Now that the docks are open, high-rise buildings have sprung up and all walks of life are thriving. Many miracles of economic take-off began in Shenzhen, and once a small fishing village became an international metropolis.
Looking back 40 years, Shenzhen has taken the first step of reform and opening up through Shekou. Yuan Geng, then secretary of the Party Committee of Shekou Industrial Zone, took the lead in carrying out a series of pioneering measures in Shekou, such as quota over-production reward system, project management by way of project bidding, commercialization of workers' housing, nationwide recruitment of talents, and full-time contract system. Shekou has become the forerunner of economic and social system reform in Shenzhen and even the whole country.
Zheng Yanping is the first generation employee of Shenzhen Shekou Industrial Zone. She has lived in Shenzhen for nearly 40 years and is a witness and beneficiary of change. The development and achievements of this city are preserved in her memory.
"Shenzhen at that time was a blank sheet of paper, and I had a hunch that there would be more opportunities."
1February, 982, Zheng Yanping, a graduate of Shaoguan No.1 Middle School, participated in the recruitment of Kaida Toy Factory set up by Hong Kong Kaida Industrial Co., Ltd. in Shekou Industrial Zone through Shaoguan Labor Bureau. At that time, she wanted to go out of her hometown and see the outside world.
Kaida Toy Factory was one of the earliest foreign-funded enterprises in Shenzhen at that time. After the successful application, Zheng Yanping came to Shekou with more than 80 girls of similar age and became a female worker in Shenzhen in the early days of reform and opening up.
"Shenzhen at that time was a blank sheet of paper, and I had a hunch that there would be more opportunities." Recalling her first visit to Shenzhen, Zheng Yanping said that there was another romantic reason that attracted her. "I heard that there is a sea here, and I always feel that the sea is beautiful. In the 1970s, there was a song called Holiday Beach. I can still sing that song, so I just want to see it. "
When she first arrived in Shekou, Zheng Yanping saw desolate eyes and dusty industrial development zone under construction. From time to time, she can still hear the sound of blowing up mountains and filling the sea. Only nearby supply and marketing cooperatives can buy some simple daily necessities. If she wants more choices, she needs to ride a bike through the litchi forest to buy it. "We have been homesick for a month or so, and sometimes we hide under the covers and cry." Fortunately, young people always have a way to have fun. On Women's Day, she and other sisters held a small party in the dormitory.
Zheng Yanping is responsible for sewing clothes for dolls on the production line of the factory. At that time, her monthly income was fairly generous, with a fixed salary of 80 yuan, and the extra production part could also get the corresponding bonus, in addition to overtime and attendance bonus. At most, the overtime pay alone exceeded HK$ 1 000, which was unimaginable in other parts of China at that time, and Zheng Yanping also participated in the earliest wage system reform "structural wage system" in China.
At that time, Zheng Yanping will consciously save his salary, buy refrigerators, color TVs and washing machines from Hongkong with the number of employees, and take them home at the end of the year. "At that time, people around us envied that one of our family worked in Shenzhen and could buy' salty parallel imports' from overseas." At that time, material consumption was still underdeveloped, and she could already buy many "rare goods" from the staff canteen in Shekou Industrial Zone, including Hong Kong doll noodles, canned lunch meat, Lux soap, black toothbrushes and so on. ...
Not only that, the Shekou Management Committee is also elected by all employees, and employees in Shekou can also purchase welfare houses in the industrial zone by stages. In the early days, all employees in Shekou can score according to the time of entering the zone and enjoy the corresponding housing benefits after marriage. 1990, Zheng Yanping bought a second-hand house of 67 square meters for 22,000 yuan. She made a down payment of 8,000 yuan and paid a loan of more than 480 yuan every month.
Zheng Yanping still remembers the scene when the national ministerial leaders came to visit the workers in the factory, lined up for dinner, sang poems and gave instructions on the welfare benefits demanded by the workers. "We often say' Shekou plot', which is about the feelings of the group of people who came to Shekou in the early days."
"As a female worker, I know which women's rights should receive more attention."
With the gradual increase of factory orders, the workload of workers has soared and overtime has become more and more frequent. At the same time, the modern enterprise management system is not perfect, and there are some problems in the protection of employees' rights and interests. This situation also occurred in other enterprises in the park at that time, and Shekou Trade Union came into being under this background.
