Shadow Empire

Chapter 314 Garment Factory and Captain
In the morning, Reid (the old tailor's son-in-law and the director of the garment factory) just came to the office. He had just hung up his hat and sat down when someone knocked on the door outside.

The garment factory is doing good business now.

On the one hand, Lens needs a large number of new work clothes, which will be given to the garment factory at normal prices, making it an independent operation.

If the Lance family wants to go further, not all of their businesses can be illegal, otherwise they won't go far.

Moreover, as society begins to stabilize, a wave of crackdowns on organized crime will gradually emerge, and people's attitude towards gangs will change from being accustomed to and accepting them to being disgusted and disgusted with them.

This is a trend that cannot be changed, so it will be easier to transform in the future if we establish some legal industries in advance.

Lance has a long-term vision, or rather, he has a very clear understanding of the future!

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

A garment factory, a labor-intensive enterprise, is a good project. Hundreds of people depend on it for their livelihood, and in order not to lose their jobs, these people will inevitably safeguard the interests of the factory and Lans.

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

Judging from the consumption habits of ordinary people in the Federation, this is actually the result of a huge and successful social experiment!
They didn't consider this -

Why would banks be so kind to give them loans, even loans that do not require collateral?
Did you give them the loan simply because you thought they could pay it back?
No, in fact, credit lending itself is a huge social experiment, and its essence is the same as Prohibition.

In this way, they encourage ordinary people to start consuming in advance, allowing them to enjoy the fun of consumption and the satisfaction brought by material life.

At the same time, it also makes them dare not lose their jobs easily, because they know very well that once they lose their jobs, everything they enjoy now will leave them!

They bought new cars, new houses, new furniture, new clothes...

Everything of value no longer belongs to them, so they can only work hard.

In the entire society, the people who are most afraid of losing their jobs are not the lower classes, but the middle class. They are the targeted group for the experiment.

But after being proven, this experiment is no longer aimed at the middle class. It is aimed at the whole society, all non-privileged and non-ruling class groups, the masses, and the people.

As long as these people in the garment factory do not want their lives to become unstable, they must take the initiative to safeguard the interests of the factory and Lance. They will even be more determined than Lance to defend everything here!
Under the circumstances, Ryder was doing pretty well, not the type of person who would do well in a family.

There are always some people who are suitable for fighting and killing, and some people are not suitable for fighting and killing. Reid is one of them.

Lance didn't hire him to use his unused strengths or to help him kill anyone. Lance just wanted him to use his value in the field he was familiar with.

He was stunned for a moment. There were several shadows swaying outside the frosted glass. He held the armrests of the chair with both hands and moved forward, ready, "Come in."

Soon several workers wearing blue-gray plaid caps came in. Reid recognized them. They were skilled workers in the factory.

They helped Ryder and the factory a lot when it was first established. Their experience enabled those unskilled workers to make great progress and grow, so Ryder was actually quite good to them.

For lunch, each of them would be given about two to three pieces of beef, which together were about the size of a duck egg.

In addition to the difference in diet, they can rest for 30 minutes longer each day, 15 minutes longer in the morning and 15 minutes longer in the afternoon.

Each person was also given a ration of six cigarettes a day, free of charge, to help them relieve fatigue.

In Reid's opinion, these people are very comfortable. When they are tired, they can take a break, smoke a cigarette, or chat with others. Work is no longer a burden to them.

So he was very nice, "What's up?"

He also took the initiative to invite them to sit down, "You can sit on a chair or on the sofa, it's all right."

Among the group was a middle-aged man in his forties. He took off his cap and held it in his hand. His hair was a little messy because the cap was taken off. He stroked his hair with his hand and said:

"Mr. Ryder, I've been out here for half a year."

Ryder nodded, lit up a cigarette himself, opened the pack, and motioned for them to take one as well.

But no one took action, everyone was looking at him.

This made Reid feel that something bad was happening, and his expression became more serious. "What do you want to say?"

