Back at the company, He Mu sat alone in the smoking pavilion, replaying every detail of the day in his mind, pondering his next move. It was nearly five in the afternoon, almost quitting time. Shan Ge came to the smoking pavilion, followed by three or four Chinese executives. Chinese tobacco was hard to come by here—most smoked Thai cigarettes or counterfeits; the only Chinese brands available were Yunyan and Zhonghua. They finished their cigarettes quickly and left, leaving only He Mu and Shan Ge.
"Something's not right."
"What's not right?" He Mu was still thinking about the girl.
"I noticed a few workers looking off," Shan Ge said, taking two deep drags from his cigarette.
The factory workers were all hired through a human resources company, brought in large batches. They had recruited one batch this time, and Shan Ge had personally gone to Yangon, Myanmar, to carefully select 100 workers from several hundred applicants. However, the factory's orders hadn't yet reached full capacity, so overtime wasn't frequent. With their incomes not meeting expectations, some workers were growing dissatisfied.
Their housing was provided by the HR company. Though they were shuttled by bus, each worker had to pay a 16 baht daily management fee and 700 baht monthly rent. Total wages averaged around 13,000 to 16,000 baht, but with little overtime, most hovered around 14,000 baht.
The next morning, as soon as the shuttle bus arrived, nearly half of the Myanmar workers sat down at the factory gate instead of going inside, staging a protest. The others had already entered the workshop, ready to start their shift.
Upon receiving the report, Shan Ge sat silently in his office for a moment. He brewed a pot of tea in a lidded cup and poured a cup for He Mu. He called in Xiao Jin, a Chinese supervisor, and the Myanmar translator—a fresh-faced young woman, diligent, steady, bright, and cheerful. Shan Ge spoke calmly: "Go tell the workers at the gate that they must be in the workshop by 8:15. If they're not, they're all dismissed, and we'll handle it according to labor law." After Xiao Jin and the translator left, Shan Ge called the HR company to inform them of the situation.
At 8:15, Xiao Jin came in to report: the workers refused to go to work. The translator was still outside trying to persuade them.
"Call the translator in."
The translator entered, looking nervous, and said the Myanmar workers were refusing to work.
"Have a seat, both of you."
Shan Ge said he was waiting for a call. He checked his watch. Five minutes passed. The phone didn't ring.
Shan Ge glanced at He Mu. He Mu stepped outside and dialed Shan Ge's number.
"Did you update the boss on our workers' situation?"
"Yes, I did," He Mu answered, keeping his voice low.
"How many workers can you transfer over?"
"How many do you need?" He Mu asked.
"A hundred, tops. Send whatever you can today. If it's not enough, send more tomorrow."
"OK," He Mu said into the phone.
Shan Ge hung up.
"Go to the workshop and have all the workers who were working come out. I don't want any of this batch," Shan Ge said, enunciating each word carefully. The young translator looked as if she had misheard, staring at Shan Ge without moving. Xiao Jin waved his hand and led her off to relay the order.
He Mu happened to see them coming downstairs from outside. He leaned against the railing to watch. Xiao Jin gathered the workers into a line and said, "Each of you, collect your personal belongings and leave." The translator conveyed the message. The workers exchanged bewildered looks, murmuring among themselves. The translator spoke up, "This is the company's decision. Please comply."
With no other choice, the workers headed to their lockers to gather their things—their lunch, and for the fortunate ones, a banana or an apple, all stuffed into bags. Forty or fifty people trudged out the gate, heads hung low.
Shan Ge and He Mu slowly sipped tea in the office.
"There's a fight!" Xiao Jin called to report.
Shan Ge smiled. "Let's go." His expression relaxed.
It turned out that when the workers who had initially been willing to work came out, the protesters hurled taunts and insults, and three or four of them got into a scuffle.
When Shan Ge stepped out, the workers fell silent and sat on the ground in two rows. The translator spoke with them in Burmese. After about ten minutes, she told Shan Ge, "They're willing to go back to work."
Shan Ge looked at the workers and was silent for two minutes. Slowly, he said, "Step forward, those who were fighting." No one moved. The translator repeated it loudly. Three people slowly came forward.
Shan Ge spoke deliberately: "You fought at the company. I could have you all sent to immigration." The three workers' faces paled.
