Chapter 317

318. Chapter 314: The Garment Factory and the Captain

In the morning, Lade (the old tailor's son-in-law and manager of the garment factory) had just arrived at his office. After he hung up his hat and sat down, someone knocked on the door outside.

The garment factory's business is quite good right now.

On one hand, Lanse needs a large number of new work uniforms, and these uniforms are provided to the garment factory at normal prices, counting as an independent operation.

If the Lanse family wants to go further, not all their businesses can be illegal; that won't get them very far.

Moreover, as society begins to stabilize, a wave of cracking down on organized crime will gradually emerge, and people's attitudes toward gangs will shift from habit and acceptance to resentment and disgust.

This is a trend, an unstoppable trend, so it is more convenient to get some legal industries ahead of time for future transformation.

Lanse's vision is very far-reaching, or rather, he has a very clear understanding of the future!

In a country like the Federation, only by mastering wealth, power, and immense influence can one live comfortably.

A labor-intensive enterprise like a garment factory is a good project. Hundreds of people rely on it to survive, and in order not to lose this job, these people will inevitably protect the interests of the factory and Lanse.

Capitalists have already proven the effectiveness of this scheme, using wages, loan bills, and pension and medical issues to "kidnap" workers into accepting their exploitation and oppression.

Looking at the consumption habits of ordinary people in the Federation, this is actually the result of a huge, successful social experiment!

They have never considered this point—

Why are banks so kind as to give them loans, even loans that don't require collateral?

Is it just because they feel they can pay back the money, so they gave them the loan?

No, in reality, credit loans themselves are a huge social experiment; their essence is the same as Prohibition.

Through this method, they allow ordinary people to start consuming in advance, letting them enjoy the pleasure of consumption and the satisfaction brought by material life.

At the same time, it makes them afraid to easily lose their jobs, because they know very well that once they lose their jobs, everything they currently enjoy will leave them!

Their newly bought cars, newly bought houses, newly bought furniture, newly bought clothes...

All valuable things no longer belong to them, so they can only work hard.

The people in the whole society who are most afraid of losing their jobs are actually not the underclass, but the middle class; they are the targeted population for the experiment.

But after being verified, this kind of experiment is no longer just targeting the middle class; it targets the entire society, all non-privileged classes, non-ruling class groups, the masses, the people.

As long as these people in the garment factory do not want their lives to become unstable, they must actively protect the interests of the factory and Lanse; they might even be more determined than Lanse to defend everything here!

Under these circumstances, Lade's life is going quite well, though he is not the type of person who can live very well within the family.

There are always some people suitable for fighting and killing, and some who are not; Lade is such a person.

Lanse didn't hire him to exert strength he doesn't have or to help him kill anyone; Lanse just let him exert his value in the field he is familiar with.

He froze for a moment. There were a few shadows swaying behind the frosted glass. He gripped the armrests of his chair with both hands, moved forward, sat up straight, and said, "Please come in."

Soon, a few workers wearing blue-gray plaid flat caps came in. Lade recognized them; they were some of the skilled workers in the factory.

They helped Lade and this factory a lot at the beginning of its establishment. Their experience allowed those unskilled workers to make great progress and growth, so Lade is actually quite good to them.

Their lunch meal also includes about two to three pieces of beef for each person, adding up to the size of a duck egg.

Besides the difference in diet, they can rest for an extra thirty minutes every day—fifteen minutes more in the morning and fifteen minutes more in the afternoon.

And everyone gets a ration of six cigarettes a day, free of charge, for them to use to relieve fatigue.

In Lade's view, these people are very comfortable. They can rest for a while when they are tired, smoke a cigarette, or chat with others. Work is no longer a burden for them.

So his attitude was very good, "Is there anything the matter?"

He even took the initiative to invite them to sit down, "You can sit on the chairs, or on the sofa, either is fine."

Among the few, there was a middle-aged man about forty years old. He took off the flat cap on his head and clutched it in his hand. Because his hair was messed up by taking off the hat, he said while smoothing his hair with his hand—

"Mr. Lade, it's been half a year since we came here."

Lade nodded. He lit a cigarette himself and opened the cigarette case at the same time, signaling them to take one as well.

But no one moved; everyone was looking at him.

This made Lade feel that something not very good was happening. His expression also became a bit more solemn, "What do you want to say?"

The man clutched the flat cap with both hands and rolled it into a scroll. He looked a bit embarrassed, "Mr. Lade, I want to ask if it's possible to raise our wages a little?"

The base wage for these skilled workers is forty-seven dollars and fifty cents. If other subsidies are added, they can get fifty-two dollars in their hands every month.

