Chapter 565
Chapter 565 - 545: Foreign Labor
2,016 words
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11 min read
"A one-dollar large bread?"
Putting down the bagged bread in his hand, Lu Ping’an nodded.
Fifty-cent sodas, one-dollar-fifty canned beers – the shelves of the convenience store were filled with colorful packages priced at fifty cents or around one or two dollars.
Looking at it now, at least the prices seem to be fairly stable.
Lu Ping’an breathed a sigh of relief; this was undoubtedly great news.
Unlike most people in this world, he had experienced the shock of currency depreciation and knew the long-lasting torment and impact it would have on ordinary people’s lives.
At least for now, the official authorities were trying hard to maintain market stability, and the effects were evident.
It seemed that the "gains" from this wave were indeed absorbed by credit-coins, not flowing into Eastern Country’s coins related to people’s livelihoods.
Lu Ping’an looked at the foreigner who was restocking the shelves, showed a polite smile, but deep down, he maliciously guessed their salary...
"Is it one third or half that of ordinary laborers, or to put it more humanely, two-thirds?"
Some things are self-evident; the current impact is too rapid, the chaos is constant, and policies and regulations simply cannot keep up.
Within a short period of time, the Special Service Team received countless employment disputes.
Some were from foreign laborers who found that their one month of hard work only earned them a "monthly salary" equal to one-tenth of the local employees’. The malicious local boss bluntly stated, "If it weren’t for you being cheap, who would hire you foreigners who can’t even speak the local language properly and may scare customers away?"
Some complaints came from ordinary laborers... They were surprised to find their jobs gone, their positions snatched away by unscrupulous foreign laborers at extremely low prices.
Others came from bosses who discovered that foreign laborers were not so easy to deal with, and their customers/relatives/friends had been hurt by the foreign workers.
In short, the current foreign labor market is a mess; there is a lack of regulation, and the new policies only mention opening the labor market, but they do not specify how to use it, how to issue welfare benefits, how to conduct qualification reviews, or how to handle disputes.
"...This is actually normal and correct. If you’re going to make blind policies for a new situation that hasn’t even started, you’ll only end up with countless wrongful cases – it’s just that these poor souls have to deal with it... Perhaps that’s just life."
No one can handle the turmoil and growing pains of an era.
Only when problems arise can solutions be sought; overly "proactive" policies are likely to cause significant problems when implemented.
Making adjustments as needed is the right approach; however, those in the middle of it all must bear the "cost" for some time.
In the short term, unequal pay for equal work is almost inevitable, and discrimination and hostility will become commonplace. Although the "Anti-Discrimination Law" has been announced in advance, it lacks relevant penalties and criminal punishments, and Lu Ping’an doesn’t have a good opinion of its deterrent power.
Just because you say not to discriminate, should I not discriminate? They stole my job, stole my woman... The chaos at the grass-roots level is predictable, and it’s inevitable that foreigners will band together. Lu Ping’an can foresee that some foreign gangs are about to emerge.
Not even mentioning distant incidents, the Special Service Team’s recent treatment of the "auxiliary police" has been somewhat unfair... Their salaries are discounted, the equipment they receive is left over after the main force has been equipped, and even their treatment in case of death is not up to regular secret keeper standards.
Just because of this, there has been a dispute within the Special Service Team and the Bureau of Anomaly Management... Many old members of the special agents have loudly refused foreigners from joining, under the disguise of noble reasons. But everyone knows that they are more worried about their positions being taken by younger and more potent foreign newcomers.
The opinions and suggestions they make are deliberately humiliating, aimed at "discouraging" foreigners.
This is only a microcosm of the new era. The emergence of a large number of foreign laborers has led to a turbulent period in society, which is also the root cause of Lu Ping’an’s concern for the price of goods.
After all, in this chaotic era, the stability of the currency is the most crucial cornerstone of social stability.
When your entire fortune becomes worthless overnight, and when your lifelong savings can’t even buy a loaf of bread, anything could happen.
"...I heard that the higher-ups are going to issue a policy to ensure equal pay for equal work. And also, foreigners enjoying the universal treatment of citizens – oh, more people will take to the streets. Isn’t this just making trouble for the Special Service Team and the police?"
Although the higher-ups have good intentions, the implementation at the local level is lacking a "law code" and "precedents," so the chaos in the early stage is inevitable.
As far as Lu Ping’an is concerned, after cracking down on black market currency, disputes related to foreign communities will become the primary task of the Special Service Team for a considerable period of time.
And barring any accidents, this wave of chaos will last for a long time, until a set of effective and grounded laws are promulgated and accepted by society after one or two years of practice. God knows how much chaos will happen in the meantime...
"Beep. Seven dollars. Do you need a receipt?"
𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎
The speaker was a lovely foreign young lady, working as a cashier. She had an appearance that matched human aesthetic standards, along with four iridescent shell-like ears and crystal-clear eyes like mirrors.
"...No need."
Lu Ping’an shook his head thoughtfully and took his snack bag.
The Kaloc tribe, or more commonly known as the "Shell Ear tribe" among the civilians, are residents from another world and were the most popular race among the first batch of foreign workers.
Their world was not destroyed. On the contrary, it was a stunningly beautiful underwater grassland world, filled with giant coral reefs and marine plants like giant trees.
Just as most life in the Silent Mountain Range World was ordinary people without supernatural powers, the combat capabilities of this race were quite mediocre and even non-existent.
After all, it was a peaceful world, so peaceful that it was boring, so peaceful that all they could do was race in the ocean every day... They came to Earth not for refuge, but for a better life.
It was said that Earth’s literary and industrial products were extremely popular and expensive in their world, and completely overwhelmed their fragile small handicraft industry.
The development that followed was quite normal, with scenes akin to a country girl entering the workforce constantly playing out.
It is worth mentioning that among the first batch of workers, most were humanoid creatures that matched human aesthetic standards, and the Shell Ear tribe ranked near the top in terms of looks.
On one hand, this was the targeted selection of Customs and Explorers; on the other hand, it was the active choice of the foreign races themselves.
The best way for cultural products to spread is if the aesthetic standards don’t differ too much, at least among the species. After all, people shouldn’t get excited from watching the animal kingdom... well, at least not normal people.
If one had to choose a "world to develop in", Earth with its similar species would be a better option than planets full of aliens.
Such foreign workers have always existed, but because most foreigners were smugglers, the number of new arrivals each year was small, and due to "Residence Restrictions" policies, they were unable to enter big cities.
Now that the restrictions have been completely lifted and the "Anti-Discrimination Law" has been announced, it has naturally led to an explosion of the "foreign population dividend." The fluent language of the cashier in front of him showed that she had been on Earth for a while... As for the two bumbling characters who couldn’t speak the Eastern Country’s language, they could only do laborious tasks such as stocking and cleaning.
In the future, as the Explorer system expands and the entry and exit of foreigners become more normal, it will eventually become unrealistic to strictly monitor everyone’s entry and exit. This is a major reason for the current relatively mild treatment of foreigners... Since they can’t be controlled, it’s better to give them a chance to gain relatively legal status and stabilize the unstable factors.
However, no matter how well policies are prepared, they will still encounter countless realistic problems, and just thinking about it, Lu Ping’an knew that the loopholes were too big to fill.
Like remuneration, marriage, medical care, pension, group associations, foreign-owned businesses, and gray-black conglomerates, etc.
The most outrageous and controversial issue was the ongoing debate within the Special Service Team: "Does killing a foreigner on Earth count as murder?"
This question is difficult to answer and cuts to the heart, involving the moral bottom line of "whether or not to treat foreigners as people". But if you don’t treat them as people, when a foreigner kills an Earthling, should that be considered "murder"? If not, isn’t this a classic case of double standards? Although there’s no issue in terms of reasoning, there’s a big logical problem.
Should human rights be given to foreigners? Just some of them or all of them? If so, what are the conditions to do so? Just imagining it is enough to give lawmakers and rule makers a headache. And without accurate laws and rules, how could the special agents and police below execute them?
So what? Just follow the traditional methods and ideas of different people? It seems that this will become a new source of chaos and amusement... the origin of chaos.
"...This chaos is just the beginning, let’s hope it doesn’t turn into a bigger mess."
Lu Ping’an could only think like this. Since the policies above hadn’t been settled, the implementation below was naturally going to be different, and every state’s policies were likely to be different... No, based on Lu Ping’an’s knowledge, every city and even every village might have different specific rules for dealing with foreigners.
Of course, this would naturally lead to a series of troubles, such as population mobility and resistance caused by discrimination, and so on.
"Although everything seems fine now, after some time, the Special Service Team will probably become crazy from working overtime..."
Lu Ping’an shook his head; this was not his concern, nor was it something he could manage.
Let the tides of the times be in the hands of those who ride the waves, and all he needed to do was to survive and, if possible, thrive in these times.
As for the issues in the civilian and market sectors, those big events and trends, whether macro or detailed, he had no power or qualification to interfere. All he could do was hope and pray that the officials wouldn’t screw things up; otherwise, no one would fare well.
Now, unlike before, most churches no longer disobey orders or ignore proclamations, and state governments also have more trust and expectations towards the nominal central government. Let’s hope nothing goes wrong again.
It takes time for the changes in the overall trend to reflect, but the shift in the hearts of the people is already happening right before their eyes...
"I just need to do my job as an Explorer and professional. In this new era, we, the first batch of explorers who are caught at the critical junction, are destined to become the protagonists of the times."
— End of Chapter 565 —