Chapter 435 Code
"They want to go on strike?" Ron looked strange.
"Yes, I overheard it in a restaurant. It's a local workers' organization."
"Tsk tsk, it seems I'm too nice to them." Ron raised his eyebrows.
"Mr. Sur, this is not Uttar Pradesh. The ignorant country folk have no idea what kind of person you are."
"No wonder the Reddy family's steel mills prefer to employ outsiders. The locals are so rude and always trying to cause trouble."
"They want to rely on the unions to check and balance the factories and then profit from it for themselves," explained Devaram.
He knew all about this. If there was a first strike, there would be a second, and the union members would continue to demand higher wages or improved working conditions.
Do you really think these people represent the proletariat? Bullshit!
It is absolutely impossible in India, a country with a caste system, there is no point in talking about the proletariat.
The so-called trade unions are just a bunch of parasites. If they are allowed to grow bigger, many production activities in the factory will not be able to be carried out.
"I was originally thinking about formalizing the factory's operations, providing benefits like insurance and medical care, and new dormitories were also being planned, but now I'm not in a hurry."
"I'll take care of it, Mr. Soul." Devaram promised.
"What are you going to do?"
“With the help of the laborers of Malda.”
"Huh?" Ron was confused.
"This is a very special place near Kusel."
Devaram has recently visited many places and gradually realized that the composition of workers in this industrial park is very complex.
First of all, the largest group is the country people and the poor, or you can also call them migrant workers.
The changes that have taken place in India over the past two decades have undoubtedly been cruel for these poor people.
Even as the number of millionaires and multi-millionaires has grown, so too has its following among the middle class.
But the lives of India's poor have not improved at all, and even if there has been some improvement, it has been minimal.
Economists, bureaucrats, the wealthy—everyone knows that rural India has been stagnant for decades.
Although the Indian government has tried its best to beautify the data and conceal the number of poor people and the extent of poverty, the facts released are still shocking.
According to a public survey report, the number of people in India whose daily consumption is less than 20 rupees (45 cents) is 770 million, accounting for 77% of the country's total population.
Most of this large group works in what policymakers call the “unorganized” or “informal” sectors.
That is, the work is irregular, the working conditions are very harsh, and there is no security or opportunity for upward mobility.
They are farmers who can only wander around the rural areas where they grew up, or the cities or urban-rural fringe areas where they work.
Migrant workers, child labourers and contract labourers are tacitly considered to be at the bottom of the pile, along with those working in the “informal” sector.
They face a variety of problems, such as long working hours, social isolation, extremely low wages and a severe lack of basic facilities.
They live in slums, sometimes have to work 24 hours a day, and are not entitled to government-issued poverty cards.
They are everywhere: huddled in tents on sidewalks and under Delhi's flyovers, sitting in Kolkata's markets with their tools waiting for work, gathered around bonfires made of rags and newspapers in the town of Imphal, not far from Burma, and at railway stations everywhere, trying to squeeze onto trains carrying livestock to slaughterhouses.
Despite this, they are nowhere to be seen because they have no status.
They had no choice but to leave their homes.
Migrant work is often a way for rural families to maintain a minimum standard of living rather than a way to improve it.
However, beneath the poor class of migrant workers, there is another class.
This class has despaired of life. They will never be able to stand up again and are like the walking dead.
Therefore, they are also invincible.
In the past, factory owners often hired them to act as strikebreakers when workers went on strike.
This group is collectively known as "Malda labourers", taken from the name of a town in West Bengal.
"If you ask these people where they are from, they will tell you 'Malda'. But it is impossible for a small town like Malda to have such a large population," said the restaurant owner.
These people actually came from Bangladesh, and the town of Malda is close to the border with Bangladesh.
They are herders who have come to India illegally and, without any rights, are often willing to work for a small amount of money.
In other words, they have no bottom line and will do anything even if it means betraying their own class.
"So you want these Malda laborers to do the work?" Ron asked.
"Yes and no."
"How do you say that?"
“The Malda workers are indeed great partners, but I’d like to find more help.”
Devaram was about to say that the Malda labourers would handle everything as they would use any means.
But considering Ron's reputation, he gave up this approach.
At the market, Devaram heard many "glorious deeds" of the Malda workers, and direct conflicts with striking groups were just commonplace incidents.