This includes transportation subsidies and meal subsidies, totaling four dollars and fifty cents.

Lade took a puff of his cigarette and thought for a moment, "Raise wages... sure, I can give you fifty-three dollars."

None of the few people said "thank you," which meant they actually didn't accept this price. Lade's brow furrowed even harder, and a crack appeared between his two eyebrows.

"How much do you want?"

"Fifty-five dollars, Mr. Lade."

Lade looked at him, his eyes carrying a look of inquiry, "There is no such price on the market right now."

He has already begun to integrate into the local area because he usually takes other orders when the factory is free, making various clothes and related goods, so he still has some contact with his peers.

Currently, skilled workers generally have wages of fifty-two or fifty-three dollars, and in some places, people are still getting fifty dollars. Their current income is actually not low; it can be said that they are ahead of most people.

The person speaking showed some difficulty, "I'll be honest, Mr. Lade, someone is offering fifty-four dollars to poach us."

"We have been here for a while, and we still have some feelings for you and the factory."

"But...", he looked at the people beside him, "Since we've made it this clear, even if you give us fifty-four, there will inevitably be a rift. So if you can't offer fifty-five dollars, we plan to leave."

"After all, everyone wants to earn more money, and we have to live too."

Lade looked at him, staring straight into the other's eyes. The worker shifted his gaze away uncomfortably after being looked at for only a few seconds; he felt guilty.

The purpose of the Labor Union is to protect the interests of skilled workers, but it does not include requiring them to work for others at low prices.

At the same time, the reason the Labor Union has power is that they can unite the vast majority of skilled workers.

To achieve this, the first thing is not to become an enemy of the working class, especially skilled workers.

Even if Lade tells Lanse now, and Lanse tells Ms. Debbie, it won't change this status quo.

Ms. Debbie can at most find other skilled workers from elsewhere who are willing to come and work; there is nothing she can do about these people choosing to leave.

Lade smoked two cigarettes gloomily. Actually, raising wages is very simple, but if the skilled workers' wages are raised, shouldn't the ordinary workers' wages be raised too?

If they raise it by one or two dollars a month, the total expenses at the end of the month will increase by one or two hundred dollars.

Although Lade knows that one or two hundred dollars is nothing in Lanse's eyes, this is not a matter of one or two hundred dollars.

This is a confrontation between laborers and capitalists!

If he bows his head now, he believes it won't be long before these people ask for more wages, or more rest time, or more vacation time.

They will test the capitalist's bottom line step by step, and then eventually break through it!

Lade has heard a lot of such things; for example, a capitalist is very dependent on a certain worker, and this worker will gradually change roles with the capitalist.

Although he is still a laborer, he will soon change himself from the dominated to the dominator through his own methods, even though he is still a laborer.

"Impossible!", Lade gave them a firm response after thinking it through.

The few skilled workers didn't seem too disappointed; they seemed to have already made a judgment.

The leader showed a look of regret, "If that's the case, Mr. Lade, then we will have to leave after the 15th."

The 15th is payday. Lade had a headache, but in the end, he could only choose to agree.

This is their freedom; he cannot force them.

The few people left afterward. Just as Lade was considering how to tell Lanse about this, someone knocked on the door again.

His heart gave an inexplicable tug, "Come in."

A few ordinary workers walked in. They were a bit hesitant and even forgot to take off their hats.

Pulling each other, one of the older guys said, "Manager Lade, we plan to stop working after the 15th."

Lade already had a premonition, but he still asked, "Why?"

The man said with some embarrassment, "Our master is leaving here, and he hopes we can go with him."

In the perception of the Federation people, there is actually no concept of "master," but as a "skill instructor," a master can also have a certain influence on them.

They are used to working with these instructors and like this atmosphere, and since the other party said they can seamlessly provide jobs with more pay, they have no reason to refuse.

Lade asked with a headache, "Because of wages?"

The man was a bit shy, "Not just because of wages, Mr. Lade."

At this point, persuasion is already useless; he can only approve.

In one morning, more than thirty people planned to leave here after the 15th. Now the whole factory has only a little over a hundred people, and suddenly one-fourth of the workers are gone, and there are skilled workers among them.

This is definitely a heavy blow to subsequent production!

He spent the whole morning dealing with these things, talking to the workers, hoping to keep some of them.

Newly recruited workers cannot finish work as quickly as these workers; they definitely need an adaptation period. He stood upstairs at lunchtime watching those workers gathering together to eat, considering how to deal with this "crisis."

What he actually thought was that with so many people leaving at the same time, someone must be playing tricks behind the scenes, otherwise it would be impossible for so many to leave all at once.

