Seeing Yuan Dashuan's actions, Fang Lang also smiled. Although Mayor Ewald Dursley beside him didn't understand what the two were saying, he also laughed when he saw their expressions.
Just as Fang Lang was about to chat a few more words with this simple man, Chen Hongqing's voice came from behind him.
"Boss, you finally came to visit our factory."
Hearing Chen Hongqing's bitter and vengeful voice, Fang Lang turned around and saw that Chen Hongqing was very different from the first time he met him.
I still remember the first time I met him, I thought he was an old man in his fifties or sixties, and I kept calling him Grandpa Chen.
But after several months of recuperation, he looked more than ten years younger, and his whole body was radiant.
Fang Lang extended his right hand towards Chen Hongqing and said with a smile:
“Haha…With Manager Chen here, it doesn’t matter whether I come or not!
After not seeing you for a few months, isn't the factory already up and running? "
...
...
Chen Hongqing was very excited to see Fang Lang again. When he saw Fang Lang extending his hand, he hurried forward and shook it tightly.
It was as if he had thousands of words to say to Fang Lang.
But he noticed Mayor Ewald Dursley next to Fang Lang, and quickly nodded to the mayor and said a few polite words.
Fang Lang saw Chen Hongqing greeting the mayor in Portuguese with a heavy accent and nodded secretly.
It seems that everyone is making good progress in learning Portuguese!
“Boss, this is all thanks to your support and the help of the mayor.
Our Daqing Spinning Mill was able to start operating in such a short time.”
Chen Hongqing's traditional courtesy from his hometown still sounded particularly cordial to Fang Lang's ears.
“What is the output of our factory now?”
Fang Lang still wanted to express his concern about the situation of the factory.
"Boss, we now have 50,000 spindles in Daqing Cotton Mill. In the early stage, because the workers were not very skilled, we could only produce less than 15 tons of cotton yarn every day.
But please rest assured, as our workers become more skilled, we will be able to produce 18 tons of cotton yarn per day."
In fact, Fang Lang was not familiar with the production scale and output of this cotton spinning mill. He didn't even know how many tens of thousands of spindles it meant.
When I heard that 15 tons of cotton yarn could be produced every day, I calculated that the monthly output seemed to be only about 450 tons.
I don’t know how many pieces of cloth can be woven.
But when you look at Chen Hongqing's expression, you know that the output must be not low.
Fang Lang nodded and asked:
“Are the sales of the product still good?”
“Of course, boss.
We use the most advanced machines in the United States, and the yarn we spin is fast and high quality.
We have signed a supply contract with Global Trade. The United States will receive as much as we produce. We don’t have to worry about not being able to sell it.”
Chen Hongqing said with a smile on his face.
Fang Lang frowned and said:
"We are now exporting cotton yarn directly. Haven't we started weaving cloth yet?"
Noticing Fang Lang's frown, Chen Hongqing quickly restrained his smile and whispered:
"Boss, our textile factory is still under construction and is expected to be put into production at the end of next month.
The equipment for the printing and dyeing factory is still being purchased.
It is expected that the complete cloth will be produced in Natal by the end of September.”
Fang Lang also knew that he was still too impatient, and nodded apologetically to Chen Hongqing.
Looking at Mayor Ewald Dursley beside him, he asked:
"Mr. Mayor, how high was the average annual cotton trading volume in Natal in previous years?"
Mayor Ewald Dursley didn't understand why Fang Lang suddenly asked him this question. Fortunately, cotton was an important export commodity of Natal, and the mayor was able to have an idea of the quantity.
He spoke directly:
"Our annual cotton trade in Natal is 160,000 tons!"
Fang Lang turned around and said to Chen Hongqing:
"Did you hear that? With such a high cotton yield, your limited production capacity can't handle it at all! We need to continue to expand our production scale.
We should strive to export most of Natal's cotton into finished cotton cloth or garments in Natal, so that our interests can be maximized."
Chen Hongqing obviously didn't expect Fang Lang to have such a big appetite, but after hearing these words, he felt very encouraged.
He nodded quickly in response.
Then Fang Lang pointed at the workers in the workshop and said:
“I saw workers in our factory working in such an environment without even masks, this is not acceptable.
We are not a sweatshop. Every skilled worker is a treasure of our factory. We must protect the health of our workers.
By the way, has the group company issued a notice to establish a labor union within the factory? "
Fang Lang and Mayor Ewald Dursley, accompanied by Chen Hongqing, walked into the production workshop. The floating particles in the air made Fang Lang's nostrils itchy and he had the urge to sneeze.
“Yes, boss, I will arrange for someone to purchase masks immediately.
We have received the notice sent by the group.
And it has already begun to be implemented.”
"Yes! Very good. The textile industry is a labor-intensive industry with a large number of workers. The role of trade unions is very important.
You should not directly participate in the purchase of masks.
Let the union submit applications, purchase and distribute them, and enhance the cohesion of our own union among our workers."
Chen Hongqing didn't quite understand what Fang Lang meant. Why didn't this kind of thing be done directly in the name of the company, but instead had to go through a roundabout way and hand it over to the union?
Isn't this equivalent to voluntarily giving up the opportunity to win people's hearts?
"But... why is this?"
