Chapter 225
This women's congress was held for five consecutive days at the Friendship Palace.
Outstanding female comrades from all walks of life gathered together, allowing Ye Manzhi to truly feel the vigorous female power.
She met many acquaintances at the venue, including Teacher Ouyang from the Provincial University, Yu Youfang from the Food Factory, Yu Ziyang, the former Women's Director of Guangming Street, and Chang Haitang, her old neighbor in the Military Industry Compound, who had been transferred to the Municipal People's Broadcasting Station.
"Director Xiao Ye," Zheng Dongmei said, holding Ye Manzhi's hand, "I knew I'd see you at this meeting!"
Ye Manzhi hugged her and said with a smile, "I saw you on the candidate list yesterday, Dongmei. You're amazing! You're becoming more and more capable!"
Zheng Dongmei said nonchalantly, "What can I do? The business system needs to select female representatives from frontline service units. I cut hair every day in my shop, so I was selected!"
"There are many female hairdressers in the city. The fact that you can stand out from so many of them shows that you are already very good!"
Ye Manzhi looked at the energetic Zheng Dongmei and felt a little emotional.
When she was only eighteen years old, she dared to send Zheng Dongmei, who was twenty-five or twenty-six years old and could barely read, to the drama troupe to learn makeup.
Zheng Dongmei also worked hard to improve herself. Her hairdressing skills earned her a transfer from a street-level barbershop to the barbering department of the Provincial Department of Industry. A few years ago, when the Department of Industry ceased operations, she was transferred to a barbershop under the Municipal Bureau of Commerce.
Despite the setbacks, Zheng Dongmei was tenacious and managed to get through them all step by step.
Zheng Dongmei felt a little embarrassed by the compliments and whispered, "The leadership asked me to attend the meeting, so I just came to make up the numbers. The executive committee members have to participate in the election, and I'm not sure I'll be chosen. Even if I were chosen, I wouldn't be able to do much. It's better to leave the spot for someone else."
"This time, we're running a competitive election. Since you work at the grassroots level, your chances of being selected are quite high," Ye Manzhi encouraged. "The Women's Congress selects women representatives from diverse backgrounds so that women from all walks of life can have their voices heard. Since you work in the service industry, you should fight for the rights of women there. You can make a big difference!"
"Let's wait and see the election results."
The conference lasted for five days, and on the second day, 104 members of the 11th Executive Committee of the Municipal Women's Federation were elected.
Ye Manzhi and Miao Sufen were among them, and another six female comrades were elected from Anyang County.
Zheng Dongmei, who has always suspected that it would not be her turn, is also on the 104-member executive committee list.
After being elected, each executive committee member will be responsible for contacting women comrades, conducting research and collecting women's opinions and views. Fundamentally speaking, this means striving for all rights and interests related to work, study, and life.
From 1966 to 1973, the work of the Municipal Women's Federation stopped for seven years. Now that it has finally resumed, the newly elected executive members all want to make the first move in women's work.
Ye Manzhi and Miao Sufen discussed it privately several times, but they still had no idea.
Zheng Dongmei, who had previously claimed that she could do nothing, took the initiative to find Ye Manzhi.
"Director Xiao Ye, I visited your Shuguang Factory's staff quarters before. I heard that the washing machines in the laundry service station were manufactured by your factory?"
"Yes, they are all trial products from the past few years."
"Then can we buy a few washing machines from your factory?"
"..." Ye Manzhi paused, took her to a deserted corner, and whispered, "Some people think washing machines serve the bourgeoisie, so our factory has never mass-produced them except for those few trial products. Are you an individual or an organization that wants to buy a washing machine?"
"I can't really say, I bought it for the company, I guess," Zheng Dongmei said. "I live in the housing complex for the families of the 'Eight Major Officials'. Almost everyone in our area works in the service industry, and many of us are women. Now that I've been elected to the executive committee, I want to suggest that the commune and neighborhood committee open a laundry service station to relieve women of the housework."
The so-called eight major staff members are ticket seller, salesperson, barber, waiter, childcare worker, cook, driver, and postman.
In order to solve everyone's housing problem, the city built a new family compound two years ago and accommodated the eight major members who had no houses.
But most of the residents here work in the service industry. For example, Zheng Dongmei herself stands at the office all day long, and sometimes has to work overtime. After returning home, she really doesn't want to carry a wash basin to the washroom to wash clothes.