He smoked several cigarettes all morning.

After the factory finished the summer equipment for the Lanse family, there were no other core production tasks, so he took on many other orders.

With international trade prevailing now, clothes, especially cheap clothing with low costs, not only have good sales performance domestically but also have very good performance internationally.

Some third-rate local brands that no one in the Federation has even heard of go abroad and transform into "well-known federal brands," and many people believe it.

Many foreigners, especially those in backward regions, are always very superstitious, as if anything produced by the Federation must be good stuff!

These orders are all under contract, ensuring the qualification rate and the final completion date. If any item is exceeded, they must either make up for the qualified products or pay compensation.

Federal capitalists never make money in only one aspect. If you don't do well enough, they will not only take your goods but also ask you for more compensation.

Thinking of the subsequent orders and business, Lade vaguely understood that he had encountered sniping from his peers.

He flicked the cigarette out of the manager's office window, turned to the desk, and dialed the office's phone.

After about twenty or thirty seconds, the call was answered.

"Mr. Lanse, it's me, Lade."

"Our factory may have encountered some trouble, the situation is like this..."

He described the matter objectively without personal emotion. Although he didn't bring emotion, from his perspective, what he saw, even if neutral and objective, still carried some emotion.

"We have several orders at the end of the month and next month. Although it's not too late to recruit workers now, I'm always a bit worried."

"If this is an irregular commercial competition behavior, it is possible that their actions will not stop here!"

After he finished speaking, he waited for Lanse's response. This past half year has been the most comfortable life he has ever had.

He became a manager, managing a factory of over a hundred people, and has a basic salary of over a hundred dollars every month, plus some commissions.

Lanse promised him that for any extra orders he takes, he will take five percent from the profit to reward him, which is why he is so motivated!

Their family has been in the Federation for some time, and their life had no improvement until they met Lanse, and then life became better.

He doesn't want to mess up anything Lanse entrusted to him, nor does he want to let life return to the way it was before!

After about twenty or thirty seconds, Lanse's voice came from the receiver, "I know, do you have any suspects?"

"I'm not very familiar with the industrial zone, do we have any competitors, on the same order, or any other possibilities?"

Lade already had some guesses, but not many, "There are two garment factories. We competed for an order, and we got the order."

"They behaved very unfriendly, it's possible it has something to do with them, but I can't be completely sure."

"Give me their names!", Lanse said something that made Lade breathe a sigh of relief.

He said the names of the two garment factories, and then Lanse asked, "How much money can we make from these orders?"

A smile appeared on Lade's face, after deducting all expenses, about seven thousand dollars.

o????? o￠O

"Seven thousand dollars?"

When hearing this number, Lanse was a bit dazed; this wasn't enough for his bar to earn in one night.

But soon he realized that this money is clean, and this is also a legal business.

In over a month, a factory of over a hundred people brought him seven thousand dollars in profit. Each worker earned him about sixty dollars, which is perhaps what capital and capitalists pursue.

Lade heard Lanse's "sensitivity" to this number, and he was a bit embarrassed, "If we continue to expand the scale of the factory, our income will be higher."

He was a bit expectant; after all, he also hopes that he can become that kind of super factory.

No need to take the initiative to fight for orders, orders will line up to be delivered to the door, and they won't make any excessive demands.

"Then continue to expand. I believe in your judgment, Lade. Since this is an industry that can make money, then let it bring us more profit!"

"I will support you, whether it's funds or other aspects."

After ending the call, Lanse wanted to find someone to handle this matter, but for a moment, it seemed everyone had their own things to do. Just when he wasn't sure who to find, Allen's laughter came from outside.

He suddenly shouted, "Allen, come to my office!"

Not long after, Allen pushed the door open and walked in, "Boss, you looking for me?"

The first time he saw this young man was when Erwin was beaten up. He had some good feelings for this young man, "I remember you've been here for half a year?"

Allen vaguely realized something when he heard this, and he became a bit excited, "Yes, Boss, more than half a year!"

Lanse nodded slightly, "I have actually been watching your performance in the family. You have done better than some others. I want to give you a chance."

He handed over the paper recording the content, "We have a garment factory in the industrial zone, but now the manager suspects that someone is targeting us. Go investigate clearly and find out if anyone is targeting us."

"When necessary, you can contact the manager."

"Go find Meiluo, let him give you five hundred dollars, and weapons, then you go pick a few people."

Lanse opened and picked up the cigar on the desktop, took a puff, and blew the smoke from his mouth toward Allen, "Do it well, and you are the captain!"