NOVPUBImmigrating ten million people sounds terrifying, but spread over five years, that’s only two million immigrants per year.
Based on Austria’s current population base and a growth rate of two percent, the native population increases by over 1.7 million each year, actually a bit more.
In an era without any entertainment activities, people were still keen on procreating. Coupled with Vienna Government’s fertility subsidies, Austria’s population growth rate has always been one of the highest in the world.
The total native population hasn’t decreased much, but the impact is still significant. We are now at the heart of the second industrial revolution, with the scale of emerging industries continuously expanding and the demand for labor constantly increasing.
The demand for labor is increasing, but the supply is decreasing, leading to changes in the labor market supply and demand relationship. A rise in labor costs is inevitable.
Compared with traditional industries, the biggest feature of emerging industries is their vitality. In their high-speed development phase, companies enjoy higher profits and naturally can afford higher wages.
Against this backdrop, if traditional enterprises do not want to be eliminated by the market, technological innovation becomes imperative.
In fact, many new production equipment had already appeared. However, some capitalists are too frugal to bother with updates to save costs.
This is not Franz’s baseless speculation, but an evidenced fact. There have also been capitalists who complained in newspapers:
Mechanical equipment updates are so frequent these days, if you get something new today, it might be outdated in a few years. Since the current equipment still works, why not wait for something better and update in one go?
The comfortable business environment over a long period has made capitalists conservative. Many even oppose technological progress because it adds uncertainty.
The most typical example is the electric age. To save costs, many factories still insist on using gas lamps.
It’s not that the capitalists are unaware of the advantages of electric lights, but they just don’t want to spend the money on installing electrical equipment.
Since they’ve been getting by with gas lamps and continuing to make money, why bother seeking trouble?
The poor population in Austria is not concentrated in the vast countryside, but in the cities instead. The main reason for this is: everything is rising except for wages.
From 1848 to the present, Austria’s per capita income has increased by 2.3 times, yet workers’ wages have only risen by 56%, and there’s even a considerable portion of factories’ wages that have not changed at all.
The economy is developing, but the income can’t keep up, so falling into poverty is not surprising.
Now Franz has resorted to the big move of immigration, actually out of desperation. If this situation doesn’t change, trouble is bound to arise sooner or later.
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Milan, as the capital of the Kingdom of Lombardy, has always been the most prosperous city in the Italian Area. No, it should now be said to be the most prosperous area in the Germany Region.
Regions have always been artificially divided. Now with Austria’s power, Franz has directly incorporated the Lombardy Region into the Germany Region.
Whether people are accustomed to it or not, in all official documents, Milan is a part of the Germany Region. The rationale is: the People of Lombardy are a branch of the German People.
Even though there are more Italians locally, it doesn’t matter. History can be rewritten, cultural traditions can change, and nationalities can be swapped.
With international recognition, the Kingdom of Lombardy is a part of the Germany Region. Along with Lombardy, many areas have been included in the Germany Region, such as the neighboring Venice, the farther Hungary, Austro-Balkans...
Even the Jerusalem Kingdom is about to become part of the Germany Region. Looking at the current map of the Germany Region, historians might blush with embarrassment.
Factors like natural conditions and historical elements are all nonsense; the real basis for division is very characteristic of the time. Within the range of Austrian artillery, it is the Germany Region, or you could say, the Austria Region.
It’s just a name, a mere label that doesn’t affect everyone’s interests, and after hearing it a few times, you will get used to it.
The Dacol Textile Factory in the Milan Area is a prestigious enterprise, ranking within the top three among the numerous textile factories in Austria.
It encompasses more than a dozen factories, including a silk reeling factory, wool spinning factory, cotton spinning factory, printing and dyeing factory, clothing factory, and employs over 130,000 workers.
Owning an independent industrial park in the Milan Area, at this time, the factories would normally have been bustling with activity, but now they are eerily silent.
Those who know the situation are aware that there has been another strike.
Austria has universal compulsory education, and the Kingdom of Lombardy is no exception. Thanks to the discipline instilled from childhood, the current strike movements are much more harmonious.
It is clear to everyone that mechanical equipment is crucial for their livelihood; to smash, loot, burn, and rampage would be destroying their own livelihood.
This does not affect the right to a legitimate strike. As long as it doesn’t disrupt public social order, striking remains a fundamental right that requires no one’s approval.
Milan, heavily influenced by Italian maritime culture and the birthplace of the Renaissance, is much livelier with new thoughts and more frequent strike movements compared to other Austrian territories.
Of course, this is not the main factor in the Dacol Textile Factory strikes. Like most traditional enterprises, the once flourishing Dacol Textile Factory has gradually declined.
After the outbreak of the second industrial revolution, Dacol Textile Factory missed its opportunities, siding with the Conservatives, failing to update equipment in time, and becoming fatigued in market competition.
Affected by declining profits, from 1870 to now, the company has not increased wages once, while prices haven’t stopped to wait for them, hence the strike movement naturally occurred.
Like most companies, Dacol Textile Factory is a family business, and Dacol Lanno, the current head, is already an elderly man over seventy.
In his youth, he was also a man of the moment. During the Ausa War, he resolutely bet on Austria, and after the war ended, his competitors, having picked the wrong side, were finished. Dacol Lanno took the opportunity to merge their factories, and then began a life of easy winnings.
