Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

Xu Daben chose two mines for mechanization: Kailuan Coal Mine, which he had just taken over, and Datong Coal Mine. Wei Hongjun carefully reviewed the Datong Coal Mine's report. Datong Coal Mine was merging and renovating old mines while maintaining coal production.

Wei Hongjun was very surprised.

Datong Mining Bureau does a really good job.

"Secretary Wei, since we took over the Datong Coal Mine, our workers have taken charge and their enthusiasm for production has been very high.

Lin Yu, secretary of the Datong Coal Mine Trade Union, answered.

Lin Yu is two years younger than Wei Hongjun, having been born in 1917. Currently only years old, he is also considered a relatively young cadre.

But he is also an old party member.

Lin Yu is a cadre from Sheng County.

He joined the Party at the age of sixteen while attending school in Sheng County, and later engaged in revolution in Sheng County as a primary school teacher. After Wang Qiuyun and Wei Hongjun arrived in Sheng County, they developed an anti-Japanese base in Sheng County. At that time, all the underground Party organizations in Sheng County led by Li Shiping joined the Sheng County Anti-Japanese Base.

When the Eighth Column was short on cadres, Lin Yu came to the army and served as a political officer. He also served as Organization Minister, County Magistrate, and County Party Secretary of Sheng County, and later as a member of the Chanan District Party Committee. After the troops captured Datong, the Datong Military Control Commission was established, and Lin Yu was a member of the commission.

After the establishment of the Datong Municipal Party Committee, he served as the Secretary-General of the Municipal Party Committee and Secretary of the Enterprise Party Committee, Chairman of the Datong Municipal Federation of Trade Unions, Member of the Party Committee of the Datong Mining Bureau, and Chairman of the Trade Union of the Datong Mining Bureau. Wei Hongjun was very familiar with Lin Yu.

After all, when Wei Hongjun and his men had just established the Shengxian base, the total number of party members in the entire Shengxian, including those in the army and local areas, was less than twenty.

"Not long ago, the newly formed Malian Tunneling Team at Datong Coal Mine broke the 300-meter monthly advance barrier, setting a national record of 318.71 meters of electric drill drilling. Our Mining Bureau is currently reviewing the advanced work experience of the Malian Tunneling Team and preparing to promote it within the coal industry. If successful, tunneling speeds at various coal mines could be doubled or tripled, and coal production could be doubled or tripled."

"Malian Excavation Team?"

"These are the names of two worker representatives from our Datong Coal Mine, Ma Liuhai and Lian Wanlu."

Lin Yu immediately introduced him to Wei Hongjun.

"They are both veteran miners in our coal industry. Since we liberated Datong and the Datong Coal Mine, our miners' enthusiasm for production has greatly increased. They have been summarizing their work as they go along, and have developed a set of advanced operating methods from underground coal mining practices, such as observing cracks when drilling blastholes and opening grooves from the soft surface. They have extended this experience to the entire Datong Coal Mine, so our Datong Coal Mine can maintain an increase in coal production while renovating old mines. The Mining Bureau formed the Ma Lian Tunneling Group with these two people as its leaders. One reason is to boost morale, and the other is to allow them to summarize more advanced experience.

"well."

Wei Hongjun nodded repeatedly.

They are the heroes of the coal industry.

Wei Hongjun asked, "Where are their information?"

"Secretary Wei, this way."

Lin Yu had already prepared the profile of the advanced individuals. Wei Hongjun took a closer look and discovered that Ma Liuhai was a year younger than Wei Hongjun and had already worked in the coal mine for over twenty years. He had started digging coal at the age of eight, and his son had started at the age of nine.

His grandfather and father were both miners. They both passed away at a young age due to poverty and illness.

It is said that miners in old China lived a life worse than that of pigs and dogs. A look at the records of Ma Liuhai's family will reveal this. However, it was this Ma Liuhai who, after the liberation of the Datong Coal Mine, unexpectedly summed up so much coal mining experience in less than two years.

