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Volume 3 Liberation Chapter 21 We Workers Have Power

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    The workers at the Cassandra Boiler Works were no different from workers elsewhere - even though the product they produced was a brand that was sought after around the world, they themselves received little benefit from it.  The workers worked 15 to 20 hours a day (depending on the type of work), and the wages they received were only enough to buy a pound of coarse bread, and they could only eat salt on Sundays.

    Every morning they are woken up by the piercing whistle, and then, urged by the supervisor, they line up to enter their posts.  Although they were sleepy-eyed, they did not dare to be lazy because they were supervised by whips. If a worker fell to the ground while working, he would be immediately doused with cold water to wake him up - but in most cases it would never be done.  woke up.

    For workers, getting sick means the death of their career and real life. Even if the virus does not take his life, unemployment caused by illness will cause him to lose his livelihood.  Believe it or not, the average lifespan of a Cassandra worker is 20 years¡ªfive years longer than the average lifespan of Victorian England on Earth.

    If you're lucky enough to survive a day of working in the smoke, humidity, vibrations, and harsh noises, you'll be rewarded with another whimpering, reluctant whistle and some sweat-soaked food.  Bread, and then sleep on the bed next to the machine, waiting for the whistle to sound again when it is dark tomorrow.

    No one will consider sanitation conditions. Bankrupt farmers who are about to starve to death will flock to the city every day. The cost of hiring new workers is always much cheaper than improving the working conditions of current workers.  As for the issue of production efficiency, no one seems to have considered it - Henry Ford's eight-hour work system did not exist on earth until 1912.

    "Get up! Everyone get up!"

    The workers heard the supervisor¡¯s impatient shouting in their sleep - What time is it now?  The sun has risen very high. Could it be that the whistle is broken?

    "Get up! Stand up! You lazy idiots!" the supervisor shouted while waving his whip in the air, "The boss has something important to announce!"

    The workers quickly got off their beds and lined up in a row. It was unprecedented for them to sleep in. What was the boss going to announce?  Probably also writing about something that has never been done before, right?

    "Starting from today, our factory will implement a nine-hour work system regardless of type of work or workshop! From 8 am to 12 o'clock, and from 12:30 to 5:30 pm - press the clock on the wall, but still  Take the whistle!¡±

    The supervisor's voice was always vicious - this made the workers confused about the meaning of his words for a while, and it took a long time for their brains to slowly turn around: does it mean that their working hours in a day have been reduced by half?  How can it be?

    "What about wages? How are wages paid?" a worker asked.

    "The wages are still the same"

    "Oh!!!" The crowd suddenly burst into cheers.

    "Quiet! Quiet!" The supervisor tried his best to suppress the crowd's cry, "If you work overtime beyond 9 hours, you will still get overtime pay"

    The workers immediately exploded: "Long live!" "Long live the boss!" "You can get enough sleep from now on!"

    "Why are you sleeping?! You lazy idiots!" the supervisor yelled angrily, "You are not allowed to sleep right after get off work! The boss still has something to say!"

    What else is going on?

    "After get off work, the boss wants you to go to night school to read and learn"

    ¡°Oh!!¡± There was another burst of cheers, but on a smaller scale. After all, for these workers, studying and literacy is far less practical than overtime wages.  One such pessimist asked:

    "What if you don't go?"

    "If you don't go, you won't get the free dinner"

    And dinner?  !  This is heaven!  The workers started to make a noise, as if they had begun to imagine what it would be like to have free lunches and read and write. At this moment, the supervisor shouted again:

    "Okay! No time for nonsense! Let's get to work!"

    "Oh! It's time to go to work!" The workers went away happily, and they walked to their posts in high spirits, as if they were going for a spring outing.  When the supervisor saw this unprecedented situation, he couldn't help complaining fiercely:

    "If such a good thing had happened a long time ago, I wouldn't have had to work so hard before"

    The "intense and exciting" day of production passed quickly, and the whistle sounded for the end of get off work.  But none of the workers left their posts. Amidst the noise of the machines, the supervisor shouted angrily:

    "It's time to get off work - get out of here!"

    A worker pointed to the big clock on the wall: 5:25.

    "The watch is slow! - Come down here!" the supervisor yelled, dumbfounded.The night school teacher will be here soon, please clean up this place for me!  "

    The workers reluctantly came down from their posts (?) and set up a long table for eating. The cooks walked in between the big iron buckets and the big wooden baskets containing cups.  The workers thought it was time for dinner, but found that there was nothing in the iron bucket except some grass-green soup, which seemed to be drinkable but not edible.  However, the alluring fragrance of this soup is really refreshing.  Just then the evil ghost voice of the overseer sounded again:

    "The night school teacher is here! Get up and salute!"

