1674 The Wind Is Rising
Although the Bupen area is rated as the least suitable area for ordinary people to live every year, there are still a large number of ordinary people struggling to survive here.
They live in areas with the least complete public facilities in the city, and some places don't even have phone booths.
It had happened before, but then the pay phone was broken by some young people on the street.
They want the coins inside, but they don't have the key, but they have a hammer or something.
They thought that after destroying the phone booths, the Buppen Telegraph Office and Communications Company would put the phones back in place. As a result, these neighborhoods have been blacklisted.
Not only did they stop putting in brand new phones, they even took away the phone booths!
The people living here are very poor, and the difficulty of life makes them particularly irritable.
As the city with the highest consumption level in the Federation, Bupen is not an easy task to feed a family here!
They are unwilling to leave here and go to cities with better living conditions, because they believe that one day their persistence will bring them great rewards!
For example... the demolition and reconstruction of urban area expansion.
Once these dilapidated neighborhoods are included in the scope of reconstruction, the demolition will allow every household to receive extremely generous compensation!
You know, for example, some downtown areas are called Xiacheng District, but in fact they are not particularly far from the city center, they are just on the edge of the city center.
Once the city expands, the land there will be priced in gold!
For this reason, many people endure the hardships of life here and are still struggling to support it.
John is one of them. He lives with his family in an apartment of only 65 square meters.
The property rights are his own.
He has a very ordinary job and earns 416 yuan and 75 cents per month. This money seems to be much higher than the minimum wage stipulated in the minimum hourly wage law, but it is not actually many.
Coupled with the current heavy tax rate, he would have less than 170 yuan left every month in addition to paying taxes.
Fortunately, the federal government's food prices have not yet increased. The federal government may have considered the inconvenience that high tax rates would bring to ordinary families, and now food transactions in various regions have been included in the scope of control.
The price of food is not only not higher than in non-war times in the past, but has actually dropped a lot, but the amount each household can buy is limited.
You can buy less, but not more.
The same goes for vegetables and meat. Their money can sustain them, but only so much.
This makes their lives tight!
John is middle-aged, and like most men who can't make money, he has serious anxiety. What's more serious is that he lost his job for so long during the Great Depression a few years ago that he is now three years short of It takes several months to fully pay social security benefits before retirement.
In other words, according to the current rules, he cannot enjoy lifelong social security!
In other words, this part of the pension fee will eventually be refunded to him, and if he wants to enjoy medical security, he will still need to continue to pay sufficient fees every month even after retirement.
Only in this way will he be reimbursed if he is hospitalized or purchases medicine.
He went to the Social Security Bureau many times, and he was willing to make up for the three months' expenses, even if he paid a little more, it didn't matter.
In fact, the proportion of social security benefits in the entire tax ratio is not high.
But the Social Security Administration told him that the rules are the rules. If you miss it, you will have no chance!
This has also made John very irritable recently. Sometimes he will send goods to his family for no reason, getting angry at his wife who doesn't understand anything, and getting angry at his two children who are still in high school!
He had no choice but to suppress his anger. When he thought that he might have to work until the day he died of old age or illness, he couldn't help feeling angry and sad.
On this day, he came to the factory without much energy and sat outside the assembly line, preparing to pick up the replacement workers.
He arrived a little early, a little while before the changing of the guard.
Taking advantage of this time, some people will gather together to chat.
John is not that interested in these topics. He is only thinking about how to make up for the expenses for these three months.
Whether you find someone or spend some money, this matter cannot be delayed.
Even though his pension is only the lowest level, only more than a hundred yuan, it is enough money to prevent him from starving to death!
At this time, he suddenly heard someone talking about the issue of social security, and he couldn't help but get closer.
"...If the reform is successful, young people in the future will only need to pay for more than 20 years."
"The world is really getting better and better. If it can be implemented now, we can also enjoy this rule!"
