Chapter 42, Bulgarian Law on Labor Protection

Not long ago, the Bulgarian capitalist Bill Kiev went directly to Romania to "relocate the factory", but unfortunately the movement was too big and was seized.

The son of Bill-Kiev, the Bulgarian capitalist Evloki Georgiev (one of the founders of Sofia University), was clever and daring.

In the poaching frenzy, Bill Kiev did not put up a sign like others, which he felt was too inefficient.

Once in Romania-Alexandria, Bill Kiev set his sights on the Wilber paper mill, paid off the head snake, and found two natives who worked in the factory, the Nigust brothers.

"Big brother, is what Mr. Bill Kiev said true?" Little Nygust asked worriedly

"How do I know, but these eight hundred lei can't be fake!" Big Nicuster said casually

"Hmmm! Anyway, now that our family is like this, if we don't have money to pay off our debts, we will be beaten to death by them! Little Nicusted said helplessly

"No, at most, they will turn us into their slaves, and they will kill us, who will pay them back in the future!" Big Nicus said comfortingly

Since three years ago, when their father Nicus Sr. fell ill, the family had a hard time and was forced to borrow from loan sharks, but Old Nicustus still did not survive.

Then the Nikotide family began to repay the debt, from the first thirty lei to the current five hundred lei, during which time their brother paid back a hundred lei.

"Forget it, as long as Mr. Bill is willing to give money, we'll do it, and that vampire Dracula isn't a good thing anyway!" Little Nygust said fiercely

"That's right, my brother. Dracula, that vampire, wants to detain every leu from us, and going to Bulgaria to make a living might be a good way out. Big Nicusted said expectantly

The Nigustustrian brothers, who were united in their thinking, began to lobby around for Bill, but everyone didn't believe it, and everyone still met with Bill despite their old friendship.

Bill used his incorruptible tongue to quickly fool a group of workers, and then paid a month's salary in advance as a deposit.

Dracula, as a qualified capitalist, is naturally also a greedy vampire. Naturally, the workers were hollowed out by Bill Kiev, and then secretly ran away with everyone.

If it's just that, as long as you run fast, when you find out that he has run back to Bulgaria, no one can do anything about him.

But how can Bill Kiev, who has tasted the sweetness, be willing to give up with one vote? He carried forward the nature of a capitalist and directly took up the work of a labor broker, fooling the workers from Romania and taking commissions from them.

As it turns out, none of the capitalists of the 19th century were to be trifled with. Bill, who had only done a few votes, was targeted, unfortunately exposed in the Caracal area, and was detained by local capitalists.

With his incorruptible tongue, Bill managed to save his life, and now he is demanding a ransom from Evroki Georgiev.

Evloki Georgiev, fearing for Bill's safety, approached Foreign Minister Metev. No way, who told Metyev to marry the daughter of Evloki Georgiev, had to come forward to rescue this ~~.

The ransom of one million lei, Evloki Georgiev obviously didn't plan to come out, and even if he wanted to come up, he couldn't make it up in a short time!

Metyev had a headache, and used his personal relationship to find the other party, and the negotiations between the two sides went smoothly. Bill's safety can be guaranteed, and there is no need to worry about treatment, as long as the ransom is paid, anyway, the money is a big man.

In the end, Metelf managed to get Bill out by all means, owed a bunch of favors, and lost a lot of money.

This is the end of the poaching incident. Since then, capitalists from all over the world have been vigilant, and Bulgaria can no longer poach with impunity.

Ferdinand's easy days were over, and the influx of people brought not only benefits to Bulgaria, but also a lot of troubles.

The crime rate has skyrocketed, the contradictions between locals and outsiders have intensified, the capitalists have begun to behave again, unscrupulously deducting wages, and labor disputes have emerged one after another; In order to save money, some capitalists even use a large number of foreign laborers, lay off domestic workers, and so on.

In order to mediate the dispute, various government departments are dispatched one after another, and they are exhausted. This is also due to Ferdinand's industry, which occupies a dominant position in Bulgaria, and has always been strict in his duty, so that there is no major chaos.

Looking at the problems in the newspapers, Ferdinand knew that it was time to introduce a labor protection law, otherwise if it dragged on, a working-class revolution might break out one day.

On September 18, 1890, Bulgaria's first law dealing with the settlement of labor disputes, the Bulgarian Labor Code, was introduced.

This law was formulated by Ferdinand with reference to the labor laws of later generations, the factory laws of England, etc. To a certain extent, it is biased in favor of the working class, and the severity of the punishment for labor disputes is breathtaking.

Later generations considered it to be the first true labor protection law. The provisions clearly stipulate that the working hours of heavy physical labor shall not exceed 10 working hours, and overtime wages must be paid in excess of them, and one day of paid leave per week shall be provided.

A minimum monthly wage of 7.5 leva (about £3) has also been established, which is equivalent to the current average salary in Bulgaria when broken down into hourly wages.

In the case of labor disputes, if the capitalist maliciously defaults on wages and wantonly withholds wages, he will face the punishment of direct confiscation of the factory, which is accompanied by a high fine.

In the same way, if a worker maliciously causes trouble, frames and extorts, he will face life imprisonment once he is investigated and punished.

All violations of the law will be severely punished. However, the law does not protect all groups of people, and many of the provisions are only for Bulgarian citizens.

For example, layoffs cannot be made at will, just for Bulgarian citizens. There is also the minimum wage, which is the prerogative of the citizens of the country.

Migrant workers, if they can speak Bulgarian, are guaranteed a minimum wage of only 80 per cent of their citizens; If not, there is only 50 percent minimum wage protection.

Including the most rest days, working hours, the treatment of national citizens and foreigners is also different. And the number of local citizens in each factory must not be less than 60%.

It is almost impossible to say that the capitalists unscrupulously oppress foreigners and show mercy to their own subordinates!

As soon as the Bulgarian Labour Protection Law was introduced, there was an uproar in public opinion. Naturally, the mainstream is applauding it as a big step forward for democracy in Bulgaria.

There are also some scholars who make a lot of sarcasm, claiming to have undermined the capitalist free market, and no one responds to it except for a few capitalists who support it.

There are also a small number of Our Lady, who think that the government has not done enough and do not treat everyone equally, but unfortunately the voice is so weak that they don't even bother to publish it in the newspapers.