The Fiery Era: Becoming an Industrial Giant

Chapter 248 Factory Mass Incident
"Factory manager, besides CNC machine tools, could you give us some other support?"

Wu Jun immediately seized the opportunity, grinning at Zhou Zhiqiang and saying, "Our factory is actually short of everything, and we often have to work overtime these days. We're pushing our monthly production efficiency to the limit just to meet our targets."

"The main factory is in the same situation, but there's no way around it now. There are too many production tasks, too few people and machines, and we simply can't complete the production tasks without working overtime."

Zhou Zhiqiang immediately replied in 'official language': "Our machine tool factory is considered good; even unplanned production can bring in a lot of benefits. Some factories, however, completely waste unplanned production."

Comrade Wu Jun, your factory must have a considerable amount of retained funds this year. If you're going to use them, remember to allocate them all to the factory's workers. I don't have any other requirements, but this can be considered a mandatory requirement for the branch factory.

Workers create value for the factory, so when the factory has a financial surplus, it should reward the workers.

This is Zhou Zhiqiang's consistent thinking and style. At this time, resources are scarce, what do cadres need so much money for? Are they going to take RMB abroad with them?
The regulations are very strict now. Even Zhou Zhiqiang's family doesn't eat meat every day. If they were found out that they were eating meat every day, someone would definitely come to investigate.

What's the point of embezzling money if you can't even spend it? You might as well use it to give the workers some real benefits.

Wu Jun quickly assured him, "Factory Director, don't worry, our branch factory will definitely implement the spirit of the head office and follow in its footsteps."

Sometimes, leaders from Changping would come to our factory, which was kind of like them trying to freeload.

The supporting parts branch of the Second Machine Tool Plant is now considered a large factory with nearly 3,000 employees in Changping.

Moreover, with the main factory as its backer, the branch factory was doing very well, which led many cadres in Changping to have ulterior motives.

"These are all local factories, and I'm also a cadre from Changping. We'll be dealing with each other a lot in the future, so we should get to know each other well, Director Wu."

At first, Wu Jun was somewhat polite and accommodating to such remarks. It was fine if they came to the factory to eat and drink for free; Wu Jun could tolerate that.

But recently things have gotten increasingly out of hand, especially after the Second Machine Tool Plant secured a huge order at the Canton Fair. As a branch of the Second Machine Tool Plant, they have also been targeted.

"Your Second Machine Tool Plant secured orders worth hundreds of millions. It's alright to support your sister plant, isn't it? Is it the main plant? Aren't branch plants and main plants the same? If the main plant gets the order, can't it be given to your branch plant?"

As the branch factory manager, Wu Jun would see people coming to his door to freeload almost every other day.

People kept arriving, one after another, and Wu Jun was having trouble keeping up with them.

If this continues, the branch factory might run into problems, and he, as the branch factory manager, will definitely be dealt with by the head office.

Wu Juncai didn't want to end up like that, so he took this opportunity to tell Zhou Zhiqiang and ask for help.

"No matter what, this kind of thing is not allowed to happen again. If they're not satisfied, they can blame it on me!"

Zhou Zhiqiang immediately said, "This is the kind of thing I hate the most. You can tell the leaders in Changping that Zhou Zhiqiang from the main factory doesn't allow it, and he'll deal with every one of them he finds."

"If anyone is being disrespectful, you should call me right now and I'll tell them I don't believe they're all monsters or demons."
By the way, our Second Machine Tool Plant is about to be renamed Jiuzhou Machine Tool General Plant. From now on, it will be a factory at the provincial level, so we don't need to worry about those who try to take advantage of us."

Upon hearing this, Wu Jun immediately beamed with joy and said, "That's wonderful! Factory Director, you have no idea how troublesome it is to deal with them, sigh."

"From now on, don't worry about a single penny. If it happens too often, I'll personally call the Party Secretary of Changping and ask them if they still want the supporting branch of Jiuzhou Machine Tool Factory to develop in Changping."

After resolving this matter, Wu Jun felt his headache was gone. He then immediately asked, "Factory manager, could the head office help us train some skilled workers? I thought the head office's skilled workers would be better, and recently the head office has been training driver apprentices."

Our branch factory is also under a lot of transportation pressure. Factory manager, when the head office is training apprentices, please include the people from our branch factory as well.

“No problem. Just send me the list and have the apprentices report to the main factory. I’ll send them back after they’ve finished their training.”

