Esther leaned lazily on the lounge chair, holding a copy of the politan Metropolitan magazine with interest.
Oolitan Metropolis is an old fashion magazine in the United States. It was founded in 1886. This fashion magazine is based on the style of "Metropolis Girls" and mainly introduces the fashion trends of big cities. At that time, it was a bold and creative fashion magazine. For ordinary American women, the content of Oolitan Metropolis Magazine may be too advanced, but for movie stars like Esther, they will love magazines like Oolitan Metropolis.
Chen Qiang walked into the room with a cup of tea. Looking at Esther on the recliner, he couldn't help but swallow. Today, Esther was sleepy with only one suspender, and leaned on the recliner, with a clear figure. Although he was his own wife, even if he hadn't worn clothes, Chen Qiang couldn't help but feel a little excited about the scene in front of him.
Esther, 24, is really in the most beautiful years of his life and the peak of his appearance. For white European and American women, this is probably the most charming age. He has removed the immatureness of adolescence and has a little more mature temptation, but he will not look aging. This is more mature than a girl and a younger woman, and can satisfy the fantasy of men of any age.
Chen Qiang walked to Esther's feet and sat down, then asked, "I heard that Hollywood is on strike again."
Esther put his feet on Chen Qiang's thighs, then spoke, "I wonder how long this strike will last?"
"I remember that in the first half of the year, did not have a strike in Hollywood? And that time, there were 100,000 people participating, which was quite large." Chen Qiang continued.
"The first half of the year was a strike between the film crew, and this time it was a strike between the setter and the props." Esther answered.
Chen Qiang nodded. In film production, the film crew is probably a front-line position, while the setter and props are a logistics position. Chen Qiang knew with a little guess that the front-line film crew gained benefits through strikes. The logistics setter and props were a little jealous, so he also launched a strike.
In the United States in the 1940s, the union system was not sound, so strikes in all walks of life were common.
Some people may not understand that trade union organizations are not organizers of strikes? Why are unsound trade unions launching more strikes? In fact, it is precisely because the union system is not sound that trade unions cannot effectively exercise their power. At the same time, the law lacks jurisdiction over trade unions, so strikes have become a very casual thing. The trade unions lack effective management of workers' strikes, which leads to frequent strikes.
In the future, the United States will introduce a labor management relationship law, which is the famous Tuft Hartley Act. This bill gives employers, workers and trade unions more restrictions on the legal level. For example, how many days will be notified to the employer before the union makes a strike decision; for example, after the union decides to strike, federal mediation agencies will intervene in mediation; for example, stipulate that employers have the right to oppose the union, etc. Therefore, every time the media reports on a strike in the United States, they will preview the strike incident in advance.
Americans did not simply suppress strikes, but instead managed workers' strikes with laws. Therefore, in the future, although strikes often occur in many industries, riots rarely occur during strikes, and negotiations between employers and trade unions are easier to negotiate. In comparison, strikes in other countries often occur. At the same time, strikes occur, smashing, looting and burning occur.
At this time, Washington was busy dealing with the post-war affairs of Japan. To put it bluntly, it was just dividing the Far East with the Soviets, and he didn't care about the Hollywood strike. After all, the Hollywood strike only affected the film industry. It would not kill anyone when watching a few movies, and it was not a big deal for Americans' lives.
However, what Washington did not expect was that the strike wave quickly extended to other industries.
In October, 50,000 oil workers held a general strike.
The status of oil is not comparable to that of Hollywood movies. For Americans, oil is the lifeblood of the country. The strike of oil workers can already affect the normal operation of the US economy.
Even worse, in November, more than 220,000 auto workers held a general strike.
Although automobiles are not essential items in life, the automobile industry can affect many upstream industries. The strike of 220,000 automobile workers will affect the livelihoods of millions of American workers.
The strikes of American workers temporarily stopped for a while during Christmas in December, but it was just the quiet before the outbreak. After 1946, a larger wave of strikes came, and 10 million workers across the United States would participate in the strike.
