Text | Daily Character Xu Shuang Editor | Zhong Shiwu

On June 25th, Yu Mou, a sophomore in Danjiangkou Vocational and Technical School who was internship in an electronics factory in Shenzhen, fell from the sixth floor of the dormitory. According to his father's open letter, Yu suffered too much pressure during his internship. He works hard for eleven hours every day and works night shifts for more than ten days in a row. Four absences were regarded as "truancy" by the class teacher.

I majored in computer science. Internship in the factory, what I do every day is to move boxes and do "chores".

Yu's internship experience is not a case. In the public reports in recent years, it is not uncommon for vocational school students to work overtime in factories in the name of "internship". Su, an associate professor of sociology at Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, pointed out in her research that students in vocational schools, as temporary workers, are more vulnerable to injury, dispersion and protection than regular employees.

I had a similar experience. From August 2065438 to August 2009, a vocational school student, Sademing (pseudonym), worked as an intern in an electronics factory in Shandong Province for one year. During the period, I also encountered problems such as overtime, salary deduction and breach of contract.

In Moning's view, this internship also reflects many problems in the management and education of vocational schools: the teachers who lead the team are not responsible, and the school participates in the "money-making" behavior of the factory. More importantly, the factory internship did not bring him and his classmates skills improvement.

Morning had expected to learn a skill through vocational schools to increase the advantage of finding a job. After studying in a technical secondary school for three years, I didn't learn useful skills, but I was exhausted and fell into a similar fate cycle as my parents. In September 2020, after graduation, Mou Ming entered a factory and continued to work overtime day and night on the assembly line.

In July, 20021year, he told the daily figures about his past experience as an intern in the factory for one year. He reviewed his high-intensity work in the factory assembly line, reflected on the oppression of interns by the factory and reflected on some problems in vocational school education.

The following is his self-report:

Factory assembly line internship: "If you don't go, you won't have a diploma."

I don't know what to say when I see Shenzhen 17 vocational school students commit suicide. We are like dumb people, shouting desperately, but making no sound. Very not easy to make a faint sound, Wang Yang will be quickly submerged in the sea of Wang Yang.

Every year, so many vocational school students go to practice, but the media and society pay more attention to high school students and college students, as well as "great country craftsmen" and so on. The students in our vocational school are deliberately ignored.

▲ On-the-job practice is the expression of "school-enterprise combination" in current vocational education. Source: Network

I am 19 years old. I didn't go to high school before the senior high school entrance examination, but I went to a three-year technical secondary school. According to the training plan, I studied in school for the first two years and went to the factory for internship in the last year. No internship, no diploma. The school said that we should learn technology. We also think that the internship will be very interesting, which is better than doing nothing at school.

In the next semester of the second academic year, we chose the internship unit called "independent internship", but in fact we chose four factories-three electronics factories and a chemical factory. The factory and the school have long-term cooperation, and a large number of students go to the school for internship every year. I chose one of the electronics factories, because it belongs to a very famous electrical appliance brand and has factories all over the country. Moreover, the person in charge of the personnel department of the factory said that the working conditions are good: working eight hours a day, taking one day off every week, only working long days, not working overtime, not working shifts, paying by piece, and not deducting wages casually.

In August, 2065438+2009, the afternoon after we entered the factory, more than 20 people of our party were taken to a big workshop by the personnel department, and the environment inside was particularly poor and the noise was very high. We were assigned to the assembly line. The monitor simply assigned positions to everyone, and then spent a minute teaching us how to operate. It's simple, it's just repeating an action. Without any safety training, everyone started working like this.

