Chapter 8 The UK National Coal Board

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"We want to work! We want to live!"

"Against the government's forced closure of coal mines"

...

Outside the window was the sound of protests from the noisy parade crowd, while the TV repeatedly played the picture of the workers who failed to negotiate and walked out of the Manvers Building in disappointment. An hour earlier, coal miners in Yorkshire had begun strike action. Immediately after Scotland, miners in Kent also started their own strike action, and a nationwide strike officially kicked off. On the street next to the hotel where Seryozha lived, angry crowds were denouncing the Thatcher government and the head of the National Coal Board, Ian McGregor. And the person Seryosha desperately wants to see now is Ian McGregor.

Based on the intelligence he had obtained from his contact with the British business community in the past few days, Seryozha roughly sorted out the reasons for the outbreak of the strike. About a year ago, Ian McGregor, the head of British Steel, was transferred by Mrs Thatcher to the post of director of the British National Coal Board. Mr. McGregor had a good performance during his tenure as the head of British Steel. He successfully transformed the least efficient British Steel into the most efficient steel company in the UK, and almost turned losses into profits. And that reform came at the cost of laying off half the steelworkers within two years. Mr. McGregor did not make life easier for workers after being transferred to the British National Coal Board. He immediately threw out a reform plan to close 23 coal mines, which involved 20,000 coal miners in the UK. Of course, the coal miners will not agree to the government's request. They led by the chairman of the miners' union, Arthur Scargill, broke out serious conflicts with McGregor.

What is interesting is that just two years ago, coal miners supported the strike action of steel workers, but this time the move of the National Miners Union did not get the support of the British Trade Union Congress, because the impact of the coal industry on the economy is too great, The Iron Workers Union opposed the strike, as did the electrical and electrical and plumbing unions, and only the railroad workers and longshoremen supported the coal miners' strike. However, due to the important position of coal in the British industry, the National Miners' Union can be said to be the most powerful trade union organization in the country. Even without the support of the British Trade Union Congress, they can still independently launch strikes that affect the country's economic development.

Seryozha looked at the time, and it was almost time to set off. He will go to the British Banking Association in a while. During this period of time, Seryozha sold a large amount of Soviet coal to the British Steel Company and the British National Power Company through the bank relationship, gradually gaining the trust of these two British state-owned enterprises. Under their matchmaking, Seryozha got in touch with Ian McGregor through his British Steel connections. He hopes to establish a direct cooperative relationship with the National Coal Bureau led by McGrady to help Soviet raw coal gain a greater share in the British market.

Now the streets have been crowded with parade teams, and cars cannot move at all. Seryozha could only walk to the seat of the City Banking Guild.

About fifteen minutes later, Seryozha arrived as scheduled. The guild staff who had been waiting here for a long time took him to an office on the second floor. Belford of the Royal Bank of Scotland hurriedly stood up to greet him. The two chatted about business matters for a while. A few minutes later, there was a knock on the door outside. Seryozha and Belford got up at the same time, and it was none other than Mr. McGregor who came in. The pictures of McGregor have been everywhere on TV these days, and it's hard not to recognize him.

"Hello, Mr. McGregor, this is Mr. Ulyanov!" Belford introduced Seryozha.

"I'm sorry, I have some troubles there recently. When I came out, I had to avoid those... reporters, so I was delayed on the road!" McGregor said sorry for his late arrival.

"Please don't pay attention to that. Alright, I'll leave it to you two gentlemen. I'll go out first. If you need anything, you can call me. I'll be right outside the door!" Belford shook hands with the two and turned to leave. , Leaving the office for Seryozha and McGregor to continue communicating.

Sergey and McGregor shook hands, and the two sat down. McGregor first said: "I heard former colleagues of British Steel say that you want to sign a long-term supply contract with our National Coal Bureau. To be honest, in the current situation, we welcome you. Merchant. But you also know that we are a state-owned enterprise with the nature of the government, and we have the responsibility to stabilize domestic coal prices. If you sell raw coal to us, it would be more cost-effective to go directly to those end-consumer companies. Our acquisition The price is much lower than them!"

"Thank you for your honesty, Mr. McGregor! In fact, I came to the UK this time not only for the coal business. I am representing the Soviet Union and your country to discuss energy cooperation. In addition to coal, there is also natural gas cooperation! " Serezha said straight to the point.

"Soviet Union!" McGregor was surprised and almost jumped up from his chair. He never thought that Sergey came here on behalf of the Soviet government, and it thought Sergey was a certain Russian from the United States. McGregor suddenly snapped: "Could it be that you Soviets are behind this strike?"

"Please calm down, Mr. McGregor! On the contrary, we are here for friendship and cooperation with your government. We are willing to expand the scale of coal trade with your country during the period when your workers are on strike to make up for your country's There is a gap in energy supply during this period! Of course, we also have some demands for our own interests, but you can rest assured that these things need to be considered by the government, and we in the Soviet Union and the State Coal Bureau only have business relations!" Smile, patiently and meticulously dispel the other party's concerns.

"I'm sorry, but I'm just the person in charge of the National Coal Bureau. Please forgive me for being helpless with regard to business accidents!" McGregor said still a little vigilantly.

"Okay, Mr McGregor! Then I'll cut to the chase. I hope you can arrange an interview with Prime Minister Thatcher for me. The rest is completely out of your mind. If you agree, we will continue to discuss coal supply In terms of business, if you don’t agree, just treat it as nothing, and I’ll go back to China today!” Seryozha said at the end, with a threatening tone in it. He took out a contract from his briefcase and placed it in front of McGregor. The price on it was much lower than the price on the British spot market. As long as the National Coal Bureau handled it, it would definitely make a lot of money. Of course, the big head still let Glencore and the Soviet government make money. After all, the labor cost and mining cost of the Soviet Union were too low.

While looking at the contract, McGregor looked at Seryozha. After a long time, he stretched out his hand and said, "I hope we have a happy cooperation!"

Xie Liaosha quickly grabbed the other party's hand, and said excitedly: "It's a happy cooperation."