Back to Ming Dynasty with Industrial Revolution System

Chapter 1018 Workers' Guild
In the lobby of the Ministry of Criminal Justice in Beijing, a group of officials are discussing the legislative issue of the relationship between employees and employers. Not only officials from the Ministry of Criminal Justice are involved in the legislation, but officials from the Ministry of Households and the Ministry of Industry are also involved in the legislation. This matter is related to people's livelihood and industry. As the incident fermented, workers' protests would spread from the Jiangnan region to southern Liaoning and the Central Plains, and the scope would also expand to other areas, such as coal miners and iron smelters.

"As for the minimum wage regulations, all walks of life are different, and it is difficult to make an appropriate definition."

"The results of the work of porters and ironworkers are different, and the minimum wage standards must be different."

The court officials of the Ministry of Punishment began to quarrel.

"Everyone, you have misunderstood the meaning of the minimum wage. Our government does not want to be meticulous enough to stipulate the minimum wage for every industry. It only needs to ensure that the hired people get paid after meeting a certain working hours. living expenses. This standard is extremely low, and only a few people can apply it.” Chu Yun explained for officials who were not yet familiar with the new concept.

"And what about their families? Is the minimum wage needed to meet their family's needs?"

"In my opinion, the minimum wage needs to meet the needs of the workers themselves and provide the necessary life for the two relatives who are unable to work."

"Some people from poor families may have to support several children. They have no skills, so what should they do? There are also some disabled people who provide limited labor. Is the minimum wage applicable or not? If the minimum wage is applicable, I am afraid no one will be willing to hire They, our regulations are harming them."

"The situation you mentioned should require the government to distribute relief food, right?"

After Chu Yun provided the idea, the officials fussed over the details of the legislation and quarreled.Laws serve as norms that constrain people's behavior. If we do not strive to be detailed, there will be larger-scale disputes and turmoil in the future.

"The most critical issue is the worry that workers will be replaced by machines. If, as you said, the military leader, the government needs to organize manpower to train them and let them find other jobs, where will our government get this funding?"

"According to the 'survival of the fittest' theory put forward by Yan Fu and others, those who are fired are eliminated because they do not adapt to society. Should the government take the initiative to interfere with this natural elimination? If it interferes with this elimination, wouldn't it be against our 'suitability'? 'survival' theories against each other?"

"If every worker comes to the government for help after being fired, how can our government manage it?"

When it comes to whether the government should take the initiative to help the workers who have been eliminated by the machine to train, the officials of the various ministries are arguing more and more fiercely.Once the government takes the initiative to assume this responsibility, it means investing in financial and human resources for management.

The dispute over this point alone lasted the whole day, and Chu Yun was a little dizzy.

Should we set up a workers' association in the future to deal with workers' demands?Chu Yun thought of a similar organization.The expenses of the labor union are borne by the employees and the employers, because the labor union helps to resolve the conflicts between the employer and the employees, which is actually beneficial to both parties, and it is logically feasible for the expenses to be borne by both parties.

It's just that the establishment of a workers' union under the Ministry of Industry is a big issue. If such a big issue is brought up at the end of today, it is estimated that everyone will not want to leave.

"Let's stop today's agenda and continue tomorrow. The Jiangnan worker incident is spreading to surrounding areas. There are also many workers employed by private factories in Liaonan, Lingnan and other places who are dissatisfied with their employers. This kind of dissatisfaction cannot be handled well. Big things will happen. The main reason is that the management of private factories and handicraft workshops is not regulated by government-run factories, and they will not care about the welfare of dismissed workers. The position of labor law is to protect the interests of employers and workers at the same time, as long as the law does not deviate from our Basically, there will be no big problems." Chu Yun looked around at the crowd, these officials had been with him for a few days.

When Chu Yun led many officials to finish today's discussion, someone from the capital telegraph station came to report to Chu Yun.

"My lord, there is news from Suzhou City that the burning of the textile factory happened. The workshop owners in Suzhou have elected a few representatives and want to resolve this incident with the government." The employee of the telegraph station reported the Yamen of the Suzhou government to Jianghuai The telegram from the Provincial Yamen was forwarded to Chu Yun.

"Wang Changyuan... isn't he a businessman who runs maritime trade in Beiyang regions such as southern Liaoning, Beijing, Dongying, and Koryo? How did he get involved in the worker incident in Suzhou City?" Chu Yun saw the workshop owners in Suzhou City excite In the list of several representatives, Wang Changyuan, a Wuhu businessman he knew, was among them.

He knew Wang Changyuan, who belonged to a big businessman engaged in reselling goods by sea, but he didn't seem to have heard that he had his own factory or handicraft workshop.Moreover, Wang Changyuan has also settled in the north for a long time, so how could he become the representative of Suzhou City Workshop Master?
"Also, this is a private telegram sent by one of them on behalf of Wang Changyuan to you, Lord Commander. Originally, he did not have the authority to send you such a telegram, but because of this special matter, Wang Changyuan sent you a private telegram to Lord Commander. Come here." The telegraph station in Beijing sent Wang Changyuan's private telegram to Chu Yun.

"It turned out that I happened to come across this incident when I passed by Suzhou when I was going home to visit relatives. I wanted to do something for me, so I mixed with the merchants in Suzhou City, hoping to calm down the turmoil in the Jiangnan area through peaceful means... "Chu Yun saw Wang Changyuan's long-winded telegram and was surprised by Wang Changyuan's sincerity.

At this time, sending private telegrams was expensive, and everyone who sent telegrams cherished words like gold, but Wang Changyuan actually asked the telegraph operator to express to him in detail in the style of ordinary letter writing.Perhaps the cost of this lengthy telegram must be paid in silver taels or bank notes.

In the telegram, Wang Changyuan hoped that Chu Yun could provide a mechanism for workers' representatives and employers' representatives to negotiate and protect their own interests in a relatively peaceful way.Before the labor law is officially promulgated, the government can also learn the attitudes of both parties from this kind of negotiation that focuses on actual conflicts.

Isn't this kind of negotiating body used as a buffer zone the trade union...

While Chu Yun was busy resolving the new contradictions in production relations, Tokugawa Iemitsu, the shogunate of Japan, put on the ancestral armor of the Tokugawa family, and prepared to launch a decisive battle to completely unify the four islands of Japan.He has already detected that this is the best chance to completely unify the four islands of Dongying—Chu Yun is busy with internal turmoil, and the Beiyang Fleet who knows Dongying best is delayed in Korea.Once the Kyushu Army recovers, the shogunate will live in the cracks again aggrieved.

(End of this chapter)