After thinking for a moment, Zhou Zhiqiang quickly agreed, saying, "It's not just for driver apprentices; the head office regularly holds technical training sessions for various jobs, and your branch factory can participate."

“That’s great.”

Boom boom boom!
Before Wu Jun could finish speaking, there was a knock on the office door.

Then Zhang Yaoguo poked his head in again, walked slowly to Zhou Zhiqiang's side, and whispered, "Boss, the housing management department posted the housing allocation list today, and now there are quite a few workers gathered around the bulletin board."

Although Deputy Factory Director Sun went there, it seems he couldn't persuade the workers to leave. Everyone is quite "excited" about the housing allocation. Xiao Yu from the factory office asked me to report to you that Deputy Factory Director Sun might not be able to persuade the workers to return to the workshop.

Zhou Zhiqiang quickly understood that it was still about the house.

Although this thing is similar to a bicycle, nowadays, if individuals work hard and save up, they can still buy a bicycle, whether it's an industrial voucher or a bicycle ticket.

But when it comes to houses, it's all about luck. Even if you find someone who wants to sell their private property, you have to circumvent all kinds of regulations and make an IOU that lasts for decades to use the house as collateral.

Individuals are not qualified to build houses; only government agencies are.

Only government agencies could acquire land to build welfare housing or other types of housing.

Almost every worker in the Second Machine Tool Plant needs a house. Unmarried people need a house to get married, and married people have many children.

These days, families with only one child are rare, and there are too many families with two or three children, some even with four or five. Even Zhou Zhiqiang has a son and a daughter.

Almost everyone in the factory needs a house. Zhou Zhiqiang guessed that some people would feel resentful once the housing allocation list was released, so he specifically instructed Deputy Factory Director Sun to visit the notice board more often when posting the housing allocation list.

The province has seen workers gathering in protest. They are not afraid of the enthusiasm of the masses, but they are afraid that the masses will become uncontrollable.

Unexpectedly, even with Deputy Factory Director Sun's presence, the workers' discontent remained unabated.

"Did Deputy Factory Director Sun send Xiao Yu to call me?"

Zhang Yaoguo nodded and said, "It seems so, otherwise he wouldn't have come to find me specifically."

"Okay, I see."

Zhou Zhiqiang then said to Wu Jun, "Comrade Wu Jun, I have to take care of something. Let's talk later."

"Factory manager, let me go with you. More people means more help."

Upon hearing this, Wu Jun immediately stood up and said that the leader had gone to attend to some business, and he couldn't just sit in the office drinking tea and waiting for the leader to return, so he naturally had to go with the leader.

Even if I can't help, just standing by is enough.

"I'm even a little envious of the housing allocation, Factory Director. To be honest, if our branch factory weren't so far from the main factory, we would have all wanted to come and complain to you."

Comrade Wu Jun, you...

As Zhou Zhiqiang walked out of the office, he continued, "Your factory can also be built next year."
"By the end of next year, you should have a plan ready, and construction should be completed by the spring of the year after. The head office can provide some funding for the housing construction; your branch factory will contribute 40%, and the head office will provide the remainder."

Upon hearing this, Wu Jun asked happily, "Thank you so much, Factory Director. On behalf of all the staff of the branch factory, I thank the head office." "Thank me later. First, take care of this matter at hand."

------

The list of housing allocations had only been posted in front of the factory office building for a short time when the news spread throughout the entire factory.

Many people temporarily put aside their work and rushed to the notice board to check the room allocation list, hoping to find out if they had been allocated a room.

Moreover, those who come to read the notice board are all veteran workers in the factory, with excellent skills and good performance.

New workers who have only been with the factory for two or three years know they won't be included in this housing allocation, so they won't even bother to come and check.

Others were sent by their masters to check if their names were on the list.

However, after watching, some were happy, some were disappointed and anxious, but only a few were happy; most were disappointed and dissatisfied, thinking that they were also anxious and that their performance was no worse than others.

There was a bit of a commotion when they were selecting model workers, let alone when it came to allocating housing; and this was a permanent apartment building, housing only cadres could live in.

After this discontent accumulated, they surrounded the factory bulletin board, and Deputy Factory Director Sun tried to persuade them to leave for a long time without success.

When Zhou Zhiqiang arrived at the bulletin board, he saw that not only were there many people gathered there, but it also seemed that more people were still arriving one after another.

"Director."

After Zhou Zhiqiang arrived at the factory office, Yu Xiaojun quickly brought over the loudspeaker they had just found and handed it to Zhou Zhiqiang, saying...