    After hearing this, many workers fell to their knees with a thud - they were from serfs, and they were quite familiar with the lord's business of kneeling.  However, a somewhat cold voice instructed:

    "It doesn't have to be like this - just bow."

    When the workers looked up, standing on the podium was a beautiful girl wearing black stockings and long straight black hair. She also had a pink hairband on her head and a calm look on her face - it turned out that she was a night school teacher.  It's none other than Enshen's pet, ah no, it's the student Hei Changzhi.  Her voice was not loud, but it was more penetrating than the supervisor's. It seemed clear enough that everyone could understand:

    "I am Xiaomei Houmla, a master's student at Trinity College, Cassandra University, and I will be your teacher from now on. Our night school is public welfare. You can relax and drink some tea during class.  , now our classes are relatively basic, there is no need to prepare paper and pens and other learning tools" 0

    The evening school teacher's voice was very cold and had no intention of entertaining, but the workers felt friendly when hearing it - unlike the bossy foreman, every word of this teacher was filled with respect and equality.  It makes people feel inexplicably comfortable and useful. It seems that such an elegant and decent lady can treat others as equals. If she doesn't study hard, she would be really sorry.

    "Let me ask first," Hei Changzhi said softly, "Have you ever gone to school before?"

    "No! I don't know a word of it!" "I only know my own name." The workers responded.

    "Okay, it seems that most people are illiterate," Hei Changzhi said calmly, "Then let's start from the basics. If you want to learn to read, you must first learn the alphabet."

    After saying that, she turned around and used magic to write three letters in the air, and then pointed at the instructions one by one:

    "Everyone say after me: r!"

    "r!¡ª¡ª"

    "p!"

    "p!¡ª¡ª"

    "g!"

    "g!¡ª¡ª"

    "r-p-g!"

    ¡°r-p-g!¡ª¡ª¡±

    ¡°Put it together and read: rpg!¡±

    ¡°rpg!¡ª¡ª¡±

    Teacher Xiaomei is very patient in class. She will repeatedly explain in different ways any part that the workers cannot understand immediately, so she quickly wins the favor of the workers.  However, she said that self-study is also very important. When the learning content gradually increases, she will divide her students into three classes according to their learning levels, namely fast class, intermediate class and slow class.  After hearing this, the workers secretly made up their minds that they must join the fast shift.

    The first class of the night school lasted for an hour. At this time, the cook also ran in carrying a big basket for dinner. There were bread, French fries, and more satisfyingly, salt and fried fish in the basket.  and vats of borscht.  Teacher Homula also sat among the people eating together, but out of a subtle mixture of respect and strangeness, no one spoke to her.  And she herself just ate quietly.

    The workers swept away the dinner in a hurry, and then patted their bellies and discussed what made the boss so merciful.  Some people say that the boss finally understands the suffering of the people, while others say that maybe a worker's girl became the boss's daughter-in-law or something.  Originally, such a discussion would be fruitless, but today there is an additional master's student, Hei Changzhi, so the problem is led in a new direction:

    ¡°Co-workers¡ªI know why.¡±

    Hei Changzhi, who had just won respect for her approachability, suddenly fell into a reflexive silence as soon as she spoke. Everyone almost held their breath in anticipation of her answer, while Hei Changzhi said slowly:

    "Your boss has realized that if you organize yourself, you will be a very powerful force. She wants to use this power to reach a cooperation with you."

    After hearing this, a worker said with some confusion: "We are a bunch of poor people working hard, how can we use any strength?"

    "Yes - you do." Hei Changzhi said firmly, "The row of machines behind you is yours."?Strength.  If you work together, you can determine whether this row of machines operates or not, and even the life or death of the entire factory.  "

    "oh¡€¡€¡€¡€"

    The workers seem to understand a little: if everyone works hard together, then the efficiency of the factory will certainly improve. If everyone gives up their picks together, then these machines will be just a pile of scrap metal: I am so stupid, why didn't I realize this before!

    Of course they won¡¯t notice: since they entered the factory, they have been working day and night, and their whole people have become working machines. Under the heavy physical load, people¡¯s ideological activities will also become slow and numb.  Today, they got off work early, drank tea and had a hearty dinner, and their thoughts naturally became active.

    "How to use this power is also one of the contents taught in the night school." Hei Changzhi picked up the teacup and said calmly, "The boss hopes to achieve a win-win situation with everyone."

    As for how to achieve a win-win situation, Hei Changzhi did not elaborate. According to the "teaching progress", that is what will be learned later.

    That night, many workers had insomnia. Some were thinking about their night school teachers, some were recalling the letters taught by the night school teachers, some were thinking about the "power" that Hei Changzhi called, and some - drank too much tea.  .
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