So she wanted to follow the example of the Shuguang Factory staff quarters and open a laundry service station to save some time for the female comrades.
This was also the first thing she did for everyone after becoming an executive committee member.
Ye Manzhi thought for a moment and said, "Your idea is good, but our factory doesn't have a production line for this. If we produce it sporadically, the cost of each machine will be very high. Your commune may need to prepare 2,000 to 3,000 yuan to set up this service station."
However, the two or three thousand yuan didn't scare Zheng Dongmei. She said frankly, "I asked the commune director, and she said the commune has a budget of 3,000 yuan. As long as it doesn't exceed 3,000 yuan, we can set up a laundry station. This can also be considered an achievement for the commune."
Ye Manzhi: “…”
When she was the deputy director of Guangming Street, she was so frugal that she had to spend a few dollars to buy a monthly ticket.
Nowadays, the commune can easily spend 3,000 yuan to set up a laundry station.
Times have indeed changed.
Since you can afford the money, Shuguang Factory should accept the order.
No matter how much money it is, as long as there is money to be made, Ye Manzhi will always accept it.
She asked the Badayuan Neighborhood Committee to formally submit a purchasing plan to the factory.
Then, personnel were drawn from the workshop, finance department and supply and marketing department to follow up on the production of these washing machines.
*
Other executive committee members have already taken action. Zheng Dongmei even set up a laundry service station, but Ye Manzhi and Miao Sufen have no idea yet.
In May, the first batch of students from the Shuguang Factory's 721 Workers' University officially graduated after two years of full-time study.
Among the 60 trainees, some with particularly outstanding performance were assigned to the design room and technical department of our factory, while others were assigned to relevant workshops to engage in technical work.
Seeing this result, the workers became more enthusiastic about enrolling in college.
Miao Sufen came to Ye Manzhi specifically to discuss the matter. "Director Ye, the Workers' University is recruiting students this year, and we need to transfer 60 people from the workshop. Once the Japanese production line arrives, we'll need more manpower. How about we organize a recruitment exam at the factory and admit more female comrades to fill the production line?"
Ye Manzhi asked, "Is the city mobilizing educated youth to go to the countryside again?"
"The city-wide mobilization meeting was just held yesterday and was broadcast on TV and radio," Miao Sufen said. "Many children of factory workers are waiting to get jobs. We might as well take advantage of the expansion of the TV business to add some staff to the factory."
Ye Manzhi sighed, "Sister Miao, those two production lines in Japan are fully automated. Pim's assembly line only requires 162 people, which is 8 fewer than we currently have."
"What if we want to work two or three shifts? We'll definitely have to hire more people!"
"Then let's wait until we need to recruit people."
Ye Manzhi could understand Miao Sufen's feelings. The children of the factory workers were raised by everyone, and the adults all wanted to keep them in the city.
She used to think so too.
If you can keep the children, try to do so.
However, after traveling to Japan a while ago, Ye Manzhi had other ideas.
During this trip to Japan, in addition to skyscrapers, cars, neon lights and overpasses, she also saw the management and efficiency in those factories.
In comparison, the work efficiency of the Shuguang factory is not high, and there is already redundancy.
After the Middle East market became saturated, the export volume of air guns continued to decline, the workload of air gun workshops decreased a lot, and the situation in toy gun workshops was similar.
These two workshops have less workload but more staff.
Ye Manzhi insisted on introducing a black-and-white TV production line, partly because he wanted to transfer the extra manpower to the TV workshop, producing TVs in two or three shifts, and solve the problem of redundancy in the two workshops.
Apart from this, she could not think of any other solution.
The iron rice bowl in a large state-owned factory can be held for a lifetime. As long as you don't make serious mistakes, the factory will not fire employees, and children can also take over their parents' jobs.
It's easy to add staff to a factory, but once employees officially join, the factory has to bear more than just a few dozen yuan in monthly wages. There are also housing benefits, full medical reimbursement, subsidies for children's kindergarten and school admissions, and annual festival benefits...
Shuguang Factory is definitely not the only company that has redundant staff.
Ye Manzhi cannot control other factories, but he still has to control the recruitment of workers at Shuguang Factory as much as possible to avoid the situation where a small horse is pulling a big cart.
