a conscience!
Victor is trying to swear in his heart.
But he just remembered his hometown of Zu'an, which he had been away from for a long time, and he understood——
For the children of Zu'an, it is not a bad thing to be a child laborer in Picheng. Not only is it not a bad thing, it can even be said that it is an enviable blessing.
At least the working environment is not bad, and food and clothing are not a problem.
And if these children still stay in Zu'an It is not easy for them to live.
"Women, children... It's hard for these people to survive in Zu'an."
"Mr. Elvin is doing a good job by employing so many female and child workers."
Victor sighed.
But Lena immediately told him that the kindness of Boss Elvin was not so pure:
"No, Mr. Victor."
"Boss Elvin usually gives male workers 10 silver rounds a week, female workers 6~7 silver rounds a week, and child workers 3~4 silver rounds a week according to the market price."
"However, there are differences in the labor price of male workers, female workers and child workers because the labor efficiency of the three is different in most jobs that require physical strength."
"According to our survey, this factory employs the most people in the circuit board welding work, because the physical strength of workers is not high... So the work efficiency of male workers, female workers and child workers is not much different."
"That means..."
"Mr. Elvin employs more women and children, probably because their work efficiency is no worse than that of men, but they take less than men. It is more economical to employ women and children."
"This..." Victor gave up his fantasy completely.
Yes. People who can be business owners and survive in the fierce competition Of course not a pure good person.
Sure enough, Lena continued:
"When these Zu'an apprentices enter the factory, they must sign 'insurance policies' with the factory."
"The general content of the so-called insurance policy is that the apprentices have nothing to do with the enterprise whether they are born, old, sick, dead or injured at work. Those who damage the interests of the factory should be compensated. If the circumstances are serious, they should be dismissed and removed from their apprenticeship status, and repatriated to Zu'an..."
"The contract unilaterally protects the interests of the owner of the enterprise and has no so-called protective effect on workers..."
“......”
"After entering the factory, workers are in a very passive situation. They are not only monitored by the foreman, but also subject to a series of unfair 'family rules' in the factory. Typical examples are copying, dismissal, demerit recording, fines, work fines, and toilet time restrictions..."
"The so-called copying means that after work, the foreman and the security guard will conduct a unified body search to prevent the apprentices from stealing precious materials such as silver, circuit boards, and Hicks gemstones from the workshop."
"If stealing is found, the foreman will execute lynching... ranging from standing in public to beating with fists and feet... hanging people up and beating them with fists and feet is not unheard of."
"What?" Victor couldn't listen anymore. "This... this is too much!"
"That's too much..." Lena couldn't help rolling her eyes
"Other factories directly hand over the thieves to the police station and let the law enforcement officer kick them back to Zu'an."
"In any case, there will never be a shortage of people in Picheng's factory. It's a big deal to recruit new ones after kicking them away."
"Seriously, if it was my brother... I think he would rather let the foreman beat him than be driven back to Zu'an by the law enforcement officer."
"So the apprentices' fear, flattery, even flattery to the factory foreman... This kind of seemingly servile performance is not difficult to understand."
Victor was silent again.
Finally, he could only sigh: "Alas... Alas!"
But what's the use of sighing.
They are the leaders. They can't just sigh here.
They have to let the workers join them, make a noise, and work hard to change the world!
"We must carry out propaganda work as soon as possible to unite these workers..."
"Unity?" Lena shook her head helplessly: "Professor Victor, that's what we want to tell you..."
"After investigation, we found that these workers were not united at all."
Everyone lives a hard life, and they are all brothers in distress. Isn't it natural to unite?
Not really.
"Due to various differences in age, gender, region, blood relationship, identity and cultural level, the apprentices are also divided into several factions that are incompatible with each other."
"Men and women are hostile to each other, and women feel that men are paid differently for the same work with them, so they get so much money for nothing; men always scold women for being coquettish and mean, like to drill into leather city men's quilts, and stick to leather city old men."
"In addition, adult workers often bully child labor;"
"Those who have good relations with the foreman often bully those who have bad relations with the foreman;"
"A few people who have relatives also form groups to bully those who don't have brothers to help."
"Even among formal apprentices, dependent workers and bonded workers, there is a chain of contempt. Those with legal status look down upon those without status, and those without status look down upon those who are slaves."
"The most outrageous thing is:"
"It is clear that everyone is from Zu'an, but those in the border market area look down on the underground black lane area, and those in the underground black lane area look down on the underground trench area..."
"Everyone naturally divided into different gangs and factions, and they were hostile to each other."
"Unity? How?"
"Alas..." Lena said loudly, "Professor Victor, how should we do our propaganda work?"