Just as Christmas ended, the strike wave swept over again. More than 170,000 electricians went on strike, more than 100,000 meat packers went on strike, nearly 800,000 steel workers went on strike, more than 500,000 miners went on strike, and 250,000 railway workers went on strike...
The strike wave in 1946 and the economic turmoil brought about by the strike wave were the first severe test that Truman had faced in the United States after he took office as president.
...
Chen Qiang is inspecting the production workshop at Nike's factory.
"The strike has been very fierce recently. We have not been affected by any impact here, right?" Chen Qiang asked.
Jared shook his head: "Everything is normal. I have not noticed any signs of strike. Although our salary is not high, our job here is also very simple. Many housewives are competent. Even if there is a strike, we can recruit new workers soon."
Chen Qiang nodded. This labor-intensive industry with low technical barriers obviously has advantages in dealing with workers' strikes. Sewing sports shoes is not a very difficult technology. As long as you learn to use a sewing machine, you can be competent for this job. If someone doesn't want to do it, it can be easy to find a replacement.
Jared continued, "In fact, the main reason for those strikes outside was that employers lowered workers' wages. You know, the war has ended, and soldiers will return to the United States from Europe and Asia. They will retire from the army, leave the military department, and move to traditional departments. In the year after the war, about 10 million people will leave the army, and the United States will also increase 10 million labor force, job opportunities will decrease, and competition will become fierce. Of course, employers will lower workers' wages."
"Since you have more labor, are you planning to reduce your salary for our workers?" Chen Qiang asked.
"I don't plan to lower the wages of workers. First of all, the salary given to workers in our industry is not high; secondly, the 10 million new labor force has nothing to do with our industry. Those are veterans and men, and we recruit female shoemakers. Men don't want to sit in front of sewing machines and do this kind of work." Jared said.
"You're still thinking thoroughly." Chen Qiang nodded. As a Jew, Jared is still very smart in doing business.
The fundamental reason for the strike wave in 1946 was that a large number of U.S. soldiers were discharged from the army and entered the labor market. The impact of the US labor market was 10 million more young and strong men in one year. It is conceivable that employers can hire workers more easily, and the treatment offered to workers will of course be reduced. The wages of those workers have also been reduced.
At the same time, due to the end of the war, orders for military supplies were greatly reduced. Originally, many factories were eager to start construction 24 hours a day to meet the needs of the war, but now these needs are gone, and the factory's operating rate has been reduced. Naturally, there is no need for so many workers. Saving wages is the best way to save costs.
Throughout 1946, the average salary of blue-collar workers in the United States dropped by 12%, and Americans did not have the habit of saving. They were just eating the money they earned tomorrow. Their salary dropped by 12%, which directly affected the normal life of many Americans. Those who were more miserable might go bankrupt directly.
What’s more serious is that the United States experienced huge inflation after the war. In 1945, the inflation rate in the United States was 8%, which was already a very terrifying number. In the future, it would be a precursor to the economic crisis. By 1946, the inflation rate in the United States was as high as 14%!
Salaries have been reduced by 12%, but inflation has reached 14%. The lives of American blue-collar workers have been hard, so American workers have begun a large-scale strike to prevent employers from lowering their salaries.
Those who participated in the strike were also industries such as power workers, oil workers, steel workers, and railway workers. These industries all had a characteristic, that is, they had a large number of people and were not easily replaced.
For example, in the steel industry, in that era when steelmaking was not automated, it was not possible to produce steel by pressing a few buttons. Every ton of steel produced requires the hard work of workers and manual operation by workers. Steelmaking in that era was also a labor-intensive industry, and it was not a matter of training a qualified steel worker, so hundreds of thousands of steelmaking workers dared to strike because the factory could not find enough substitutes in a short period of time.
In comparison, industries with low technical content do not have the confidence to go on strike.