Miao Sufen didn't understand what Ye Manzhi was worried about. She felt that the factory was thriving now. Hiring more people was a sign of good factory performance, wasn't it?
"We've been recruiting workers every year in the past few years, and we've accepted some children of factory workers. If we don't recruit this year, it might cause a stir among the people."
Although it is not possible to allow all children of factory workers to stay in the city, the factory can at least solve some problems by setting aside some places.
"Give me some time to think about the recruitment," Ye Manzhi said. "After we sign the contract with the Pim company representative, the production line will definitely be delivered before the end of the year. Women are actually very suitable for doing the detailed work on the production line. This time, for the TV workshop recruitment, we will first select 70 to 100 people from within the Shuguang Factory, regardless of age or education level, to form a female technical team."
"Isn't that production line quite advanced? Can it be done without any educational requirements?"
"Everyone's job on the assembly line is fixed, and I've seen Japanese factories post a card with detailed operating instructions and rules at each workstation. We should do the same. In addition, we'll set up a special technical improvement class for this female technical team. As long as you can read, regardless of your educational level, you can learn and improve."
*
The employment problem on the new production line is easy to solve, but what about the problem of recruiting children of factory workers?
As Miao Sufen said, they had recruited workers in previous years, but suddenly stopped recruiting this year, which would definitely disappoint a large number of employees and children, and even make them resentful.
An indicator of staying in the city can affect a person's future and destiny for a lifetime.
Ye Manzhi also felt that the responsibility on his shoulders was very heavy.
As per past practice, the factory will offer 30 recruitment vacancies every year.
But Shuguang Factory already has redundant staff, and this year's 30 vacancies can only be filled elsewhere.
Qi Caiyun was almost scared to death by Ye Manzhi. "Director Ye, why does our jam factory need so many people? Our four production lines are already full!"
"Why don't you add another production line and expand the scale!" Ye Manzhi urged, "Our factory can manufacture its own canning production line!"
"I really don't need that many people! There have been a lot of new canning factories in the country in recent years, and I'm afraid that producing too many cans will cause a backlog of inventory."
The jam factory may look inconspicuous, but it actually has export tasks every year and its profits are very good.
The annual holiday benefits for employees are no worse than those of Shuguang Factory.
Precisely because today's life is hard-earned, Qi Caiyun dare not act rashly.
She hesitated for a moment and said, "Director Ye, this year we can only take on eight people at most. No more than that. You should talk to the popsicle manufacturer."
Ye Manzhi didn't insist anymore and went to the popsicle factory again and assigned a quota of 7 people there as well.
What should I do with the indicators for the remaining 15 people?
Or should we put it in Shuguang Factory first?
Thinking of this, Ye Manzhi was so angry that he laughed at himself. If they were all put into Shuguang Factory, wouldn't they still be redundant employees?
What is she doing?
Unable to think of a solution for the time being, Ye Manzhi could only put the matter aside, pack up his things and go home after get off work.
Today, only she and Wu Zhengrong had dinner together. Little Wu went to her fifth uncle's house to deliver something and didn't come back until after eight o'clock.
"Why are you back so late?" Wu Zhengrong turned off the radio. "Have you had dinner?"
"I ate with my aunt and Zhenzhen. My fifth uncle is a very busy man. I didn't see him all night."
Ye Manzhi casually asked, "What is your fifth uncle busy with?"
"It's probably about the company," Wu Yuzhuo shook his head indifferently. "My aunt said that their company and the vegetable company seem to be planning to build some kind of vegetable supply station. I don't know the details."
"Build a supply station in the city? Where?"
“I don’t know!”
Wu Yuzhuo left a word, then turned on the radio again and went over to listen to the news with his father.
As the director of the factory's Revolutionary Committee, Ye Manzhi is well-informed about news at the provincial and municipal levels. He hasn't heard of any plans to build a vegetable supply station recently!
She checked the time, picked up the receiver, and tentatively called the local specialty company.
Fifth brother is still working overtime at the company.
"Brother, why haven't you finished get off work yet?"
"Something's going on at work, and the entire finance department is staying here to work on the budget. Come on, what can I do for you?"
"I'm fine. I heard your company is going to build a vegetable supply station in the city, so I just asked out of curiosity. You go ahead and do your work, and we'll talk when you have time."