The waiter at the restaurant told Devaram a story about a few people at a steel plant who tried to organize a union in the 1980s.
At that time, the factory was not entirely dependent on migrant workers. Its workers were half migrant workers and half local residents, and many local workers came from the Lambada tribe.
Two workers from the Lambada tribe began to take the lead in organizing workers to form a union. They won the support of both migrant workers and local workers and registered the union.
The labor committee established in accordance with the law required the factory management to recognize the legitimacy of the union, and the factory did so.
When the union demanded higher wages and improved safety conditions, factory management refused, so the union retaliated by striking.
The factory owners asked the local police for help regarding the strike, and a policeman said he could help the factory owners find a solution to the problem.
He visited Lambada village and the Malda labour community and spoke to some of them, possibly threatening them or giving them some money.
Soon after, several women from the Malda labor group suddenly took the initiative to approach the people of Lambada.
Especially those workers who organized the strike, they would either seduce or tease them and then pull them into the room.
But before they could accomplish their goal, the women suddenly ran out of the cabin crying and screaming, looking like victims.
They immediately accused the workers who organized the strike of attempting to annihilate them.
The police officer immediately opened a case charging all the strike organizers with criminal assault.
With no evidence and no confession, the matter has almost become an ironclad case.
This frightened the migrant workers at the time, so they had to pay a large sum of money as compensation to the women.
Some strikers who resisted stubbornly were thrown directly into prison and sentenced to three years.
Everyone became obedient, and the workers had to return to their jobs and never dared to think about it again.
The strike ended in nothing, and all the local employees in the factory were laid off.
From then on, the factory only hired workers from other places.
The villagers of Lambada Village had no choice but to look for other jobs, but the wages they found were as low as those of temporary workers.
This case, known in history as the "Lambada Rape Killing Case," directly brought nearly twenty years of peace to the steel plant.
It is very educational and is regarded as a guiding principle by factory owners.
Although the routine is old, it still works.
Devaram is very confident about the sexual nature of Indian men. They will definitely take the bait, and it will work every time.
Not to mention the genuine Malda labor women, even a poster can capture countless Indians. What else is impossible?
Ron even suspected that if he split Ah San's brain open, it might be filled with tadpoles.
He really disdains such despicable means. Doesn't Mr. Sur have any respect?
"Tell me what you think. If it doesn't work, I can dismiss all the workers in the factory."
"Disband everyone?" Devaram was stunned.
"If they dare to go on strike, nothing is impossible. Just one phone call and North India can send millions of workers within a week." Ron said lightly.
"Uh, Mr. Soul, that's not necessary." Devaram wiped the sweat off his forehead.
It was simply too arrogant, so arrogant that it was unreasonable. However, force can defeat skill, and this trick of removing the fire from under the cauldron really worked.
"I am prepared to unite the majority and strike down the tiny minority."
"Hmm?" Ron blinked.
"We need to distinguish who is our enemy and who is our friend."
"Shit!" Ron subconsciously looked towards the east, where the sun was shining brightly.
"We must grasp the principal and secondary contradictions. Learn to follow the mass line and ensnare the enemy in the vast ocean of people's war!"
"Stop!" Ron raised his hand to interrupt him. "Who taught you that?"
"An old senior, he has a lot of books." Devaram shook his head.
Your thoughts are very dangerous. India does not allow such a great person to exist.
"Mr. Soul?"
"Oh," Ron came to his senses, "Don't let anyone know you've read these books, or you'll get into trouble."
"I know." Devaram nodded.
He has extensive experience in escape, so he has some awareness of this.
"Now, tell me your plan. How do you unite the majority and attack the minority?"
“Those who want to organize a union are a very small minority. Most workers don’t really want to make a fuss because factory owners usually win in fights with migrant workers who try to unionize.
The most important thing is that Mr. Soul is more conscientious than the previous factory owner. Any worker with a conscience would not think of causing trouble for you. But if those bastards succeed and get better pay through the strike, it's hard to say what will happen next."
“So this hole can’t be opened.”
"Yes, absolutely not. You have done well enough. They are all greedy guys and will never be satisfied."
"Then what?"
"Find out those few hidden ones, and then use the powerful figures among the workers to drive them out. I need the help of the security department and intermediaries."
"Go ahead." Ron nodded.
(End of this chapter)
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