Later, the monitor of another assembly line came over and said there was a shortage of hands, so I transferred with three other people. The noise there is not so loud, but there are dangerous goods. Our job is to coat a chemical coating on the iron core inside the product. This kind of paint is transparent and becomes a dark blue viscous liquid when mixed with another liquid. The temperature is pungent and makes you want to cry. It's no use wearing a mask

Our labor insurance supplies are in short supply all the year round. For example, cotton gloves are only issued once a week in the factory, but we wear out a pair of gloves every four days on average. The most outrageous time, it took them more than three weeks to issue a pair of gloves. If you work without gloves, you will have a big hole in your finger. We went to the monitor or the warehouse to ask for it, but they didn't give it, and they also prevaricated for various reasons.

The same is true of masks. The factory only produces one half a month. Wear a 14 hour mask every day for half a month in summer, so that you can't smell pungent chemicals. Later, we had to pay for all this ourselves.

We work hard. I just arrived in the first month, and I worked about 3,000 yuan a day, 4,000 yuan at the end of the month, more than 5,000 yuan in the second month, and then I worked until about 7,000 yuan. I asked a few old employees, and they said that in the past, the whole assembly line only had more than 5000 pieces a day at most.

The factory is not running at full capacity all the year round, but it will never give you time to fish. Usually, the squad leader will arrange two assembly lines with superior-subordinate relationship. In the morning, he will finish the work of the upstream assembly line, go to the downstream assembly line in the afternoon and process the products in the morning. The factory will do some tricks. After we went to work, we found that the assembly line conveyor belt suddenly turned fast, and people couldn't keep up, so we transferred it back. As a result, we came back from lunch and found that the conveyor belt was faster.

After working for about a month, the factory suddenly asked us to work in two shifts (the other shift is at noon 12 o'clock, and we get off work around 2 or 3 o'clock the next morning). We went to ask the monitor and got the answer that the long day shift was only the first month. There is basically no rest day every week, and the actual situation is often a whole month. We only had one day off on National Day, but we fulfilled the output of this day ahead of schedule.

Usually, leave of absence is not allowed. Before my hometown had something to ask for leave, the monitor approved the leave. I went to my hometown at noon the next day. The monitor told me that there were too many people asking for leave that day and asked me to go back before going to work in the afternoon, otherwise I would be absent from work. I really couldn't catch up, and I was deducted dozens of dollars, but the attendance award of more than one hundred dollars was gone.

The salary was also paid later. For example, the salary of 1 month will not be sent to the bank card until February 25th. And we are often inexplicably called "violation" and then deducted 30 to 50 yuan each time.

Before I came, the personnel department said that the conditions and treatment of factory dormitories were better. After I went there, I found that the iron frame beds in the dormitory were rusty and the sanitary conditions were chaotic. There are eight people in a room, and the water dispenser is not easy to use. The wire is connected from the outside of the window, so the dormitory window can't be closed at all. I can't sleep when I come back every night because of mosquito bites.

You must pay extra for room and board. The canteen is for * * *, and the food is ok, which is a little better than the school canteen. Sometimes there is no food after work. I spend the least money among my classmates, and I spend about ten yuan a day on meals.

Endless labor and shrinking wages: "Everything the factory says is false."

About two or three months after our internship, the leader asked us to sign the internship agreement, which stipulated the internship period, work content, obligations of all parties, salary and so on.

There are four kinds of contracts for workers in the factory: one is the regular workers who sign contracts in the factory, also called old employees, the other is hourly workers, the third is interns in our school, and the fourth is a group of Xinjiang people. Working hours are hourly workers from Xinjiang > interns.

After the old employees and hourly workers get off work at six o'clock every afternoon, we continue to work to ensure that the assembly line keeps running. At 6: 30, the old staff on the night shift will come to work with us, and we won't get off work until around 9: 00.

I calculated that the daily rest time adds up to about 40 minutes: 20 minutes for lunch, 9: 00 a.m. and 3: 00 p.m. respectively 10 minutes. The setting of this rest time is inhuman: there is a six-hour interval from afternoon rest to going to work at night, during which it is difficult to go to the toilet or have a drink.

