Chapter 1812: Let's Go See the Printing Factory Together

Su Xinghui had a decisive nature; when he thought of something, he wanted to do it immediately. After lunch, he let Lu Xiaoya rest and called An Dachang. An Dachang was at home, so Su Xinghui went to his place.

An Dachang's family had also moved to the Standing Committee building in the County Party Committee compound. It wasn't in the same building as Su Xinghui's, but it wasn't far. In just a few minutes, Su Xinghui arrived at An Dachang's home.

An Dachang had already opened the door and stood by the entrance, smiling to welcome Su Xinghui. He used this way to express his respect for Su Xinghui; after all, Su Xinghui could be considered his old leader and had shown him kindness by recognizing his talent.

An Dachang welcomed Su Xinghui in and asked, "County Magistrate Su, please sit. Is there something you need?"

After sitting down, Su Xinghui asked, "Dachang, how much do you know about the situation of the laid-off workers in Changshan County?"

An Dachang said, "I do know a little about the laid-off workers. Since I took charge of industry, some laid-off workers have come to my office to tell me they have no means of living. I've also contacted the Civil Affairs Department to help them with some living expenses, but that's not a long-term solution."

Su Xinghui naturally knew this wasn't a long-term solution, so he asked, "Then what do you think is a long-term solution that can solve their employment problem?"

An Dachang pondered for a long time, then looked up and said, "Could we have those newly introduced factories absorb some of the older laid-off workers?"

Su Xinghui smiled and said, "You are now the deputy county magistrate in charge of industry. You can just tell the investors about such things."

An Dachang smiled with some embarrassment, "The main thing is that I'm not familiar with those investors, and I'm afraid they won't give me face."

Su Xinghui knew this was indeed the truth. Those investors had basically come to Changshan County to invest because of Su Xinghui's face. An Dachang had only been in office for a short time and wasn't familiar with them, so it was understandable that he had concerns.

Su Xinghui said, "Go ahead and tell them. If they don't give you face, just come and tell me."

An Dachang nodded happily, "That's no problem then."

An Dachang did indeed have concerns. After all, these investors were introduced by Su Xinghui. If he went to them with such a request, he was naturally afraid that Su Xinghui would feel uncomfortable.

Now that Su Xinghui had brought it up himself, it was easy to handle.

Su Xinghui asked, "Do you have any other ideas?"

An Dachang said, "I've already told the sanitation department to recruit more sanitation workers. The urban area has expanded significantly compared to before, and the flow of people has increased, so there is indeed a need for more sanitation workers to clean up."

Su Xinghui laughed, "You're asking me to take money from the treasury again."

The wages of sanitation workers naturally had to come from the treasury, so Su Xinghui made this joke. An Dachang naturally knew he was joking and said with a smile, "It's also because the county's fiscal revenue is much higher than before that I dare to do this; otherwise, I wouldn't have the confidence."

Su Xinghui said solemnly, "This is a good thing. Actually, I have the same idea. We need to create more jobs for these laid-off workers. If the government doesn't do such things, who will? It's our duty; the government should take responsibility for these laid-off workers."

An Dachang said, "Yes, I feel the same way. These laid-off workers contributed to the country for so many years, and once the enterprises went bankrupt, they were thrown aside and ignored. This is wrong. I think the government should take care of them."

It was very rare for An Dachang to be able to say this. In this era, there were too many laid-off workers, and the funds needed to settle them were enormous. The country didn't have that much money now, so what could be done? They just threw the laid-off workers aside and ignored them, at most giving them a sum of money to buy out their seniority—a few thousand yuan—and then cutting ties with their units.

To be honest, this wasn't the right way to do things, but what could be done? The country could only say this was the "growing pain" of reform. Although the layoffs and diversion would bring temporary difficulties to some workers, fundamentally speaking, these were problems in the process of moving forward and would be conducive to economic development and overall social progress.

Many unprincipled writers were also advocating on the sidelines, saying things like "it's glorious to be laid off for the country," and attributing the plight of those laid-off workers to their own lack of effort, lack of progress, and lack of learning. All sorts of unsightly rhetoric were rampant. In short, they wanted these laid-off workers to fend for themselves and not cause trouble for the country and the government.

Against such a backdrop, it was truly not easy for An Dachang to be able to say such things.

Su Xinghui said, "The problem of laid-off workers in our county is also my fault. Previously, industry was managed by County Magistrate Zhao, so it wasn't easy for me to intervene. Actually, I had the ability to solve it at the time; I could have just asked those investors to recruit more laid-off workers. The slaughtering base alone recruited thousands of workers."

An Dachang said, "County Magistrate Su, how can this be your fault? Since you came to Changshan County, you've done enough. If it weren't for you, the problem of laid-off workers really wouldn't have been solved."

Su Xinghui said, "We can think of other ways to settle laid-off workers, such as giving them preferential policies to support their entrepreneurship, or setting up a vocational skills training school to provide them with training, so they can improve their skills and have some advantages when they seek re-employment in the future."

An Dachang's eyes lit up, "County Magistrate Su, these ideas of yours are all very good. Why didn't I think of them?"

Su Xinghui smiled, "You must have thought of them. Are you trying to flatter me?"

An Dachang shook his head sincerely, "I really hadn't thought of them. I was just thinking about creating jobs for them."

Su Xinghui said, "Regardless of whether you thought of them or not, what do you think of these methods?"

An Dachang said, "I think they are really good and will certainly solve the employment problem for many laid-off workers."

Su Xinghui said, "Alright, let's do it this way. Let's have other county leaders help think of ways to solve this problem together."

An Dachang asked, "County Magistrate Su, what made you think of the laid-off worker problem today?"

Su Xinghui said, "Isn't it because our nanny, Auntie Li, is a laid-off worker? Both she and her husband are laid-off workers from the printing factory, and their life is very difficult, so I thought of this problem. As soon as I thought of it, I came to find you. It's the weekend, did I disturb you?"

An Dachang smiled, "County Magistrate Su, why are you saying such things? You can find me whenever you want."

Su Xinghui said, "Since that's the case, since we both have time this afternoon, I'll go with you to the printing factory to take a look and see the real life of the laid-off workers."