The Fiery Era: Becoming an Industrial Giant

Chapter 235 doesn't seem like a coincidence.

"Director."

Deputy Director Bai didn't come alone; he was accompanied by two other people.

Judging from their clothes, they seem to be factory workers, but I don't know which department they belong to.

Zhou Zhiqiang pointed to the chair and said, "Deputy Director Bai, sit down and talk. Comrade, you sit down too. Relax here. Help yourself to some water if you want."

"Thank you, factory manager."

Deputy Director Bai had reported to Zhou Zhiqiang's office several times, and he knew Zhou Zhiqiang's personality well. He was a pragmatic and decisive leader who disliked procrastination.

So there's no need to be polite about these little things. If Director Zhou asks you to sit down, just sit down. You can also make tea or hot water as you like; he won't mind at all.

After waving for his colleagues to sit on the sofa, Deputy Director Bai spoke up: "Factory Director, our factory's labor union received an inquiry letter this morning from the Sijiu City Labor Union, asking if we had acted improperly in dealing with the transport team drivers."

The Second Machine Tool Plant was a large factory directly under the ministry, and its trade union was of a high level, on par with county and district trade unions, with the Sijiu City Trade Union as its superior.

The Beijing Municipal Workers' Union is responsible for all issues concerning workers within Beijing, including those related to unequal treatment. In short, it is the backbone of all workers in Beijing.

"Heh, it seems they really did go to the higher-level union for support."

Zhou Zhiqiang chuckled upon hearing this, and then continued, "Then just give the truthful answer, Deputy Director Bai. Just follow the rules for this matter."

"Director Li thinks so too, but there's something I asked the Party Secretary, and he asked me to come and ask for your opinion."

Upon hearing Deputy Director Bai's words, Zhou Zhiqiang couldn't help but sigh inwardly. This Secretary Li was at it again.

There are still seven or eight years until retirement age, why enter retirement so early?

He was, after all, the secretary of a large state-owned factory directly under a ministry, yet he acted as if he didn't care about anything.

Zhou Zhiqiang asked, "What is it?"

“When Niu Datian went to the Sijiu City Federation of Trade Unions, there happened to be a reporter nearby, so he reported on the matter.”

As Deputy Director Bai spoke, he placed the newspaper he was holding on the table and pushed it towards Zhou Zhiqiang, then continued...

"However, the newspaper knew that our factory was a key factory, so they didn't dare to report on it too much."

Zhou Zhiqiang glanced through the document and then said, "What do you mean you didn't dare to report it too much? Didn't they already report it?"

"I'll say it again: do what needs to be done, follow the rules; and do you believe that there are reporters nearby, Deputy Director Bai?"

"I don't have time to waste with these people. Anyone who isn't at the factory will be treated as absent without leave."

"I have so much to do every day. If these people keep delaying things, the factory might as well not develop at all."

Zhou Zhiqiang made no attempt to hide his anger, which made Deputy Director Bai sigh inwardly.

According to Deputy Director Bai, the whole situation has escalated to this point entirely because of Niu Datian and his associates.

If the factory manager catches you making a mistake, you should just honestly admit it. It's wrong to occupy the staff dormitory by relying on connections in the first place. Others who admit their mistakes only get a major demerit.
It's okay if you get reassigned. Just work hard for a while and then admit your mistake. It's not like you can't go back to being a driver. The factory can't really let you, a driver, shovel boilers forever. What's wrong with admitting your mistake and working for a while?
You, Niu Datian, have such a stubborn temper. You insisted on rallying other drivers to make trouble, and now even Director Zhou has lost his temper. In the end, he even went to the Fourth and Ninth Cities Federation of Trade Unions to cause trouble.

"Deputy Director Bai, your factory's labor union has been recording and understanding the whole process of this matter. I have only one request: to truthfully report this to the Sijiu City Federation of Trade Unions."

Furthermore, I want to make my stance clear: the punishment of reassignment remains unchanged, and the factory will continue to consider punishing any worker who disobeys orders or refuses to admit their mistakes and reflect on their actions!

Zhou Zhiqiang said firmly, leaving no room for negotiation.

Upon hearing this, Deputy Director Bai nodded and said, "I understand, Factory Director. Although the union considers the interests of the workers, it is not meant to cater to those unreasonable and domineering workers."

"But manager, several drivers have genuinely realized their mistakes. They originally wanted to apologize to you directly, but they were afraid you'd be angry and wouldn't listen, so they came to us."

After speaking with Zhou Zhiqiang, Deputy Director Bai turned to the worker sitting on the sofa and said loudly, "Shen Erdong, where's your self-criticism from before? Come over here and make a promise to the factory manager!"

"Yes, Deputy Director Bai, I apologize. Factory Director, we were wrong. We shouldn't have occupied the staff dormitory for petty gains, and we shouldn't have resisted the factory after making a mistake."

Shen Erdong immediately stood up, took out a self-criticism, and read it aloud to Zhou Zhiqiang.

