"Simon, would you like a drink tonight?"
In the shade of the construction site, Simon was squatting in a corner, taking a break to smoke a cigarette. The sunlight outside was too strong, making the entire construction site look like a steamer. Truck after truck of ice cubes arrived, and in order to avoid heatstroke, workers wrapped the crushed ice cubes in towels and put them on their helmets. The blazing sunshine will continuously melt the ice cubes, so that the ice water can continue to drip down, continuously taking away the heat from their bodies.
Although the work is very hard in the summer, the money provided by the employer is very generous. Everyone works hard, isn't it just to make more money
As the foreman of this construction site, many of the workers were residents of the town where Simon used to live. Because he was eloquent and not stage frightened, he gradually became the foreman and led everyone to find work.
He turned sideways and raised his head to glance at the guy standing next to him, then withdrew his gaze, "I'm not free tonight, I have to meet the deadline."
He doesn't like people from the trade union, and these people will certainly do no good if they come to him. He had encountered such a thing before. The union people asked him to put pressure on the employer. When he first came out to work, he foolishly took the words of the workers' union seriously, and he didn't know much about these things. Followed. Indeed, their salary was a little higher later, about 5%, but the problem was that he was originally given three phases of the project, but ended up letting him go after the first phase.
He gradually understood that no one in this world is a fool. No matter whether he puts pressure on the employers or others, the workers will always be the unlucky ones in the end.
As for workers’ unions
They have definitely won the war with the capitalists "again" and have received widespread attention and praise from society. No one will care about the life and death of the workers.
Seeing that Simon didn't seem to be very interested, the guy in a suit and tie who was not too hot smiled, nodded and prepared to leave, "This is an event that the president of the union nodded to. You are the worker representative of the union. If you don't participate in group activities, you will be graded." It will decrease, maybe it will be downgraded." He smiled at this, "I know what you are worried about, don't worry, I guarantee that after this event, no one will be forced to leave here, you will still be there. There are enough jobs here! ”
This sentence is not without purpose. Once the strike is successful, the union will suppress the city hall and capitalists. If they want to start work, they must bow to the union. At that time, we will contact one or two smaller-scale projects and let everyone cooperate. We are not afraid that the capitalists will not bow their heads, and we are not afraid that Mayor Dulin in the city hall will not bow their heads. Moreover, the president of the Trade Union Federation has personally nodded in agreement to this matter, so there will definitely be no problems.
Once the union firmly controls the labor market in Otis City, the union's weight in the city will become very important. Like many cities, it can even influence the political direction and public opinion when necessary. guide.
Simon hesitated, and the guy in a suit took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat on his forehead, "Old Tom's Tavern at eight o'clock in the evening!" After that, he waved his hand and left.
Simon sullenly finished the last few puffs of his cigarette, pointed at the two young men who had just come out of the town, and walked over with a straight face, "You two, don't be lazy. If you are lazy again, be careful. I will write to your parents to tell you!" "
The workers on the entire construction site burst into laughter, and the two young men's faces turned red. They were so ashamed that they wanted to find something to crawl into.
After finishing the work in the evening, Simon found a few old guys together and told them what happened in the afternoon, hoping that everyone could come up with an idea. This is his usual approach. After all, they are all from the same place and have worked together for several years. They know each other well. He is not the kind of autocratic foreman, which is why everyone is willing to follow him.
"I guess it has something to do with the accident a few days ago..." The oldest, a half-year-old man, held the pipe in his mouth and took two puffs, with a satisfied look on his face. Otis is unbearably hot during the day, but at night it is completely different and extremely cool. He smiled with a calm look that had seen through the glitz of the world, and said: "You can go and take a look first, and listen to what those guys say first. If it is good for us, we will participate. If it is not good for us, we will It’s that simple if you don’t participate!”
Several other people seemed to have the same opinion, and Simon made up his mind that if it was not a bad thing, he would participate. If it's not a good thing, then he'll stay away from it.