Fang Lang smiled but said nothing. Mayor Ewald Dursley, who was standing beside him, seemed to be thinking about something after hearing what Fang Lang said.
He is a member of the Social Democratic Party and has recently heard about the development of a trade union organization set up by the Labour Party.
But listening to the conversation between Fang Lang and the other person, it was obvious that the trade union of Daqing Spinning Mill was not organized by the Workers' Party. Instead, it seemed to be organized within Fangyuan Group itself, which made him very puzzled.
Fang Lang smiled, patted Chen Hongqing on the shoulder and said:
"Don't worry! We must have our own purpose for doing this. You just need to make sure that the union chairman is one of our own."
Chen Hongqing nodded repeatedly and said:
"Boss, don't worry. The chairman of our factory's labor union is a brother who was rescued from the mine with me. He is absolutely loyal to the company."
I didn't expect that the union chairman of Daqing Spinning Mill was actually a Chinese. But if you think about it, you will understand that Chinese people definitely trust Chinese people the most.
What's more, he is an old brother who has suffered with him.
He patted Chen Hongqing on the shoulder and said with a smile:
"That's good. As long as we make sure that the union is run by our own people, we don't have to worry about the union's high reputation among the workers. Do you understand?"
Mayor Ewald Dursley, who had been with Fang Lang, heard what the two said.
He asked with a little surprise:
"General Fang, was the labor union in your factory established by your company itself?"
Fang Lang then remembered that there was an outsider around him. If this guy was a member of the Labor Party, wouldn’t he have exposed Fangyuan Group’s plan?
However, after taking a closer look at the other person's expression, he only saw a curious look, so he asked tentatively:
"I still don't know which party the mayor belongs to!"
Mayor Ewald Dursley understood what Fang Lang meant when he heard what he said, and said with a smile:
“Don’t worry, General Fang, I am a member of the Social Democratic Party, not the Labour Party.
The reason I ask you this is that a few days ago, a trade union was established in our joint venture sugar factory, but this trade union was supported by the Labor Party behind the scenes.
We are now being asked to reduce working hours to ten hours, and I am having a headache too!"
Fang Lang then remembered that he and the mayor had jointly established a sugar factory in Natal, but the major shareholder of this sugar factory was the other party, and Fangyuan Group had only sent financial personnel to the factory.
Now it seems that Mayor Ewald Dursley has also realized that the Labour Party’s purpose in establishing a trade union is not simple.
After thinking about it, Fang Lang asked:
"What party is Jada Brooke a member of?"
“He is a member of the National Alliance.”
After Fang Lang heard that neither of them was a member of the Labor Party, he hesitated for a moment and said:
“I think the formation of trade unions is irreversible.
But we factory owners cannot be easily controlled by the Labour Party, so our Fangyuan Group directly established a trade union organization of our own.
I suggest that both the Mayor and the Speaker join us and go to our Fangyuan Group’s headquarters in São Paulo to participate in our company’s own trade union organization training.
Once your people understand how our own trade unions operate, they will no longer regard trade unions as a scourge.”
Although Mayor Ewald Dursley was somewhat skeptical, he nodded in agreement after considering Fang Lang's ability.
After answering Mayor Ewald Dursley's questions, Fang Lang turned his gaze to Chen Hongqing again and said:
“How many workers do we have in our factory now?”
Chen Hongqing was wondering why Fang Lang asked the mayor and the speaker to arrange for people to study at the group's union, and what the purpose of this union was.
He almost didn't react to Fang Lang's question, and after a long while he said:
"Ah! We now have a total of 1,000 people in our factory, working in two shifts."
This number of workers is not large for a labor-intensive industry.
According to Fang Lang's prediction, in the future Natal will have at least 100,000 workers in the textile industry alone. With these 100,000 textile workers, it will drive many other surrounding industries.
For example, in the downstream garment industry, it is impossible for Fang Lang to complete all industries by himself. His goal is to control large enterprises himself and then support some small and medium-sized enterprises.
The garment industry is the easiest to develop.
Then there are other service industries. As long as a place has a sufficient population, a huge market will definitely be created. Once the market is formed, capital will naturally move here.
Once capital enters, the local economy will naturally begin to become active.
Of course, it is not enough to just have people; these people must also have consumption power, that is, have money to spend.
"How much do the workers earn? Can they support themselves?"
Fang Lang is still very concerned about whether the workers can earn money. Only if they earn money will they be able to consume, and only if they are able to consume can they boost the economy of a place.
His goal has never been to make a lot of money for himself, but to cultivate enough Chinese middle class.
"Boss, now each worker's monthly salary is about 280 Cruzeiros, so there is no problem in supporting themselves.
In fact, most of our Chinese wages are deposited in the bank and never taken out. We all eat and live in the factory and don’t have to spend any money at all.
I understand that the locals can live very well if they can get such a high salary every month.
This wage standard is considered very high in the whole of Natal.”
Chen Hongqing didn't know why Fang Lang asked about the workers' wages, but he knew that Fang Lang was not a stingy person and would definitely not be angry about the workers' wages.
Note: Cruzeiro was the currency unit of Brazil from 1942 to 1967;
The author found that in 1948, 1 US dollar could be exchanged for about 18.5 Cruzeiros.
Textile factory workers earn about $15 a month.
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