Wei Hongjun doesn't know how to mine coal.

However, the materials gave very high praise to the coal mining experience he summarized.

These are the workers of New China.

"I need to verify this information. If there is no problem with your information, then this is the construction hero of New China.

The power of example is endless.

In an era of hero worship, many people look up to heroes as role models. New China was incredibly poor, unable to satisfy many people materially in a short period of time. Therefore, the only solution was spiritual nourishment.

Wei Hongjun understood that future generations could never imagine how the workers and peasants of the early years of the People's Republic of China unleashed such incredible strength. How did the People's Republic of China produce so many model workers whose work is beyond the comprehension of later generations? There were coal industry heroes like Ma Liuhai, and oil industry heroes like Iron Man Wang Jinxi. Why were they so willing to risk their lives?

Because only the workers and peasants who have experienced the old China can understand the value of the new China.

Workers in old China were at the bottom of society. Many lived in conditions worse than even the poor peasants in the countryside. This was because even the working class in old China could not guarantee their safety during their daily work.

But the new China was founded.

The workers' status improved rapidly.

Workers feel this change most.

If it were old China, the coal industry would never expect to produce a model worker like Ma Liuhai.

However, Wei Hongjun knew that he had other things to do today.

So he asked, "What is the main work of your union? In the past, we established unions to organize workers and fight for their right to survive and legitimate interests. Later, during the War of Liberation, we organized workers to protect factories and prevent the Kuomintang from destroying them. But now that the Datong Mining Bureau has been established, all the coal mines in Datong have become state-owned enterprises. Has the work of your union also changed?"

"Yes."

Lin Yu nodded and said, "Secretary Wei, the situation has changed, and our work must also change. At present, the main task of our union is to assist the factory leaders and organize the workers to complete the production tasks assigned to us by the superiors with guaranteed quality and quantity."

Wei Hongjun seemed to be thinking about something.

Because of Lin Yu’s words, which was “assisting the factory leaders.”

When the CCP organized trade unions, there was hostility between the unions and factory leaders. The contradiction between factory owners and the unions was one of foes. Factory owners, including the powerful forces behind them, always viewed the unions as a thorn in their side, eager to suppress all union organizations. When Kuomintang spies arrested underground party members in factories, they focused their attention on the unions. Even if those active in the unions were not underground party members, they were peripheral organizations of the underground party, deeply influenced by the CCP.

But obviously.

Now the relationship between the trade union and the administrative department, that is, the factory, has changed.

Why Wei Hongjun attaches importance to research.

That's why.

In many cases, frontline cadres may not understand the theory. They are unable to summarize what is happening from a theoretical perspective. However, many things change naturally. This is similar to the role of trade unions.

The union leaders themselves don't fully understand it.

But things have changed.

Lin Yu was not only the union chairman of the Datong Mining Bureau, he was also the chairman of the Datong Federation of Trade Unions. He led the union of the entire Datong factory.

But he naturally said "assisting the factory leaders" in production.

Wei Hongjun didn't know whether this change was good or bad.

"What about the lives of the workers?"

"We have made improvements. We have three main measures for our workers. The first is to improve mine conditions and increase mine safety. We can no longer let our workers risk their lives working as they did in the past. This time, when renovating the old mine, we specifically considered safety issues."

Lin Yu didn't know why Wei Hongjun said this to him.

So I reported to Wei Hongjun on his work at the union. A major reason for the old mine renovation was that in the past, coal mining workers were not treated as human beings. As long as they could mine, they were fine.

Anyway, the least valuable thing in old China was human life.

When people died in the mine, the mine owner didn't care at all, not even offering compensation. He was quick to recruit new miners to dig coal. So, the mine owner cared least about the miners' lives.

Lin Yu continued, "The second is to improve the living conditions of the workers. We abolished the dirty and messy earthen caves and built new workers' dormitories. In just a few months, we built dormitories that can accommodate more than 20,000 people. Although these houses are not as good as those in the city, they have been turned upside down compared to before. When the workers first moved into the dormitories, many of them burst into tears."