"There are too many people now, factory manager, why don't you use this?"

"no need."

Zhou Zhiqiang turned on the loudspeaker and then walked towards the area where the workers were gathered.

He didn't take a detour; he squeezed straight through the crowd, easily clearing a path through the workers who were clustered together.

Some workers were pulled aside by hands reaching out from behind, and angrily turned around and cursed, "Who the hell is Director Zhou?"

"Factory Manager of Squeezing Eggs, you've arrived?"

"Director Zhou is here!"

"The factory manager is here. Let him speak."

"Make way for the factory manager."

The excited and noisy crowd quickly quieted down. Even those workers who didn't see Zhou Zhiqiang heard people shouting that Director Zhou had arrived.

When the factory manager arrived, their excited emotions were like a raging fire being doused with a bucket of cold water, and they quickly calmed down.

When Deputy Factory Director Sun saw Zhou Zhiqiang approaching, he quickly wiped his sweat and said, "I'm sorry, Factory Director, I couldn't calm the workers down. They're so agitated that I can't persuade them to leave."

"It's okay, it's not your fault. People are like that when they're excited. Just let them calm down."

After comforting Deputy Factory Director Sun, Zhou Zhiqiang turned to all the nearby workers and said loudly, "Alright, now that I'm here, if you have any complaints, just tell me!"

The group of workers around them had already calmed down when they heard Zhou Zhiqiang speak, and now, after hearing Zhou Zhiqiang's words, none of them dared to speak immediately.

Workers who wanted to come over saw Zhou Zhiqiang in the distance and immediately turned around to go back.

However, Zhou Zhiqiang saw this and immediately shouted, "Hey you in the distance, why are you running? You've already left your post, so come over here and tell me what your complaints are!"

Hearing Zhou Zhiqiang call him, the workers in the distance didn't run away. Under Zhou Zhiqiang's gaze, they walked over and said awkwardly, "Factory manager, we just came out to use the restroom and were passing by."

"Do you think I don't know where the toilet is? The factory doesn't have any production targets at the end of the year, right? Did you go to the toilet in front of the factory office building?"

After reprimanding them, Zhou Zhiqiang didn't dwell on it and continued, "Go back to your workstations as soon as you're done using the restroom. I know you all, and I'll check your work progress tonight."

"Yes, factory director."

Upon hearing this, several workers quickly pushed through the crowd and left.

Zhou Zhiqiang then continued to address all the workers gathered there, saying, "Comrades, as I said before, this is the first batch of housing allocations, but it is definitely not the last batch."

Barring unforeseen circumstances, our factory will provide welfare housing every year. If you're not too tired, take a stroll around the factory staff housing complex that we've applied for during your breaks and see how big the open space is there.”

"But the factory's finances aren't that good, so we can only build a few buildings a year, in batches. So this year, we're prioritizing those who have performed well and those who really need housing."

If you feel it's unfair, complain privately or come directly to me; do you think I'd ignore you?

"What kind of talk is it to put down your work and gather here? Do you have some grievance against me?"

After Zhou Zhiqiang finished asking his question, few people dared to answer, and even those who had been shouting the loudest fell silent.

They were just acting impulsively, but now that they've calmed down, they would never dare to talk back to Zhou Zhiqiang, the factory director.

In the position of factory director, if the score is out of ten, Zhou Zhiqiang would give himself a score of 9.99. Even Hou Yufeng, the deputy factory director, only felt that Zhou Zhiqiang was taking on too much power and managing too much, but would not say that Zhou Zhiqiang had done anything wrong.

"Speechless? If you have nothing to say, go back to production. If you still have grievances, go to the union and come find me with the union."

Zhou Zhiqiang ordered, "If you can't trust me, you should at least trust the trade union; now go back to production and stop crowding around here."

Upon hearing Zhou Zhiqiang's last sentence, some workers anxiously spoke up.
"Factory manager, we believe in you, we definitely believe in you!"

"Yes, yes, factory manager, we were too impulsive just now. We'll go back to work now. Old Zhao, let's go."

"Factory manager, we trust you the most. We won't ask any more questions, not a single one of them."

Some workers quickly explained loudly, and then more and more people, while saying they believed in Zhou Zhiqiang, hurriedly left to go back to work.

They had heard some rumors about the construction of welfare buildings, which was something Zhou Zhiqiang had fought for for the workers, and most of the buildings were allocated to the workers.

If they don't even trust a good cadre like Zhou Zhiqiang, then there are hardly any trustworthy people in the factory.

(End of this chapter)