After working in Kaida Toy Factory for two years, Zheng Yanping was transferred to Shekou Trade Union and worked in the Women's Department and the Legal Department successively. When talking about the formation and development of trade unions, she said: "In the process of transition from a planned economy era to a market economy country, there will inevitably be problems between employers and employees. The ideal is of course a win-win situation, but in the beginning, it is very important to feel the stones and cross the river. We should not only value the employer, but also trample on the rights and interests of employees. No party can fail to abide by the rules. "
"As a female worker, I know which women's rights should be valued more." On one occasion, Zheng Yanping received a complaint against a food factory. The factory worker was scratched by the glass door of the workshop, but the factory did not recognize her as a work-related injury, and pointed the finger at the quarrel between the female worker and the supervisor, thinking that the female worker was injured by pushing the glass door under the influence of negative emotions and demanded compensation. After understanding the preliminary situation, Zheng Yanping went to the factory for a field trip. In this process, she found that the glass door was originally damaged, but sticking it with glue did not eliminate potential hidden dangers. Based on this, Zheng Yanping firmly supports the injured female employees to declare work-related injuries: "The definition of work-related injuries only says the time and place where the work-related injuries occurred, and does not say that they are not counted because of quarrels or other reasons, nor do they say that they cannot suffer the pain and economic losses of flesh and blood."
In Zheng Yanping's view, Shekou Trade Union can be regarded as a banner of China Trade Union. It not only took the lead in formulating standards for recruiting employees without discrimination, especially when female employees are married and pregnant, but also requires that labor contracts signed between enterprises and employees must be filed in trade unions. At that time, four or five hundred enterprises in Shekou Industrial Zone were all within the authority of the trade union.
With the expansion of the scope of authority, Zheng Yanping began to expand his knowledge reserve more consciously and came up with the idea of taking the college entrance examination. "I like writing very much. I didn't know what to test at first, so I took the Chinese Department. " Then she devoted all her spare time to her studies and successfully became a member of the Chinese Department of Shenzhen University. Almost at the same time, a female migrant worker named An Zi was admitted, and her documentary novel Youth Post-Portrait of Female Migrant Workers in Shenzhen began to be serialized in Shenzhen Special Zone Daily 199 1. It can be said that the construction of Shenzhen in the 1980s and 1990s was in full swing, and its literature was full of poetry. Shenzhen's "working literature", which will be talked about by people in the future, was born among the huge working people.
"It is not enough to write and speak. I must also have methods and know the law. " All kinds of complicated labor disputes that need to be dealt with at work make Zheng Yanping discover that law may be more urgently needed knowledge. So, after studying in the Chinese Department for one year, she transferred to the Law Department, and then she was admitted to the on-the-job postgraduate of China University of Political Science and Law.
In the post of Shekou Trade Union, Zheng Yanping worked until she retired. During this period, she also felt the increasingly perfect protection of labor rights and interests in the city. She believes that in recent years, Shenzhen has paid more and more attention to specialization in safeguarding the rights and interests of workers. Take Shekou Trade Union as an example. Trade unions invite tenders every year and cooperate with law firms to help workers solve disputes. "Workers can come over as long as they have problems, and trade unions pay professional lawyers to go to court", thus forming a society to buy services.
"I was lucky to catch the high-speed rail of reform and opening up by accident."
After retirement, Zheng Yanping has a rich life. He runs and works out with post-90s fans, learns to share stocks, obtains the third and second certificates of psychology, and has also experienced the pleasure of doing business.
Zheng Yanping, a cheerful personality, often organized female cadres to carry out spare-time activities, or went to the window of the world, or went shopping together, and one or two of them met the owner of a clothing store that they often went to at that time. Now the clothing store owner has expanded the online sales business and invited her to join. Zheng Yanping readily agreed, "My character is to do what I decided to do well. February 19 this year is the 38th anniversary of my arrival in Shenzhen. I want to give myself a gift, which is to be a VIP shopkeeper. " In order to broaden the source of tourists, Zheng Yanping took the initiative to meet many young people, and some even became friends. She likes to put a bunch of yellow roses at home. In her spare time, she will buy a fresh papaya and a dessert and invite her friends to get together at home.
Looking back on her life in Shenzhen for nearly 40 years, Zheng Yanping is grateful for her luck. "In Shenzhen, especially in Shekou, my greatest wealth is to gain a complete life experience." She remembers the first social dance competition in Shenzhen, the Top Ten Singers Competition in Shekou, the speech contest and so on. I remember taking part in the shooting of "Symphony of Pots and Spoons" directed by Teng Wenji as an extra actor. It was a scene in the heavy rain. She was soaked but still happy. I still remember every hiking trip, I took off my 3-inch high heels and put on my sneakers to be with my friends. The best record is that I completed the 60km hiking challenge in Huizhou within 10 hour, and I challenged it three times before and after. It is developed, tolerant and always young. "I didn't think I would take this high-speed train of reform and opening up. In my mind, Shenzhen is the best home. " Zheng Yanping said.
(Unless otherwise specified, the pictures in this article are provided by the respondents. )