Wei Hongjun nodded.

The conditions of workers in New China must be improved.

After all, the Communist Party of China is a party led by the working class.

Lin Yu continued, "The third is to establish a school for children of workers. It's a school under our Mining Bureau. The students in this school are mainly children of workers. And our school for children of workers is free. When the miners heard that the children could go to school, they cried all night."

"very good."

Wei Hongjun was still very satisfied with Lin Yu's answer.

But this wasn't the full answer Wei Hongjun wanted to ask. So, he continued, "What do you think are the main differences in the work focus between current and previous unions?"

Lin Yu did not answer immediately.

After thinking for a moment, he said, "Secretary Wei, I think there have been significant changes. Our union's goal used to be to fight factory owners and secure benefits for workers. But now, our factories are run by the working class, and we are the owners. Our goal is to ensure good production. If I were to describe it, we used to struggle for survival, but now we produce for development."

“Before, we struggled for survival, now we produce for development?

"Yes. In the past, we struggled to feed ourselves, and many workers died of poverty and illness. For us workers, we could not see a future. Take the miners at Datong Coal Mine, for example. Many have been miners for generations. They've been digging coal since they were seven or eight years old, and many even died in their teens. But now it's different. The workers are in charge, the factory is our home, and this country has truly become our country. We workers are no longer just trying to survive, but to produce coal for ourselves and the country.

Lin Yu expressed his excitement.

Wei Hongjun glanced at the excited Lin Yu. Wei Hongjun considered again, was this Lin Yu's idea, or was it what the workers were thinking now?

It seems that I still need to talk to the workers.

"You mean, the main work of the union right now is production?"

"Yes."

Wei Hongjun wrote down what Lin Yu said.

Then he said, “So, you’re saying that the factory management, or the factory administration and the union are now on the same page?

“It should be consistent.”

"Is there no conflict?"

Lin Yu had never thought about these questions.

So, facing Wei Hongjun's question, he thought while answering, "I think there are some minor conflicts, but they do not affect the basic consensus. Now the basic position of the entire factory, from top to bottom, is to produce more coal for the country.

"Factory administration is more concerned with completing production tasks assigned by superiors. Workers, on the other hand, have their own personal interests, such as improving their lives. Is this a conflict, a contradiction? Is it a public-private conflict?"

"Secretary Wei, I don't agree with this statement."

Lin Yu shook his head.

He retorted, "Secretary Wei, the working class is the master of the factory and the master of this country. The factory is our own factory, and the country is our own country. The factory's production tasks are ultimately aimed at national prosperity and strength, which also includes improving the lives of the workers themselves. Isn't our revolution all about building a new China with a prosperous country and a strong people?" Whether it is the factory administrators or our workers, their positions may seem slightly different, but in fact they all have the same goal. I think Secretary Wei always understands the problems of our current state-owned enterprises from the perspective of the old factory administration, the old factory unions, and the old factory workers. This does not conform to the current situation in the factory.

Wei Hongjun did not refute Lin Yu's words.

But thinking.

There are contradictions and conflicts between production and life, but it is also possible that they are consistent in their basic positions?

The working class is the master?

This sentence is unfamiliar to Chinese people half a century later.

Are workers the masters of their factories? Are workers the masters of their country?

It's so funny if you tell others about it.

When the People's Republic of China was founded, the working class could publicly and loudly declare that workers were the masters of the factory and the country. But how could they demonstrate that the working class was the master and that they needed trade unions to lead them?

Wei Hongjun carefully considered the relationship between enterprise administration and trade unions.

If unions are no longer organizations that fight for workers' interests with factory administration, who will guarantee their interests? Or has the improvement of the working class's status meant that organizations like unions are no longer needed to uphold justice for workers?

Let the working class directly participate in factory management or factory supervision, and let the working class have the status of master in the factory itself.

So does the function of trade unions really need to change?