In order to undergo labor reform, I recently found a part-time job at a fast-food restaurant near my school. Since last weekend, I have worked for two days, six hours each day. Actually, at first, I held the mindset of “working is万能” (万能 means all-powerful), believing that working could help me get rid of my parasitic habits and that everything would get better. My thinking was entirely from the perspective of a parasitic student, believing laziness is justified and that working is a kind of affection. With this reactionary logic, I didn’t seriously think about how to reform my own thoughts, and during work, I didn’t even seize the opportunity to communicate with colleagues, nor did I think about Marxist-related issues. Many times, I just mindlessly let my mind drift, completely failing to analyze capitalist exploitation from a Marxist perspective.
In these two days, my main tasks were preparing and serving food. There is a manager transferred from another branch who almost does nothing, fully exposing the parasitic nature of the exploiting class. Only when the store is overwhelmed does he do a little, but they call this “helping.” This manager’s attitude towards employees is also very reactionary. The store originally only gives employees ten minutes for a meal; if more time is taken, work hours are deducted. When she saw employees needing rest in the afternoon, she said that in her previous store, employees were so busy that they didn’t even have a break for meals, nor time to go to the bathroom. However, this manager who does nothing earns a salary several times mine.
This store told me that during the training period, the hourly wage was only 8.1 yuan, and after the training, it would be 16.2 yuan, but it was still very low. The store takes advantage of the current high unemployment rate and the fact that Chinese students are a large reserve army for the industry to heavily suppress wages. Moreover, the contract I signed with the store is not a labor contract but a so-called “internship opportunity,” explicitly stating that as a student part-timer, I am not protected by labor law. This practice is extremely arrogant.
Additionally, this fast-food restaurant also requires employees to participate in various training during rest times, constantly urging those who are not managers.
These two days of working experience have changed my previously confident attitude. I used to think that saying “thank you” to service workers would make them happy. But when I am a waiter and others say “thank you” to me, I only feel annoyed because I understand that these people do not respect the working people at all.
