Pick up bargains in Chinatown and make 10,000 times the profit at the beginning

Chapter 99: An unexpected strike
David spent all his money, which was rare, on buying gifts for his family.

In the past, he would not have dared to do so. After all, his wife's medical treatment and his three children's education were huge expenses, and his previous salary as a coach at the training ground was barely enough to cover his expenses.

Fortunately, they don’t need to pay any mortgage for their house, which is an old house left by his parents.

Therefore, although the pressure was great, life could go on and it did not crush him.

Now, he doesn't care and lets loose for once.

Starting tomorrow, he will receive a monthly salary of $25,000, more than double his previous salary, enough to ensure their family's quality of life.

After returning home, David couldn’t wait to share the good news with his wife and children.

His wife and children are very happy. Especially his wife, because the children don't know how to share the burden of the family.

……

The next day, David came to report to Lin Yuan.

Today, Lin Yuan, his uncle and others are going out.

Tony has already arranged the guns that were delivered yesterday and turned a room in Lin Yuan's house into an armory.

"You all know how to drive, right?" Lin Yuan asked David and Tony.

The two nodded in unison.

Driving, isn’t that a necessary skill?

"Okay! Let's go! Let's go buy a car."

I discussed with my uncle yesterday about buying two cars for transportation. They are not short of money now, and it is sometimes inconvenient to not have a car for transportation.

You can't always ride your uncle's three-wheeled motorcycle wherever you go, right?
It's not that I look down on the three-wheeled vehicle. It's fine when it's close, but it's not so good when it's a little far away. The endurance of that thing is not that strong!

So, Lin Yuan and his friends came to a car city.

In the United States, there are two main channels for buying cars: dealers and private individuals.

First, these dealerships will usually have their own showrooms that display a wide selection of vehicles. You can find cars of all makes and models at a dealership, including the latest models.

You can also buy a used car directly from an individual.

In this case, you can find the seller through newspaper ads, online platforms, or referrals from friends and family. Buying a private vehicle may be more economical, but you also need to check the vehicle's history and condition to avoid buying a vehicle with problems.

However, this car city seemed to be holding a strike, making Lin Yuan and his team's trip in vain.

"Another strike." My uncle was speechless.

This kind of thing is nothing new in the United States, and it can even be said to be the mainstream theme in the entire Western world.

He said to Lin Yuan: "We should never do business in the U.S. in the future. It's too difficult. The unions are always organizing strikes."

Lin Yuan: "That's good. It's for the workers' sake."

Obviously, Lin Yuan was still a little naive and didn't understand the full picture of the matter.

"You only know one side of the story," said my uncle.

That’s right! Trade unions were originally independent organizations outside of enterprises. They were organizations that fully represented the interests of workers and communicated and negotiated with enterprises on behalf of workers.

Its role is to fight for the maximum wages, benefits and other protections and treatment for workers, and to supervise and prohibit companies from engaging in illegal management of workers, etc. At first glance, this union is indeed good, and it considers and fights for the interests of workers.

However, trade unions have long colluded with capital to seek their own interests.

To join a union, you need to pay membership fees every year. Once you become a union member, the union will force companies to promote their members, and those who do not join will be excluded.

And companies also have to pay tribute to trade unions.

Because as long as the company does not "pay tribute" to them, they will organize workers to make trouble and demand wage increases, etc. In order to maintain stability, the company has to pay protection fees.

The uncle told Lin Yuan that the influence of American labor unions was very great. As early as the 80s, the power of American labor unions was already very strong.

Several major airlines have suffered from the torture of the American Air Traffic Controllers Union, causing air navigation to be paralyzed for a time.

For example, during the 08 crisis, General Motors was facing an extremely serious financial crisis, but the workers refused to stand with the company. They believed that they could share the wealth but not the difficulties. In desperation, General Motors declared bankruptcy and a large number of workers lost their jobs.

Of course, major companies have their own ways of blocking unions, such as closing down or splitting up.

In the past, General Motors split its subsidiaries that produced parts into independent companies so that workers would no longer be protected by the contracts signed between the company and the United Auto Workers. However, it seems that the effect was not good in the end and the union also got in the way.

After a union was formed in the meat and poultry departments of several of Walmart's chain stores, Walmart announced that it would close all the meat and poultry departments in these chain stores.

McDonald's simply hires a large number of temporary workers and short-term contract workers because US labor laws stipulate that temporary workers, part-time workers and outsourced workers do not have the right to join and form unions.

“It’s too difficult to do business in the United States. Even Fortune 500 companies will be tossed around.”

Lin Yuan smiled and said, "Didn't the president say that he wanted to bring manufacturing back to the U.S.? To revive the glory of American industry."

"Tsk..." My uncle sneered, a little disdainful.

Although he is not an economist, he cannot do much professional analysis.

However, he also knows that it is simply a dream for the United States to expect manufacturing to return.

High labor costs are the biggest obstacle to industrial development. Even American companies choose to set up factories in other countries.

Given the current high inflation situation in the United States, it is reasonable for American workers to strike and demand that the Detroit Big Three automakers improve their wages and benefits.

However, the problem is that this does not help the entire U.S. manufacturing industry. Wages are ultimately tied to productivity, that is, the quantity and quality ratio of inputs and outputs.

But American businesses and workers are in trouble in this regard.

We know that the manufacturing industry in the United States is no longer a traditional labor-intensive industry. This part has long moved to Central and South America and Asia.

The manufacturing industries that the United States retains are mainly advanced manufacturing industries with high added value, such as automobiles, aircraft, semiconductors, etc.

As far as cars are concerned, Ford, GM and Chrysler have been losing market share in recent years. The future will definitely be electric cars, but in terms of electric cars, the production efficiency of the three major American automakers lags far behind Tesla, especially Tesla's factory in Shanghai.

"Let's go! Let's go to the next house and take a look." said my uncle.

Tony asked, "A new car or a used car?"

If it is a used car, there is no need to look for this kind of dealer's car shop.

"A new car!" Lin Yuan said.

Now that you have money, why do you still buy used cars? Aren’t new cars better? Used cars always have problems of one kind or another.

(End of this chapter)