By exploiting a market gap, Dacol Textile Factory rapidly developed, and at its peak, the number of workers exceeded 180,000, and the annual output value entered the top 100 in Austria.
However, industries without core technologies all share one problem, which is the abundance of competitors.
After the Vienna Government’s strategy to "replace wheat with mulberry" was pushed, the Kingdom of Lombardy quickly became Austria’s most important silk-producing region.
"Located near the water, the first to enjoy the moon", Dacol Textile Factory took advantage of the first wave of benefits. Producing locally, without a doubt, greatly reduced costs.
Even now, Dacol Textile Factory still handles over half of silk processing in the Kingdom of Lombardy. With a complete industry chain, Dacol Textile Factory should, in theory, be thriving.
However, with the arrival of the second industrial revolution, the situation began to change. Various machines were continuously updated, and the ageing and conservative Franz Lanno, in pursuit of bigger profits, did not keep up with the times immediately.
One step behind, always behind. The competition in capital is ruthless, and competitors will not leave any opportunities.
New technology not only improved productivity but also product quality. When prices are similar, better-quality goods are certainly more popular.
In just a few years, Dacol Textile’s market share was eaten away by a third by competitors, and profits plummeted.
After receiving news of the strike, Franz Lanno slammed the table, "Another strike, these ungrateful wretches, don’t they realize who’s been providing for them!
If we go down, they won’t even have jobs anymore. If they don’t want to work, then don’t. There are plenty wanting to work for Dacol.
Give the orders according to the old rule, dismiss ten percent of the striking workers and order them to return to work immediately. Those who are slowest to return, just get out!"
This was Franz Lanno’s experience in dealing with strikes. Among the workers, he also had spies. Whenever this situation arose, as long as someone led the return to work, the strike couldn’t continue.
Those who remained until the end were invariably the stubborn ones, and naturally, they were to be dismissed. As for the actual dismissal of ten percent, that wasn’t important. Just getting rid of the troublemakers, or rather, the leaders, was enough—kill the chicken to scare the monkey.
In this era of underperformance, Franz Lanno considered himself to be doing quite well; at least he was abiding by the law, which was much better than covert sweatshops.
Of course, this was only his personal view. In the eyes of the workers, he was a vampire. Abiding by the "Labor Protection Law", sorry, no major enterprise in Austria dared to break the law; those risking it were the smaller companies.
It was unavoidable; the Vienna Government was strict in enforcement and strong in law enforcement. Plus, the "Labor Protection Law" wasn’t excessive and essentially protected the interests of both sides.
It wasn’t that no one threatened the Vienna Government with closing down their factories; it was just futile. When it came to upholding the dignity of the law, Franz was thorough.
No matter the consequences, those who had to go to jail would go to jail. Before threatening the government, better make sure there’s no dark history, otherwise, you won’t even have the chance to shut down, as the government will confiscate all assets.
Austria’s state-owned enterprises are mostly confiscated, and almost every three to five years, the Vienna Government would auction off a batch of state-owned enterprises, most of them small factories.
With prior examples in mind, those who followed were much more low-key. Exploiting legal loopholes was one thing, but directly opposing the government was another!
It seems the bourgeoisie has considerable momentum, but in actuality, their power is very limited; all built on the back of money.
Not to mention, who could integrate the interest-conflicted bourgeoisie? Believe it or not, it would only take minutes before someone betrayed them.
This was most evident in Austria; after the law mandated the truthfulness in the news, the capitalists’ voices dimmed considerably.
Empty promises and guarantees, those are also legally accountable. You dare to make a grand claim, but the newspapers won’t dare to publish it.
Little Lanno objected, "Father, this isn’t right. In the past year, we have already dismissed twenty thousand of our veteran workers, and many of the newly recruited staff lack proper skills. Our product defect rate has even risen by two percent points.
An increase in defect rate will affect the reputation of our products. In such a fiercely competitive market, if we can’t guarantee product quality, we may lose our market to competitors.
This is akin to a vicious cycle. How about we first send someone to talk with the workers’ representatives and dismiss these troublemakers afterward."
As a qualified capitalist, interest always comes first.
After weighing the pros and cons, Franz Lanno shook his head, "We can’t compromise, human desires are endless. Once we set this precedent, we’ll never have peace.
Remember the cannery next door? Mike, as shrewd as he was, compromised with the workers to meet an order deadline, only to be dragged down by high labor costs.
Remember, even if we have to increase the wages, it must be initiated by us. Conceding under their pressure won’t earn us any thanks."
Little Lanno had heard this example many times. However, he held the opposite view; even after the cannery closed, Mike was still living well, obviously not because he couldn’t afford the labor costs.
There isn’t a single large-scale cannery in the Kingdom of Lombardy, which says a lot. The majority of Austria’s food factories are concentrated in Hungary and the Balkan Peninsula, for no other reason than being close to the source of raw materials.
Producing canned goods in Milan, with mulberries as ingredients? Please, who would buy that?
The best-selling canned goods on the market now are meat-based, and only crew members purchase canned fruits and vegetables. Unfortunately, Milan really doesn’t have a competitive edge in this area.
But the last point Little Lanno agreed with. Making concessions at this time truly wouldn’t win over hearts.
And afterwards, since work has already resumed, why increase the labor cost?