After finishing his self-criticism, Shen Erdong bowed again to Zhou Zhiqiang and said, "Factory Director, we know we were wrong. We shouldn't have gone against the factory with Niu Dui and Niu Datian in the first place. We were out of our minds back then."

Deputy Director Bai chimed in, "Factory Director, the four of them are indeed repentant. They spent a long time writing this self-criticism alone. If I hadn't been worried that the other three coming along would take up too much of your time, I would have let them all come. Besides, their family circumstances are a bit difficult; it would be much harder for them to work at the boiler room."

"Why are you going through all this trouble with them when your family is struggling? There's so much work to do at the factory. Didn't you think about your family when you were causing trouble?"

Zhou Zhiqiang paused for a moment, looked at Shen Erdong for seven or eight seconds, and then continued, "Considering your attitude of admitting your mistakes and Deputy Director Bai's intercession, you guys can go back to the transportation team. All your year-end performance evaluations and awards will be canceled, but we won't deduct anything else from your performance."

"Yes, yes, thank you, factory manager, thank you!"

Upon hearing this, Shen Erdong's face lit up with surprise, and he quickly bowed and thanked him, saying, "Factory Manager, we will definitely not make the same mistake again, we definitely won't."

He never expected the punishment to be so lenient; they had no hope of being recognized for awards or commendations at the end of the year.

The negotiated restoration of their benefits was a pleasant surprise. As long as they could earn the same amount of money as before each month, what more could they ask for?

In the past, the transportation team would usually get one or two slots, since the Second Machine Tool Factory gave out a lot of rewards and prizes every year, and the transportation team was a relatively important department in the factory.

But this year it will definitely be canceled. Although there are still some hardworking small truck drivers, those who have been implicated by other large truck drivers will definitely not be appreciated by other departments if they are selected.

For those people, it was a bit of an undeserved disaster.

"I don't believe in empty words; let's see how you perform in the future."

Zhou Zhiqiang paused for a moment, then continued, "Also, when you go back, each of you should take two apprentice drivers with you and teach them according to this instruction manual."

After saying that, Zhou Zhiqiang handed two booklets he had just compiled to Shen Erdong; one was a truck driving instruction manual, and the other was a truck malfunction repair manual.

It's basically about getting apprentices to quickly understand the various parts of a truck and know what methods to use to repair it when it breaks down.

"This is what I've summarized. You can give it to the factory office later and have them send it to the publishing house to make a lot of copies. Let's say a hundred copies. You can use this when you're teaching your apprentices."

Don't keep it to yourself, or I'll find someone else to teach them, and train a few more drivers for the factory. We'll have plenty of shipping tasks in the future!

"I understand, factory manager."

After finishing his speech, Shen Erdong took the opportunity to glance at the truck repair manual. He was quite surprised to see the repair instructions with both pictures and text.

Where did the factory manager get this?
He remembered that the factory manager was also technically skilled, and seemed to be a multi-level eight worker, but driving and repairing cars were not the same as being a fitter or a machinist. How could the factory manager know about that?

Shen Erdong was shocked, but he took Zhou Zhiqiang's words to heart. He no longer wanted to go against the factory.

Especially after hearing Zhou Zhiqiang's tough stance, Shen Erdong dared not oppose the factory's decision even more.

Let him teach apprentices; as long as he gets more driving work, that's fine.

Now Shen Erdong and his group don't want to cause any more trouble with Niu Datian and his group. In the end, all their good work has been ruined by the trouble.

After Deputy Director Bai stood up, he said, "Factory Director, then I won't bother you any longer. The factory's labor union will be responsible for the follow-up coordination with the Municipal Federation of Trade Unions."

Zhou Zhiqiang nodded and said, "Yes, thank you for your help. Please remember to convey my attitude to the Municipal Federation of Trade Unions. If the factory compromises with workers who act like scoundrels, it will be unfair to those hardworking workers."

"I understand, factory manager."

After Deputy Director Bai finished speaking, he left the factory director's office with Shen Erdong.

Zhou Zhiqiang's anger came quickly and went quickly.

He quickly put the matter of Si Niu Datian and others behind him and began to develop a technical and process training plan for the CNC branch.

Although 150 people were borrowed from Factory 190, the CNC branch planned to have around 2,000 employees.

Besides the cadres and skilled semiconductor personnel supported by the Fourth Ministry of Machinery Industry, the CNC branch factory still needs to recruit about 1,400 people.

We definitely won't be able to fill all our positions in the second half of the year. To keep filling all our positions, we'll have to wait until next year's vocational school graduation season to recruit more junior and senior high school graduates and vocational school students to meet the factory's needs.

There's nothing for Zhou Zhiqiang to worry about at the main factory; the only thing he needs to be concerned about is the Autumn Canton Fair, which is just over a month away.

Their second machine tool plant will definitely take a lot, and if the foreign trade orders exceed three thousand units, the surplus will be distributed to the first machine tool plant.

This was something that Zhou Zhiqiang and Factory Director Wang had discussed and agreed upon, and they had also reported it to Director Ren.

(End of this chapter)