Chapter 70

Hu Wenhai, before his rebirth, had also held several management positions and knew how to deal with workers to some extent. …≦

The facts long ago proved that when facing a group, trying to satisfy their wishes from start to finish results in those wishes never being fully met.

On the contrary, to make people satisfied with what they have, you first need to take something away from them and then give them back more than what was taken.

Recovery and growth after a loss are much more effective than simple giving.

Hu Wenhai's approach to the 501 Factory's restructuring and employee resettlement plan was similar. In today's era, workers are like lords. To be frank, in the thirty years since the founding of the country, the working class has been the most privileged class in China.

The disparity between urban and rural areas made the worker's status akin to a heavenly ascent. The educated youth who went to the countryside to learn from the peasants would do anything to return to the city. Behind these phenomena was the incomparably high social status of workers in China during this era.

The fact is that in the first thirty years, the working class enjoyed an incomparably superior social status and social welfare, far surpassing the majority of the Chinese population, the farmers.

China's economy in the 1980s was in a situation where reform and opening up were the only way forward, partly due to the infinite growth in the number of workers and their welfare, which the state's finances could no longer bear.

To be honest, the state-owned enterprise (SOE) workers of this era were indeed a subject of criticism. Consider this: Bu Xinsheng's piece-rate pay system was considered a management innovation, Zhang Xingrang's full-capacity work method caused a sensation, Ma Shengli's single large-character poster to take over a paper mill echoed nationwide, and the German Gerhard Griese, when he came to China as a factory manager, introduced quality management and a structured wage system, which led to central-level leaders humbly seeking his advice.

Especially at the Wuhan Diesel Engine Factory, the elderly German Gerhard Griese came from afar to serve as the factory manager. During his tenure, he reduced the impurities in the Wuhan Diesel Engine Factory's cylinders from 5600 milligrams to less than 100 milligrams, achieving a leading level in the country; the defect rate dropped from 30% to 40% to below 10%; and the factory exported to seven Southeast Asian countries, earning over a million dollars in foreign exchange.

However, after the elderly man left his position as factory manager in 1986, the quality inspection system he painstakingly established became a mere formality. By 1993, the Wuhan Diesel Engine Factory began to incur losses, and by 1998, it had completely gone bankrupt, with workers laid off and assets restructured. In 2000, three years before Gerhard Griese's death, the elderly man returned to Wuhan, and one can only imagine the feelings of the accompanying personnel who tried to prevent him from seeing the Wuhan Diesel Engine Factory again.

Let us remember Werner Griese, a true international friend of China, like Bethune and Masahiko Tanimoto. Griese, in his retirement, selflessly dedicated himself to the Wuhan Diesel Engine Factory and China's reform efforts.

But this was not just an issue with the Wuhan Diesel Engine Factory; the problems it faced were entirely common in China at the time.

The Chinese working class had been in a position of privilege for too long. To be frank, the wave of privatization and layoffs that followed was partly because capitalists dared not take over any SOE in full, and all had to go through a round of layoffs, training, competitive hiring, and rehiring. Why was this so?

To some extent, the later fate of SOE workers had elements of self-inflicted consequences.

Hu Wenhai's thinking was the same. If he did not subdue the more than 3,000 workers of the 501 Factory, who would be in charge of the factory in the future? A slap and a sweet treat would make people feel better. If he offered severance pay and resettlement funds right from the start, people would think he was a rich fool, and they would try to take as much as possible from him!

However, the current performance of the more than 3,000 workers at the 501 Factory was quite satisfactory to Hu Wenhai. After this ordeal, the workers were all silent and obedient, indicating that they still had a sense of justice and knew they had no face to meet the founders of the 501 Factory!

"Let me ask you frankly, 501 Factory workers, are you satisfied with this year's New Year's benefits? In our city, the benefits we received this year are unique, like a scorpion's excrement!"

Hu Wenhai puffed out his chest and spoke with arrogance: "I think everyone knows why we received such good benefits this year. To put it bluntly, your good fortune this year is all because of me, Hu Wenhai! Without the micro-turbine engine I developed, without the simulation machine project I led with the old comrades, and without the business I connected with Pakistan and the Americans, how could you have received those imported appliances and those benefits far exceeding those of our peers in the city?"