"Well, let's talk about it later. The vegetable purchasing and supply station hasn't even started yet. The matter has not been finalized, so the city is not in a position to disclose it to the outside world for the time being."
"Oh, then you go ahead and get busy."
Although nothing has been decided yet, if the city wants to build a vegetable supply station, does it need to recruit workers?
Can you help the Shuguang Factory kids get some help?
By the way, the Materials Bureau is going to set up comprehensive supply stations in various districts and counties. If they are really established, will they also need to recruit people?
She was thinking about these two supply stations all night, and the next morning she called her fifth brother to inquire about the details of the vegetable supply station.
After hanging up the receiver, Ye Manzhi strolled around the office for an hour, then borrowed a bicycle from the logistics department and rode it around Anyang County several times.
By the time she came back from her drive, it was already lunchtime.
She sat down across from Wang Zaofu, lunch box in hand, and asked with a smile, "Director Wang, have we secured the right to use the military railway? It's almost been two years since we last took this matter, right? This dragging on is not a solution. Besides, our two imported production lines are almost ready. We'll have to ship 200,000 televisions to Guangdong and Tianjin every year, and we need the railway!"
Wang Zaofu: “…”
He can't even have a meal in peace.
However, this time he really had something to say.
"The establishment of comprehensive material supply stations in each district and county has almost been finalized. If we share this railway with the Anyang County Supply Station, the city can seize the railway from the military. However, the cost of maintaining the railway will have to be borne by our Shuguang Factory ourselves."
"The maintenance fee for the railway is not a small amount," Ye Manzhi frowned and said, "The material supply station also needs to use this section of railway, so how do we calculate the maintenance fee?"
"Let's each manage a section. The main reason is that there are too few entities that can use this railway, and the city isn't willing to pay for it."
Ye Manzhi put down his chopsticks and said, "That's easy. I heard the Municipal Revolutionary Committee wants the vegetable company and the local specialty company to select a site in the city to invest in and build a vegetable and local specialty procurement and supply station. It should be 10 meters wide and cover an area of at least 5,000 square meters, capable of storing 5 million kilograms of vegetables."
"This big?"
"Yes, this will be the largest vegetable purchasing and supply station in the province," Ye Manzhi said. "The location of the supply station hasn't been determined yet, but Anyang County is also under consideration. If our military railway is put into use, Anyang County will have a greater chance of being selected."
Wang Zaofu worked for this railway for two years. He gained 20 kilograms, expanded his network, and gained a lot of experience. He is no longer the Wuxia A'mon of the past.
Hearing this, he continued, "If the vegetable supply station can also use this railway, then the three units will share it. The city may be responsible for maintaining the railway. However, it is also possible that the three units will share the cost equally."
"No matter how the railway maintenance costs are paid, bringing in one more company will always be beneficial."
Thinking about the railway that was about to be acquired, Wang Zaofu couldn't sit still and was shaking his legs under the table.
He quickly finished the food in his lunch box and said, "I'm going to the city now!"
"Hey, you should go to the Anyang County Revolutionary Committee first. We need to help Anyang County get a vegetable supply station. They should appreciate it, right? At the very least, they should help with the railway project," Ye Manzhi whispered. "Besides, there are still many factory workers' children who don't have jobs this year. If the supply station is located in Anyang County, the county will have to give our factory 20 recruitment quotas!"
Wang Zaofu's legs under the table began to shake even faster. When he was thinking, his legs would shake unconsciously.
Anyang County has a large area of vegetable and fruit cultivation, and the raw materials for the jam factory are purchased locally in the county.
There is a supply of vegetables, open space, and good road traffic conditions from the county seat to the urban area. If there is another railway, then Anyang County has a great chance of being selected.
If he could build a railway for Shuguang Factory and provide 20 quotas for the factory's children to stay in the city, his contribution would be no less than that of Ye Manzhi who built the television production line!
Wang Zaofu did not stay in the factory for long and went to the Municipal Revolutionary Committee that afternoon.
*
While he went to the city to build relationships, Ye Manzhi and Miao Sufen frequently visited the county revolutionary committee.
Shuguang Factory has made such a great contribution to Anyang County, the county must be made aware of it!
When preparing to set up the supply station, we must recruit workers, so we must recruit the children of our Shuguang Factory first!
