Courtyard House: The Chef's Intelligence System

The steel rolling mill has a trade union, officially named the Beiping Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill Trade Union Committee!

Coincidentally, Li Huaide was the chairman of the trade union when he was the deputy factory director, and he still is now.

And coincidentally, Li Jiuzhou also holds the title of vice chairman of the trade union. Isn't that a coincidence?

This was arranged by Li Jiuzhou's second uncle, Li Huaide, when Li Jiuzhou was promoted to deputy director.

Therefore, it was perfectly legitimate for Li Jiuzhou to want to do something.

The key issue is that labor unions can manage far too many things, such as:

I. Employee welfare (core business)

1. Manage the canteen, bathhouse, staff dormitory, and childcare center, and supervise the quality of food and prices.

2. Subsidies for workers in difficulty: Workers whose families are sick, affected by disasters, or have many children can apply for relief grain and relief funds.

3. Visits and condolences for injured or sick workers: Visiting workers who are injured on the job or hospitalized and distributing gifts.

4. Handling labor insurance: Assisting in applying for labor insurance (retirement pension, work injury allowance, maternity allowance, funeral allowance). In the 1950s, all formal employees of state-owned enterprises went through the labor union to handle labor insurance.

II. Ideological and Cultural Activities

1. Workers’ night schools and literacy classes were set up to teach people to recognize characters and do arithmetic. Before liberation, many steelworkers were illiterate.

2. Manage the workers' club, library, and basketball court; organize open-air movie screenings, cultural performances, and singing competitions.

3. Study current affairs and cooperate with the factory to conduct policy briefings.

III. Production and Labor Related

1. Organizing labor competitions, increasing production and saving resources, technological innovation, and rationalization proposals; in the 1950s, steel plants focused on production competitions.

2. Supervise workplace labor safety: distribute safety helmets and protective equipment, and investigate potential safety hazards such as high temperatures and burns from steelmaking.

3. Select outstanding producers and model workers, and organize a commendation meeting.

IV. Labor Relations and Employee Rights Protection

1. Represent workers in communicating with factory administration regarding working hours, piece-rate wages, overtime pay, and rewards and penalties.

2. Mediate worker disputes, master-apprentice conflicts, and labor-management disagreements.

V. Organizational Development

Develop union members, collect union dues (with a small deduction from wages), and hold general membership meetings and work group union meetings.

Brief summary:

They help the factory with production and competitions, and take care of the workers' food, drink, medical care, relief, education, and entertainment. They are the workers' "home".

Let me brag a little more:

What the factory manager can manage, the union will manage; what the factory manager cannot manage, the union will still manage.

The truth is, what the hell are you concerned about...?

Don't you know how powerful the leaders of Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill are?

Your union can mediate worker disputes, provide some welfare, and run a literacy class.

And that was indeed the case; the union at the steel rolling mill could only do odd jobs, while the power was in the hands of the leaders.

Li Jiuzhou wrote furiously, but he didn't write anything else except suggestions on giving advance wages to workers in difficulty.

Steel rolling mills can certainly advance wages, but only for two months.

What Li Jiuzhou needs to do is increase the advance payment limit.

There are three tiers.

First tier, 200 yuan.

The second tier is 300 yuan.

The third tier is 500 yuan.

After a worker submits an advance payment application, union representatives will visit their home to verify the situation.

If the conditions are met, the factory will provide an advance on wages.

Limited to workers facing difficulties or emergencies.

At the same time, Zhang Sheng's case was also reported as part of the report.

The document was delivered directly to Secretary Nie's desk. He read it carefully and found the method feasible.

There are quite a few workers in the factory who need help.

Advance payment is not a problem; for workers who receive advance wages, a portion can be deducted from their wages each month.

Li Jiuzhou's method was very feasible because at this time no one dared to owe the government money.

This isn't a question of whether you'll pay it back or not, because the factory lent you the money, and the factory also pays your salary.

As long as you're still working at the factory, you have to pay it back.

Even if you die halfway through, there will be someone to take over.