Shan Ge looked at the group. "Are you willing to work properly?"
The workers murmured their agreement.
"Then those who went in to work this morning, go in first and start working," Shan Ge said. After they had gone inside, he continued, "Those who were outside and didn't go in this morning, take one step forward."
The workers were uneasy, some nervous, and shuffled forward unevenly. Shan Ge looked at each of them and said slowly, "All of you go in to work. The company will not pursue what happened today, but this will not be allowed to happen again."
The translator responded, "They said they're willing to work properly from now on."
Three people remained; the rest had gone inside.
"Who started it?" A young man raised his hand. He had a slight belly, making him stand out among the workers.
"You two, go to work."
"You, come to my office," Shan Ge said, beckoning to the Myanmar worker.
In the office, the Myanmar worker tried to explain, but Shan Ge waved his hand to stop him. His demeanor was no longer as composed as before; his voice trembled slightly.
Shan Ge told the translator: "Tell him that strikes are never acceptable. I don't need to hear excuses. I want to know what he intends to do about the time these workers wasted. Over a hundred man-hours. Who's going to compensate the company for the loss?"
The Myanmar worker said, "I can't afford it. I quit."
"You can quit, but you'll still be responsible for the loss," Shan Ge said slowly.
The worker lowered his head, unsure of what to do.
"You can keep working, but you'll need to write a guarantee: from now on, if any issue arises, you will communicate with company HR and will not incite strikes. Otherwise, today's 120 man-hours and the resulting production delays will be your responsibility. But if you guarantee that you won't incite strikes and will do your job properly, today's matter is closed."
After hearing the translation, the worker quickly agreed. Under the translator's guidance, he wrote the guarantee, pressed his fingerprint, and went back to work.
After they left, He Mu remarked, "That guy is decisive and seems to have leadership qualities. At the right time, he could be useful."
Shan Ge smiled. "Yes, but not now. We'll give it some time, observe him, and find the right opportunity."
It was easy enough to fire a troublemaker, but winning one over to your side required skill. These people had traveled across borders to earn a living—who would come all this way just to cause trouble? He Mu thought: if Shan Ge promoted him now, wouldn't it indirectly validate his strike? But if he didn't use him, he'd have to fire him. It was a choice between two paths, and it was all about finding the right balance.
"Why did you send the workers who were willing to work outside too?" He Mu asked, still puzzled.
"These workers are all essential. If half don't come to work, the other half can't run the assembly line either," Shan Ge explained.
"So fifty protesters and a hundred protesters have the same impact on the company?"
"Not just that. With half of them outside, even if the ones inside tried to work, they wouldn't be able to do it well," Shan Ge said seriously.
"Partly because the work would be disjointed, and partly because their minds wouldn't be settled?"
"That's one aspect. The ones inside would be waiting to see the outcome of the ones outside. Regardless of the result, it wouldn't be good for the company."
"Essentially, the workers weren't united."
"Right. When you have over a hundred people, you get all kinds. But if the strike outside succeeded, the ones inside would naturally unite with them."
"If that had happened, it would've been really messy," He Mu sighed.
"That's why I couldn't afford to make a mistake. If this was handled poorly, the trouble would have just gotten much bigger," Shan Ge said.
"So what now? Are we just letting it go? The workers will still have their thoughts," He Mu said, concerned.
"First, we'll hold a meeting after lunch to explain the upcoming order situation and put their minds at ease."
Shan Ge took a sip of tea and continued. "Second, we need to finalize the schedule. I estimate we'll be switching to two shifts in about half a month. I'll assign the shifts today."
"True. The key is getting the workers' income up to their expectations. Only then can they work with peace of mind," He Mu said.
"They were too impatient. Without the orders, why would we hire so many people?" Shan Ge laughed.
"So today, the fact it didn't blow up is actually good for everyone," He Mu laughed.
Shan Ge agreed. "Yes. If they had been let go, finding new jobs would take time, and it wouldn't be worth it. And all the time the company spent training them would have been wasted."
"Most workers are lovely," He Mu laughed.
"Manage them well, and all workers are lovely," Shan Ge replied firmly.
(To be continued, next chapter: Bee Hairpin)