"Relying on yourselves? Relying on your efforts to turn the 501 Factory from a military factory into a local factory? Relying on yourselves, the result would be that a factory of over 3,000 people would not be able to pay wages without bank loans!"

"I know many of you are angry. Why should a young man like me criticize you? Sorry, but it's because I have created more value than you! If you are not convinced, no problem. Whoever can develop a million-dollar foreign trade project for the 501 Factory, I will invite him to be the factory manager, and I will keep my word!"

"To be honest, after the 501 Factory's property rights are transferred, I do not plan to keep all 3,000 of you. I also advise those who just get by day by day not to stay in the 501 Factory."

"Because the future 501 Factory is a stage for those with dreams, who are willing to work hard and contribute. Our wages will no longer be a shared pot; the capable will rise, and the incapable will fall. This is beyond doubt! The capable will earn more than the incapable! Workers who are willing to work hard, learn, and improve their skills, who are proactive and innovative, and who can unite their colleagues and organize production well, I can guarantee that each of you will find your place in the future 501 Factory!"

"But in return, those who are late, leave early, skip work without reason, do not follow operating procedures, have a high defect rate, or even steal, should not have any侥幸心理. No matter who you are or how influential you are, even if my father, Hu Jiefang, pleads for you, I, Hu Wenhai, will not show any leniency! There are factory rules, party discipline, and national laws to deal with such people!"

"Our goal is simple: do you want to waste your life like mud, wasting decades, or do you want to be a brave fighter, even in the face of an unknown future?"

The 501 Factory workers, long accustomed to the dull speeches of leaders at meetings, had never seen someone like Hu Wenhai openly criticize everyone at a factory-wide meeting. However, despite being harshly criticized, many 501 Factory workers felt a strange excitement and agitation.

The sky is changing, really changing? No one knew what the future would bring, but people were excited by this change.

People influence society, and society influences individuals. Although the 501 Factory's original dead atmosphere was formed by everyone, not everyone was content with this stagnation.

While the SOE's predicament partly stemmed from the workers, the workers were more eager to break this deadlock. As for the future? At this time, the Chinese people were not lacking in the spirit of adventure and struggle.

Or perhaps it should be said that if given a chance, the Chinese people were at their most capable of creating miracles. These workers, who would be in their fifties and sixties thirty years later, were the ones who created the economic miracle of future China!

"Next, the head of the Machinery Industry Bureau, Zhang Mingjie, will read out the 501 Factory's restructuring and employee resettlement plan. Whether you want to leave or stay, please consider carefully. I will say it one last time: the 501 Factory welcomes anyone with dreams to stay. I can guarantee that this year's New Year's benefits are just the beginning, and we will only get better every year!"

"Cough, cough, I will now read out the 501 Factory's restructuring and employee resettlement plan..."

Zhang Mingjie took the microphone from Hu Wenhai, shaking his head slightly with a mix of helplessness and amusement, indicating that he understood Hu Wenhai's little trick.

It was nothing much; Hu Wenhai had simply taken advantage of his strong position to shift the focus from whether to sell the 501 Factory to who would stay and who would leave.

As Zhang Mingjie read out the resettlement plan, the workers' attention was quickly drawn to it, and no one cared about Hu Wenhai's little trick anymore.

When they heard that they could buy out their seniority for 100 yuan per year, the discussions below became a cacophony. Those who sought stability were generally older and had longer seniority. They did not want to stay in a private enterprise that seemed to lack security after restructuring, so the 100 yuan per year buyout was very attractive. Some could get a few thousand yuan, while others could get even more.

In the 1980s, having a ten-thousand-yuan household was already a big deal. Receiving several thousand yuan for a buyout was almost like the suburban farmers hoping for a demolition...

And when they heard that not only would there be a buyout, but the city government would also arrange other jobs and provide resettlement funds to ensure a basic standard of living, many felt this was a very good deal.

The young and adventurous were also elated when they heard that wages would increase by 10% annually after restructuring.

While no one was paying attention to Hu Wenhai, Hu Jiefang quietly leaned in and whispered in surprise, "Son, how did you get those old people to support you?"

He was genuinely puzzled. These old people should have been the main force opposing the sale, as the 501 Factory was built with their hard work. How could they agree to sell it to an individual?

Hu Wenhai smiled and held up two fingers, "Nothing much, I promised to rehire them all after restructuring, with a minimum monthly salary of 800 yuan..."

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