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Rh girls, muttered so that those around could hear, “He’s just making a fool of us.”

“Moreover, in the second half of this year it will be quite impossible to make up for this.”

The officials, feeling their responsibility, looked very solemn before the president, but the employees maintained their firmness. They were enjoying better conditions now compared with the old days. It was because the piecework system had been abolished that the colour had to some degree come back into their cheeks and made them look human once more.

The terms of the company’s proposal were: (1) The abolition of the Works Council. (2) Reintroduction of a piecework system. (3) Reintroduction of night-work, etc., etc.

“What the hell’s this? Back to where we were before the 1924 strike!”

“You’re right. It’s a challenge!”

The sharp, piercing eyes of the president roamed continuously over the benches of the employees, where countless other eyes, sharp as needle points, stabbed back at him.

“As the balance sheet shows, production has suddenly dived right down. It is because you gentlemen have been more concerned with the efficiency of your union than with the efficiency of your work.”

Raising his voice, the director waxed sarcastic. From the central seats, occupied by the heads of the different shops, came clapping. At the same time in the workers’ block there was a buzzing as from a hive of bees.