Several people ran outside every day, determined to take the opportunity to chew this tough bone.
Fortunately, the 300 yuan entertainment expenses that Wang Zaofu spent in those two years were not wasted, and the 20 kilograms of fat he gained were not in vain.
A month later, the Municipal Revolutionary Committee gave the exact news.
The province’s largest vegetable and local specialty purchasing and supply station will soon be established in Anyang County!
The comprehensive supply stations set up by the Municipal Materials Bureau in various districts and counties are also about to be completed.
At the same time, the section of railway extending from Shuguang Factory was resumed for use, and the railway section was officially converted from military to civilian use.
Something that has dragged on for two years has finally come to an end!
The right to use the railway was obtained, and the quota for the children of factory workers to stay in the city was also obtained.
Wang Zaofu did a great thing, completely turning the tide and becoming proud of himself.
Everyone in the factory knows that this railway is operated by Deputy Director Wang.
Although the 300 yuan entertainment expenses spent by the factory for two years were criticized and the employees had often talked about it behind their backs before, but this time the railway application was approved, and the 300 yuan entertainment expenses were used in the right place.
Therefore, most employees and their families thought that they could just eat it, as Deputy Director Wang had done something practical for the factory this time!
People feel refreshed when good things happen to them. Recently, Wang Zaofu has been walking around the factory with a rosy face.
Of course, Ye Manzhi's mental outlook was similar to his.
Pym has contacted a freighter to transport the production line.
The two production lines are about to be in place, and the right to use the railway is also in our hands. The output value of Shuguang Factory is about to usher in a substantial and explosive growth!
Every time Ye Manzhi thought of the scene of trains and cars constantly going in and out of the factory to deliver goods, he would laugh in his dreams!
"You really laughed last night." Wu Zhengrong testified.
"Impossible, I didn't feel anything." Ye Manzhi stubbornly refused to admit it.
"How can you feel when you're asleep?" Wu Zhengrong dressed and went to work. Before leaving, he teased, "Pull your lips together, Director Ye. Let's try to keep a low profile."
"hey-hey."
Ye Manzhi waved goodbye to him, had breakfast, and slowly went out to work.
There was a meeting in the county at 9:30 in the morning. She didn't have to go to the unit and could go directly to the county revolutionary committee for the meeting.
When she arrived at the conference room, there was still a quarter of an hour before the meeting started, and the heads of various units were sitting together in groups of three or five chatting.
Director Sun from the County Motor Factory took the initiative to greet her. "Director Ye, I heard your factory has been making a lot of big moves recently. Good news all the time?"
"Haha, it's just routine work, not a big deal." Ye Manzhi said modestly, "The factory just introduced two TV production lines, but they're not in place yet."
Director Sun smiled and said, "The train runs fast because of the locomotive. Director Ye, the Shuguang Factory has developed well, and you, as the top leader, have made an indelible contribution. The leaders have all noticed it."
Ye Manzhi felt that there was something wrong with the tone of his words, and became suspicious.
She sat up straight and asked casually, "Director Sun, have you heard any gossip?"
"It's not exactly gossip, I just picked it up while chatting with someone," Director Sun said with a smile, happy to flatter. "Director Ye, if you become a county leader in the future, our motor factory will have to obey your orders."
“…”
Ye Manyi was stunned for a few seconds, not being able to understand the meaning of his words.
What does it mean that if she becomes a county leader, we have to obey her orders?
When she caught a glimpse of the podium at the front of the conference room, she suddenly realized that a deputy director of the Anyang County Revolutionary Committee had been transferred some time ago!
This position has been vacant for a long time, and the city has been slow to assign a new person to Anyang County.
The deputy director of the county revolutionary committee is a deputy division-level cadre. If she is transferred to work in the county, it is equivalent to a transfer at the same level.
However, she was doing very well at the Shuguang Factory. Once the production line was in place, the annual output of televisions could reach 300,000 to 400,000 units, and she would be able to achieve results soon.
Why did the city transfer her to Anyang County to serve as deputy director of the Revolutionary Committee?
She intuitively felt that this was unlikely. After all, she had almost no experience working in local government, so how could she become deputy director of a county?
Ye Manzhi stared at the podium in front of him. Just as his thoughts were about to drift away, his heart suddenly skipped a beat.
Is she going to be taken advantage of?
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