If no one takes over, the factory will actually make a profit; they can just sell your workstation for money.

In short, this is an excellent suggestion. It can help workers solve their family difficulties and also bring a good reputation to the factory.

No matter what the factory does, it won't lose money!

In the afternoon, Secretary Nie convened a meeting, with all members of the Party Committee present, as well as all the factory's division-level cadres.

Li Jiuzhou's documents were copied into multiple copies and given to them for review.

Yang Ligong was also watching carefully. At first, he frowned a little, thinking that there would be trouble if so much salary was advanced.

But I didn't feel that way when I got to the end.

Li Jiuzhou wrote very clearly in the document that not many people would take an advance on their salary; only those families who were truly in dire straits would do so.

Moreover, the factory has plenty of funds and is not worried at all about the workers being unable or unwilling to repay their debts.

After all, the factory controls the workers' wages, so what's there to be afraid of?

Everyone thought it was feasible, and even if it wasn't, it had to be done.

Li Jiuzhou just came up with an idea that made the Ministry of Metallurgy extremely happy.

It would benefit anyone present to speak frankly, so we should give them face.

They unanimously agreed after a show of hands.

Secretary Nie directly handed the matter over to the trade union.

In other words, the matter fell to Li Huaide and his nephew Li Jiuzhou.

One union chairman and one union vice chairman, that's the job for you two.

Li Huaide waved his hand dismissively, saying, "You, Li Jiuzhou, suggested it; you decide what to do."

His signature is all that's needed!

In the afternoon, the factory broadcast the news, which made the workers from poorer families uneasy.

I was pleasantly surprised, but also a little hesitant to believe it.

If that's true, that would be great. I can just get an advance on my salary and pay it off in small installments.

It saves me from having to borrow money from others and incurring favors.

Those with quick wits are already thinking about using some of their salary in advance to buy the three major items.

But for three days after the broadcast, no one took that step; everyone was just watching.

Seeing this, Li Jiuzhou chuckled helplessly. What the hell are you waiting for?

Some families are so poor they can barely make ends meet, why don't they hurry up and ask for an advance on their wages?

Wait for me, you son of a bitch!

Finally, on the fourth day, a third-level fitter from the first fitter workshop submitted an application.

There are three reasons why I requested an advance of 500 yuan.

First, there are eight people in my family, and my parents have been in poor health for many years and need to take medicine.

Secondly, he was the only worker in his family of eight.

Third, the roof was damaged by the heavy snow a while ago and needs to be repaired.

In short, money is needed everywhere.

After receiving the application, Li Jiuzhou immediately sent union members to the worker's home to verify the situation.

Soon after the person returned and reported that the situation met the requirements, Li Jiuzhou immediately approved the note and went to the finance department to collect the money.

The worker burst into tears after receiving the money; it was money that could save his life. He thanked the staff profusely and secretly vowed that even if he died, he would work himself to death at the Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill!

Li Jiuzhou: No way, brother. The factory is helping you out of kindness. You can't repay kindness with enmity. Just die at home.

After learning that some people had received an advance on their wages, those in need submitted their applications.

It's okay if you can't write. There's a workshop foreman here, so what's the rush?

Yi Zhonghai is a little busy. He's a bit educated and has recently been writing several application forms for his workers.

He couldn't refuse this; he had to do it.

In just a few days, Li Jiuzhou received hundreds of applications, and without exception, all of them met the requirements, so Li Jiuzhou approved them all.

Advances of 200 and 500 are relatively rare, while 300 is the most common.

The factory's financial expenditures were only tens of thousands of yuan, and the leader in charge of finance approved the slips without batting an eye.

Just kidding, he's in charge of the factory's finances, what's a few tens of thousands of yuan?

Last time they spent millions on their superiors, so a mere tens of thousands is nothing to them!

The factory's decision won over a large number of people, as they had genuinely done something that warmed the hearts of the workers.

Other factories scoffed at Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill's actions.

They believed they were trying to win people's hearts.