Recently, many media outlets have reported an incident promoting strikebreaking behavior, which has had very harmful effects. According to reports, a female worker named Xie Yanyan at a packaging line in a company in Linyi, Shandong, discovered a problem with the product sealing at the end of her shift, and she was so servile as to worry about affecting quality and delaying shipments for the capitalists, working alone overnight until 6 a.m.!
Under the capitalist system, the working class can only be forced to sell their labor power to survive, earning wages necessary for the reproduction of their labor. As for the quality of the products or whether the surplus value contained within can be realized, these are interests of the bourgeoisie, and are not something the working class needs to consider. In wage labor, capitalists often deduct wages due to product defects or make workers responsible for their “mistakes,” forcing workers to extend their working hours to meet production quotas or quality standards. This kind of coercive behavior, forcing workers to work more “to protect” the interests of the bourgeoisie, is entirely an extension of exploitation of the workers. Clearly, behaviors like Xie Yanyan’s are completely aligned with the bourgeoisie’s position, serving to save surplus value through overtime work—strikebreaking behavior that does not serve the interests of the working class.
Because of this, Xie Yanyan’s actions received praise from the bourgeoisie of the company. Upon learning of her strikebreaking behavior, the reactionary company leaders, with keen political sensitivity, were very moved and immediately arranged for the finance department to give her a red envelope of 200 yuan and granted her a day off.
However, her reaction to this was even more enraging, fully exposing her servile nature as a strikebreaker: she refused to accept the red envelope (dog food), and instead told the company leader, “This is just part of my job, it’s not easy for you bosses either!” A worker, surprisingly, praising the bourgeoisie as “not easy”! What is difficult for this capitalist? Is it just because he bears the “risk” of potentially not realizing surplus value after investing capital? Not to mention that such risks in actual production are usually transferred onto the working class through fines, wage cuts, or layoffs. When the bourgeoisie earns high profits, what do they pay in return? The answer is nothing, because the surplus value they obtain comes solely from the surplus labor of workers, and even the capital they invest on the surface is merely a product of the surplus value created by workers in the past, capitalized.
Once Xie Yanyan’s strikebreaking face was exposed, the capitalists were overjoyed. On her day off, the company leader gave her an additional red envelope of 2000 yuan, indicating that they would make sure to give her extra rewards. Such behavior by the company leader, along with media reports, has an obvious purpose. They attempt to promote the logic: as long as one willingly becomes a strikebreaker, they will be rewarded by the bourgeoisie, the interests of the capitalists are protected, and workers can also benefit! But how true is this? Compared to the huge surplus value that the bourgeoisie can obtain, 2000 yuan is just a drop in the bucket. This red envelope, rather than being a reward for strikebreakers protecting their surplus value, is more like leftover scraps given to a loyal dog. Politically, the bourgeoisie’s class calculations are even more calculated. The company leader said: “I need workers like you, I need this kind of spirit!” trying to promote her as a “model” to intensify exploitation of other workers.
As Lenin said, “A slave who realizes their own slave status and fights against it is a revolutionary. A slave who lives silently, muddle-headedly, and endures quietly without realizing their own slave status is a complete slave. A slave who raves about the benefits of slavery and praises the kind master with admiration and greed is a lackey, a shameless person.” The class basis for behaviors like Xie Yanyan’s strikebreaking is the bankrupt petty bourgeoisie. They join the working class with the aim of opportunistic gain, pursue a comfortable life in capitalist society, sell out the interests of the working class, oppose the struggle of workers, and stand on the side of the bourgeoisie to exploit and oppress other workers. True workers have nothing, no way out, and must sharpen their eyes and resolutely oppose such shameless strikebreaking behavior, uniting to fight for the interests of the working class.