Simon wore a coat and came to Old Tom's Tavern in the evening. He was a little surprised when he stood at the door. When he opened the door, he was dumbfounded. The small tavern was full of people, and he knew more than ten of them. We met when we were working at Namirides, and they were both foremen. He squeezed to sit next to a friend with whom he had a fairly good relationship, ordered a glass of wine, and asked in a low voice: "What are the unions going to say today? Why are there so many people?"
His friend smiled, shrugged his shoulders and said, "That's a good thing!"
"Good thing?" Before Simon finished speaking, he stood up quickly, took the half-filled glass of wine from an old woman who looked to be in her seventies, and politely said thank you before sitting down again. "How good is it?"
His friend looked back at the seat at the back of the pub and said, "Do you know that guy who fell from a height a few days ago?" Simon nodded. Almost most of the workers had heard of it. , many people felt sorry for him. After all, every worker is the backbone of a family. Once he loses the ability to work, the entire family will face great difficulties in the future.
The man continued: "Buccio said that neither the city hall nor the employer seemed to intend to pay medical bills and other compensation. They said that the guy's fall was his own fault and was not an injury at work, so not only There is no compensation, and even the medical expenses need to be paid by the guy himself. Bujo talked to the mayor, and the mayor’s attitude was very tough, so he planned to launch a strike to get the city hall and the employer to give in. "
"This is a good thing for us. By the way, we can also get a little salary increase, and we don't have to worry if something happens."
Simon originally planned to stay out of the matter, but after hearing what his friend said, his inner sense of justice suddenly overflowed. He felt that what his friend said was right. If the city hall and the employer have a bad attitude and are unwilling to compensate and shirk their responsibilities, then we must not let them get away with it so easily. We must let them know how powerful the working class is.
It was around 8:30 p.m. that Bujo arrived at the tavern. By this time, more than 50 foremen had gathered in the tavern, and more than ten or twenty others had clearly expressed their unwillingness to participate in any actions of the union. Buqiao had no intention of forcing them, but he had already made an X for these people in his heart. He would never give these people generous job resources in the future, he swore!
"Thank you all for coming to listen to me talking nonsense after a tiring day. I'm very grateful to you. Thank you!" He passed through the crowd and stood on the steps of the stairs inside. "I think I We all know why we are here. Yes, we need justice for our injured community. Those hateful capitalists and snobbish city halls can spend their money on food, drink and fun, but they are not willing to fight for one thing. Workers who need help take on the responsibilities they should bear.”
"Since they are unwilling to do this, we need to use our power to make them understand that we do not have nothing and we are not weak!"
"We, the working class, will always be a powerful force. We don't want to show our edge all the time, but when necessary, we don't mind showing our muscles!"
"strike!"
Buqiao looked at the foremen with a solemn expression, "Strike! Only a strike can make them understand what they have done wrong. Justice and justice are on our side. The president personally gave instructions and said that he would support our strike. , some other social groups will also support us. We are not seeking more salary or better benefits, we just want to seek justice for our injured workers!"
This was destined to be a sleepless night for many people, including Bucho himself who stayed awake very late, especially when he had just returned to the workers' union and the lawyer handed him the march application signed by Dulin. He was even more confused.
He already knew that Du Lin had a very tough character and that the mayor liked to mince words, so he filed an application before the parade as required by law. He did not think that Dulin would approve it. In his mind, it was very likely that Dulin would not approve the union's application. But it doesn't matter, he has already contacted the president of the General Conference, and he will apply directly to the state. If the state does not agree, he will apply to a higher level.
But he never expected that Du Lin would agree. Why would he agree? Or is it that he has some conspiracy, or that he has realized the seriousness of the problem and is ready to compromise
Buqiao didn't know all this. The only thing he knew was that after it was approved, he would hold a huge strike demonstration in two days. Maybe he would know what Dulin was thinking by then. At the same time, Dulin will also know that no matter what conspiracy he has, in the face of tens of thousands of workers, any conspiracy is as fragile as a piece of toilet paper and cannot withstand the impact of heavy rain!
The next day, the sun was still rising, and there was no weird atmosphere in Otis City. Workers at every construction site were working hard, and no one was slacking off. Everyone is working hard, waiting for the moment when the sun rises dozens of hours later.
[A strike is a strike, a march is a march]
(End of chapter)