The man held his cap in both hands and rolled it up into a curl. He looked a little embarrassed. "Mr. Reid, I want to ask if I can get a raise?"

The basic salary of these skilled workers is 47.5 yuan. If other subsidies are included, they can get 52 yuan per month.

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

Reid took a puff of his cigarette and thought for a moment, "Raise your salary... Sure, I can give you fifty-three dollars."

Several people didn't say "thank you", which meant that they didn't actually accept the price. Reid frowned even harder, and a crack appeared between his eyebrows.

"How many do you want?"

"Fifty-five dollars, Mr. Ryder."

Reid looked at him with a probing look in his eyes, "There is no such price in the market now."

He has begun to integrate into the local community, because when the factory is idle, he will take other orders and make various clothes and related products, so he still has some contact with his peers.

Nowadays, skilled workers generally earn 52 to 53 yuan, and in some places some people are still earning 50 yuan. Their current income is actually not low, and it can be said that they are ahead of most people.

The person who was speaking showed some difficulty. "Let me tell you the truth, Mr. Reid. Someone offered fifty-four dollars to dig us over."

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

"But..." He looked at the people around him, "We have made it clear. Even if you give us fifty-four, there will inevitably be a gap. So if you can't offer forty-five, we plan to leave."

"After all, everyone wants to make more money, and we also have to live."

Reid looked at him, staring straight into his eyes. The worker looked away uncomfortable after being stared at for a few seconds. He felt guilty.

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

At the same time, the labor unions are powerful because they are able to unite the vast majority of skilled workers.

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

Even if Reid told Lance now, and Lance talked to Ms. Debbie, it would not change the current situation.

The best Ms. Debbie can do is to find some skilled workers from other places who are willing to come and work, but there is nothing she can do if these people choose to leave.

Reid took two puffs of his cigarette gloomily. In fact, raising wages is very simple, but if the wages of skilled workers are increased, should the wages of ordinary workers also be increased?

They raise the rent by one or two dollars every month, and all expenses at the end of the month will add up to one or two hundred dollars more.

Although Reid knew that Lance didn't care about one or two hundred dollars, this was not a matter of one or two hundred dollars.

This is a confrontation between workers and capitalists!

If he bowed his head now, he believed that it would not be long before these people would ask for more salary, or more rest time, or more vacation time.

They will test the bottom line of capitalists step by step, and then eventually break through it!

Reid has heard a lot of such things. For example, if a capitalist is very dependent on a worker, the worker will gradually change roles with the capitalist.

Although he is still a laborer, he will soon transform himself from a dominated to a dominant through his own means, although he is still a laborer.

"Impossible!" Reid gave them a firm response after he figured it out.

The skilled workers did not seem particularly disappointed; they seemed to have already made a judgment.

The leading man showed a regretful expression, "If that's the case, Mr. Reid, then we'll have to leave after the 15th." The 15th was payday, and Reid had a headache, but in the end he had no choice but to agree.

This was their freedom and he couldn't force it.

A few people then left. When Reid was thinking about how to tell Lance about this, someone knocked on the door again.

His heart suddenly tightened, "Come in."

Several ordinary workers came in, they were a little hesitant and forgot to take off their hats.

You pulled me, I pushed you, and finally one of the older guys said, "Manager Ryder, we're not going to do it on the 15th."

Wright had a hunch, but he asked anyway, "Why?"

The man said a little embarrassedly, "Our master is leaving here, and he hopes that we can go with him."

In fact, the concept of "master" does not exist in the minds of the federal people, but as a "skill imparter", Master can also have a certain influence on them.

They are already used to working with these teachers and like the atmosphere. When they are told that they can seamlessly offer jobs with higher salaries, they have no reason to refuse.

Ryder asked with a headache, "Because of the salary?"

The man was a little shy, "It's not just because of the salary, Mr. Ryder."

At this point, persuasion is actually useless and he can only approve.

In the morning, more than thirty people planned to leave after the 15th. Now the entire factory has only a little over a hundred people, and suddenly a quarter of the workers are missing, including skilled workers.