Chen Qiang's shoemaking factory is quite special, and they recruit female workers. In the 1940s, women were severely discriminated against in their employment. The salary obtained by women was already very low, so the average salary in the shoemaking industry was also very low. What's more, men don't bother to do the work in front of the sewing machine. They have a retired American soldier who is sitting in front of the sewing machine. The salary is still very low. People will definitely not do it. It is better to go to the construction site to move bricks than this.
The strike outside was a big deal, but Chen Qiang's own factory was not affected, which made Chen Qiang very pleased. He didn't know when the strike outside would end, but as long as it didn't affect the production of the factory and the sales of sports shoes, it would be a flood outside!
"Our new sports shoes have been almost done. I plan to officially put them into the market in the second half of the year. The production process of this new sports shoes is a bit complicated and requires more manpower, so we should recruit workers again." Chen Qiang said.
"No problem, the factory has been built, but the sewing machine I ordered has not arrived yet. I will go and urge me." Jared replied.
Chen Qiang was discussing factory production with Jared, but an employee of Nike rushed over.
"Mr. Chen, we just received an invitation letter for you." The employee said and handed the invitation letter to Chen Qiang.
"Who invited me?" Chen Qiang said, opening the invitation letter.
The sign at the top of the invitation shocked Chen Qiang. It was a white-headed sea eagle. The head of the sea eagle was facing the left, the sea eagle's left claw grabbed an olive branch, and the sea eagle's right claw grabbed an arrow.
"The National Emblem of the United States is an invitation letter from the White House!" Chen Qiang immediately realized this. He had received an invitation letter from the White House and knew that the top of the invitation letter was an American national emblem.
"President Truman invited me to the entrepreneurs dinner?" Chen Qiang frowned.
According to Chen Qiang's perception, there will basically be nothing good about this so-called entrepreneurial dinner. Either politicians want to raise funds or ask entrepreneurs to pay for bonds. In short, you must be prepared to bleed when attending such dinners.
"If you want to live in the United States in the future, you have to rely on Truman to protect him. Now you can't get Truman. Even if it's a Hongmen Banquet, you have to go!" Chen Qiang sighed helplessly.
...
At the White House dinner, all the entrepreneurs who are familiar with the Democratic Party are present. Now the Democratic Party is in power, so those entrepreneurs who support the Republican Party cannot come to do such a thing as paying money and bleeding.
Chen Qiang once gave Truman campaign funds in the name of Nike, so Chen Qiang was also here.
After drinking and chatting, President Truman finally appeared at the dinner.
After a few simple speeches, Truman did not be polite, but directly expressed the purpose of the White House holding this entrepreneurial dinner.
This time, Truman did not ask everyone to raise funds or let entrepreneurs pay for government bonds, but hoped that the entrepreneurs present could hire more workers and bring more employment opportunities to the United States.
For Washington, the first thing to do now is to solve the strike wave, and to solve the strike wave, the core is to expand employment and to give the 10 million retired soldiers a job. So this entrepreneur dinner came. Truman hoped that these entrepreneurs who are close to the Democratic Party could help the government solve the employment difficulties and hire more workers.
After Truman's speech, the entrepreneurs below all gave applause, but looking at the expressions of everyone, they did not look very positive.
After the war, these entrepreneurs lost orders from the army and were thinking about reducing the scale of production at this time. It would be enough to give Truman a face if they didn't lay off employees. It would be almost impossible to hire a few more people. At this time, wouldn't hiring more workers be spent on idlers?
So, the applause was very warm, but after the applause ended, no one responded to Truman's call.
The scene was a bit unlucky, and Truman on the stage seemed a little embarrassed. After all, he was succeeded by the vice president and was far inferior to Roosevelt in terms of influence and appeal. On the same occasion, Roosevelt's speech may make entrepreneurs grit their teeth and bleed, but Truman couldn't do it.
At this time, Chen Qiang from the audience knew that it was time to give the favor to the Shui River!
So Chen Qiang raised his hand and said, "Mr. President said very well. I am willing to respond to Mr. President's call. In the next year, the number of workers in Nike will double!"
—————
Chapter completed!