94: A bunch of peers

Zhou Yun's work went smoothly. By evening, four of Jinghai City's ten districts had already agreed to mediation by their respective Arbitration Committees.

As for the remaining six districts, he hadn't visited them yet due to time constraints.

However, it didn't matter. He could continue the next day. With these four districts on board, it was basically guaranteed that the remaining six districts and three counties would also agree.

Time quickly advanced to the next day, and Zhou Yun still left early to continue working on cases.

At the same time, in Xinguang District, at the entrance of the factory area where Old Zhang had pleaded before, Ren Weihao, thirty-three years old this year, was leading several people inside.

"I've made it clear to everyone now, the longer you work, the higher the bonus will be. We are a legitimate company, so rest assured."

The few people behind him all nodded.

Just then, his phone rang. Ren Weihao picked it up and immediately said, "You guys go in first. Someone's waiting inside. I need to take a call."

After speaking, he walked to the side and answered, "Hello, who is this?"

A voice came from the phone: "Hello, is this General Manager Ren of Kangcheng Labor Agency?"

Ren Weihao heard this and said, "Yes, what's wrong? Is there something you need?"

The voice on the phone said: "Hello, General Manager Ren, this is the Xinguang District Labor Dispute Arbitration Committee. We have received a batch of arbitrations, and the applicants are all targeting your company."

"So, I'd like to ask if you are free this Thursday. If so, please come to the Arbitration Committee on Thursday morning; we need to organize a mediation."

Ren Weihao's brows immediately furrowed: "You mean someone has filed a labor arbitration? And the target is my company? Who is this, what's their name?"

He had misheard, or rather, he hadn't paid attention to the word "batch." After all, no normal person could possibly imagine such a thing.

On the other end of the phone, in the Arbitration Committee office, the young staff member hesitated a little and said, "General Manager Ren, that's not very convenient to say. Just see if you have time; you'll know when you get here."

Ren Weihao immediately got angry when he heard this: "What do you mean 'not convenient to say'? If I don't even know who's suing me, why should I go to mediation?"

On the other end of the phone, the young staff member heard this and said: "General Manager Ren, I still suggest you cooperate with our work, otherwise..."

Originally, the staff member wanted to say that the next call would be from the Inspection Team, but Ren Weihao directly interrupted her.

"I'm not going. I don't have time. Do whatever you want, I'm hanging up!"

With that, Ren Weihao directly hung up the phone. He didn't take it seriously at all.

Someone filed an arbitration, that's all. This wasn't the first time. He'd just let the company's legal team handle it however they usually did.

Anyway, even if they lost, it would just mean paying them the money they were owed. It didn't matter.

Besides, very few people would even bother to file; there were very few people who would take it that seriously.

Otherwise... what else could happen? Was he, Ren Weihao, easily scared?

He stubbed out the cigarette in his hand and walked straight inside.

In the Arbitration Committee office, the staff member was also helpless listening to the busy signal on the phone, then dialed another number.

"Hello, I have another one who isn't willing to come. Alright, I'll trouble you."

Ren Weihao had already arrived at the employee dormitory and began to paint a rosy picture again.

They had to do this often, as they were well aware of how intense the work was, so they had to frequently come and paint a rosy picture.

There used to be a joke about a donkey pulling a millstone, with its eyes covered and a carrot hanging in front of it. The idea was to let it smell the carrot but not eat it, stimulating it to keep moving forward.

It used to be told as a joke, but now it turns out that many workers live like the donkey in that joke...

Getting back to the main topic, Ren Weihao was still speaking when his phone rang again. This time, he didn't even move away from the others; he just pulled it out and said, "Who is it?"

A cold voice came from the phone: "This is the Xinguang District Labor Inspection Team. You're Ren Weihao, right?"

Hearing this voice, a smile instantly appeared on Ren Weihao's face. He walked out while laughing, "Yes, yes, yes, I'm Ren Weihao. What can I do for you? I'm quite familiar with your Inspection..."

The phrase "quite familiar with" wasn't finished because the voice on the phone directly interrupted him.

"Three days from now, come to the Xinguang District Labor and Personnel Dispute Arbitration Committee, third floor, meeting room 311 for mediation. Did you hear that clearly?"

Huh? Ren Weihao was stunned. He put the two calls together and thought about it. The Labor Inspection Team was speaking on behalf of the Labor Arbitration Committee!

Many people often confuse them. In fact, the Labor Inspection Team and the Labor Arbitration Committee are two completely different departments.

The Labor Inspection Team has more administrative functions and generally deals with labor disputes where the facts are clear and evidence is explicit.

For example, wage arrears. If a contract clearly states a monthly salary of five thousand, but you only received two thousand, then you would apply to the Labor Inspection Team for filing a case.

However, if it's for severance pay or unused annual leave compensation, you go to the Labor Arbitration Committee, which is more judicial in nature.

So, which unit are companies generally more "afraid" of? It's simple: the Labor Inspection Team.

The Arbitration Committee has to hold hearings for cases. Even if an arbitration decision is made after the hearing, if the other party doesn't comply, the party involved still has to apply to the Court for enforcement.

In other words, there are no coercive measures. To put it simply, it lacks "power."

But the Labor Inspection Team is different; it has the power of administrative punishment!

This makes it clear: because it can take various punitive measures such as warnings, fines, and even revocation of business licenses, companies are definitely more afraid of it.

And for the Xinguang District Labor Inspection Team, this situation was extremely dangerous.

One, two, ten, a hundred—you could say these are isolated cases. But such a large-scale, similarly conducted arrears, what kind of situation is that?

Therefore, after Director Huo explained the situation, cold sweat broke out on the Inspection Team leader's forehead.

If this really got out on the internet, there was no doubt that people would be in trouble.

And so, the Inspection Team's phone notification left no room for negotiation.

But Ren Weihao didn't know any of this. He subconsciously said, "I actually have something to do in three days, and it's just a mediation; there's no need for me to go, right...?"

After he finished speaking, Ren Weihao heard that cold voice.

"Are you coming, or are we going to investigate you?"

Holy cow, Ren Weihao was dumbfounded. What was going on today? Had the people from the Inspection Team gone crazy? It was just a labor dispute; was it necessary to be like this?

He even had acquaintances there!

But he certainly couldn't resist now. Ren Weihao quickly said, "I'll go, can't I just go? You people, honestly, I really am..."

Before he finished speaking, the other party had already hung up, because they still had to notify others.

Ren Weihao had no choice. What else could he say? He'd go. He wanted to see which bastard was behind this; he wouldn't let him off!

Just like that, three days slowly passed, and Zhou Yun finally settled all ten districts and three counties.

There were some districts with fewer cases that initially didn't want to get involved, but after inquiring about the situation, no one refused.

Undercurrents were surging in Jinghai City. Such a big event had already been reported, and the higher-ups hadn't said anything to stop it.

Or rather, letting this bomb explode like this would be good for everyone.

On the morning of the fourth day, Ren Weihao arrived at the Arbitration Committee, and when he entered, he saw a crowd of his peers.

That's right, a crowd!