This is definitely a heavy blow to subsequent production!

He had been dealing with these matters all morning, talking to the workers, hoping to get some of them to stay.

The newly recruited workers cannot finish the work as quickly as these workers, and they definitely need an adaptation period. During lunch, he stood upstairs and watched the workers gathered together to eat, thinking about how to deal with this "crisis".

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

He smoked several cigarettes this morning.

After the factory finished producing summer equipment for the Lance family, it had no other core production tasks, so he took on a lot of orders.

Nowadays, with the prevalence of international trade, clothes, especially low-cost and cheap clothes, 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 heard of have transformed themselves into "well-known federal brands" after going abroad, and there are still many people who believe in them.

Many foreigners, especially those from backward areas, are always superstitious, as if anything produced by the Federation must be a good thing!
These orders are all under contract, and the qualification rate and final completion date must be ensured. If any one of them is exceeded, either qualified products will be supplied or compensation will be made.

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

Thinking about the subsequent orders and businesses, Reid vaguely understood that he was being sniped by his peers.

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

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

"Mr. Lance, it's me, Ryder."

"Our factory may have encountered some troubles. The situation is as follows..."

He described the matter objectively without any personal emotions. Although he described it without any emotions, what he saw from his perspective, even if it was neutral and objective, was still accompanied by some emotions.

"We still have several orders at the end of this month and next month. Although it is still in time to recruit workers now, I am still a little worried."

"If this is unlawful business competition, it is possible that their practices will not stop here!"

After he finished speaking, he waited for Lance's response. This had been the most comfortable life he had lived in the past six months.

He became a manager, managing a factory of more than a hundred people, and had a basic salary of over a hundred yuan per month, as well as some commissions.

Lance promised him that if he took extra orders, he would give him 5% of the profits as a reward, so he was so motivated!
Their family had been in the Federation for some time, but their lives had not improved at all until they met Lance, when their lives began to get better.

He didn't want to mess up anything Lance had told him, nor did he want his life to go back to the way it was before!

After about 20 to 30 seconds, Lance's voice came from the receiver, "I see. Do you have any suspicions?"

"I'm not familiar with the industrial area. Do we have any competitors on the same order, or any other possibilities?"

Lai De has some guesses, but not too many. "There were two garment factories, and we competed for an order. We got the order."

"They acted very unfriendly, it's possible that they were related, but I can't be completely sure."

"Give me their names!", Lance said, which made Ryder feel relieved.

He named two garment factories, and then Lance asked, "How much money can we make from these orders?"

Reid smiled slightly. After deducting all expenses, the total amount was about seven thousand dollars.

"Seven thousand?"

Lance was a little dazed when he heard this number. This was not even enough for his bar to earn in one night.

But he soon realized that the money was clean and this was a legal business.

In more than a month, the factory with more than a hundred people brought him a profit of 7,000 yuan, and each worker earned about 60 yuan for him. This may be what capital and capitalists are pursuing.

Reid could tell that Lance was a little "sensitive" about the number, and he felt a little embarrassed. "If we continue to expand the factory, our income will be even higher."

He was a little bit looking forward to it, after all, he also hoped that he could become that kind of super factory.

There is no need to actively fight for orders, orders will be delivered to your door in a queue, and no excessive demands will be made.

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

"I will support you, whether it is funding or other aspects."

After ending the call, Lance wanted to find someone to do this, but for a moment it seemed that everyone had their own things to do. Just when he was not sure who to find, Alan's laughter came from outside.

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

Not long after, Allen opened the door 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 towards this young man. "I remember you have been here for half a year?"

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

Lance 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 with the contents in his hand. "We have a garment factory in the industrial zone, but now the manager suspects that someone is targeting us. Go and investigate and find out if anyone is targeting us."

"You can contact the manager if necessary."

"Go find Mello and ask him to give you 500 dollars and weapons, and then go pick a few people."

Lance opened the cigar on the table and took a puff. He blew the smoke out towards Alan and said, "It's done. You are the captain!"

(End of this chapter)