John quickly asked, "What are you talking about? I just heard that it only takes more than 20 years to pay it off?"
"Social Security?"
Several workers nodded, and the man who had a good relationship with John even asked, "Haven't you been doing this lately?"
"No one told you the news?"
After confirming it, he told John what was happening, but he was not overjoyed.
"Don't be too happy too early. I heard that Representative Williams was helpless during the first hearing. Maybe this matter will be like the previous ones and no one will mention it again soon!"
There have been some presidents in the Federation who had ideals and pursuits in the past. For example, there was a president with two windows on his head who raised the issue of health care reform.
And during his tenure, he tried to do this, but it was terminated due to an accident.
There are many similar things. People always have hope at the beginning, but gradually they lose their enthusiasm.
It's only during the general election campaign that people sometimes get excited about their promises, but the excitement soon settles down.
Everyone knows they are just talking.
John's expression was very ugly. He thought for a while, as if he was saying to himself, "This president is different. He said he would promote education reform, and now there are several pilot projects in the federal government."
"I heard that children can go to college as long as their studies meet their academic requirements..."
Almost all parents have the same idea about going to college.
They hope that their children will go to college not just because they want their children to have a bright future, but in fact they also hope that their children will have a good future, so that their own lives will also change!
John used this incident to convince himself, "Education reform is underway, and social security system reform should not be a problem."
He pondered for a moment, "We should let more people know about this, and we should make the president feel that we stand behind him!"
His co-worker couldn't help laughing, "No offense, but your idea is crazy. Maybe you can get some help from the union..."
John suddenly felt enlightened. He patted his friend on the shoulder and said, "You reminded me at the right time. I owe you!"
He said as he returned to work and the changing of the guard began.
Although he wished he could fly to the union now, he also knew that unexcused absences would cost him a full attendance allowance.
Sometimes he doubts that maybe these various bonuses are the wages he deserves.
It's just that those capitalists turned it into a rope that tightly bound them in a clever way!
Let yourself be exploited and oppressed by these capitalists without any way to struggle!
This work lasts eleven hours.
He started working at eight o'clock, and when he finished his work for the day, it was already seven o'clock.
This is the time when most factories in the federation get off work or change the guard.
This month John is working the day shift, and next month he will be working the night shift.
No one can work the day shift forever, just like no one can work the night shift forever!
After get off work, John did not go home immediately. Instead, he dragged his exhausted body to the workers' union here.
There will be a workers' union organization within the factory, and there will be a larger branch in the factory area.
When he arrived at the union, a large number of people had gathered.
There are actually not a few people in John's situation. During the Great Recession of several years, the real industry suffered an almost devastating blow.
Most factories either shut down or closed down, which also caused many workers to lose the opportunity to enjoy the social security system for life!
The news that is now circulating in Bupen's side is, for them, the last straw to save them!
John felt that his body was filled with strength again. He looked at these people. In his eyes, these people were no longer strangers, but his comrades!
Together they will fight for their future!
Although the workers' unions have not staged any major strikes in the federal territory in recent years, this does not mean that their influence is declining.
On the contrary, as the population of immigrant workers increases, workers' unions have found new growth points!
Coupled with the improving economy and the international environment, the federal production capacity will not be excessive, goods will continue to be exported, and the real industry will be healthy again!
The workers' union does not need to launch any large-scale movement to gain countless benefits from it!
Regarding the recent rumors and the workers’ demands, the Bupen trade union is also very cautious!
For the top leaders of the trade union, there are not only huge opportunities, but also countless benefits!
At this time, in the conference room on the third floor of the General Workers Union's office building, the top leaders of the union were sitting together.
As those congressmen have considered, the reform of the social security system will affect tens of billions of dollars in finance every year.
The workers' union is also keenly aware of the huge benefits therein!
Congress is unwilling to let it go, and they also want to get involved!
In the conference room, the newly elected president looked at the information in his hands and said, "Don't just sit around and express your opinions..."