To make matters worse, leaders will come to inspect every three to five times, and we have to stop work and clean up. This will inevitably waste working time, so I have to work overtime at night. Because I don't know when the leader will come, the ten-minute break in the morning and afternoon has been cancelled, and water is not allowed to go to the toilet.

▲ The rest of the factory workshop. Source: Network

My mother also works in an electronics factory. The salary in her factory is often low, so she calculates her salary every month and goes to the leader if she finds it low. Usually the leader's answer is, "If the calculation is wrong, just make it up." To this end, I also kept an eye on it, always remembering the daily output and calculating my salary. According to the monthly piece rate, my salary should be around 3000 yuan. I also asked other students that their own salary is almost 3000 yuan. But in fact, all our salaries are in the range of 1200- 1700 yuan.

We secretly asked other old employees and learned that they all paid more than 5000 yuan. When there are no interns in the assembly line, the salary of the old employees is more than 4000 yuan. When there are interns, everyone can send more than 5000. It is estimated that most of the money given to interns will go to the factory, and the rest will be given to old employees.

Everything the factory says is false. Everyone agrees that eight hours a day becomes twelve hours, and then fourteen hours. He said that he was not tired at work. He stood for fourteen hours a day and did nothing but stand down and die.

This internship is really harmful to your health. There is a bench on the assembly line. When we are tired, we can sit down and work for a while. We were taken away after we came. The reason given by the factory is that we can't sit and work. My job is to keep my hand and one leg moving, so I stand on one leg and change to the other when I am tired. After working for about half a year, my right leg and knee are very painful. Up to now, the problem of my right leg and knee has not healed.

The waist is also falling. During my internship, I once had a backache for several days. I thought I accidentally twisted it and didn't care. Last June, 165438+ 10, my back ached so badly that I couldn't move or bend down while sitting on the bench. After five or six days, I recovered myself, but I couldn't bend down hard. Sometimes I still hurt after walking too much.

After a year's internship, I obviously feel that my eyes are not working. Before I watched the news at home, I could clearly see the fine print below the news, but I couldn't see it clearly before the internship was over. I checked. I am nearsighted and wear glasses.

Under the pressure of factories and schools, the illusion was shattered: "Every day is a day."

When I first came here, I thought the factory was incredible. How can it be so outrageous? There are more and more "Sao operations" behind, and I am used to it. I lost my temper. If I have to work overtime, I have to work overtime. Let's start over, just start over. ...

I've been trying to resist, but everyone is not United. Students are divided into several factions, some want to strike like me, some want to escape, some want to "swing", and some have nothing to do with themselves. Some people even think that the factory is right, support the factory and think that we should thank the factory for its work. Others think that we should work in the factory all our lives and not make trouble ... so we can't act in concert.

Friends who came with us, they were on another assembly line, and about a dozen people organized a strike together. Someone told the leader about it that night. The next afternoon, several of them gave up. Those who insist on it are meaningless, and the normal operation of an assembly line will not be affected if three or four employees are missing. The assembly line has no technical content, and it can be done by hand. It's easy to find someone to make it up.

Those students who persisted for two or three days were later expelled from school. There are also people who run halfway, and the school arranges them to go to other factories to continue their internships. I have inquired about all those factories, and everyone's treatment is not much different.

At that time, I was probably speechless, desperate and particularly dissatisfied. I basically talk to my partner on the same assembly line every day. Are we going on strike? At that time, I was very sad to see other students being expelled.

I was too young to have practical experience or social experience. Everyone believes what the factory says. The factory will grade each student, and the score will affect the diploma. No one dared to resist. Basically, they can live day by day.

Before this internship, I felt that I could save money as long as I worked hard. I didn't know there was such a deep routine in the factory, thinking that the factory was good for workers. My imaginary factory is a person, who will understand and be considerate of workers. Later, it was discovered that people only made money and there was no shortage of people in the factory. You are just a dispensable existence. When they entered the factory, they shouted the slogan "The factory is your home". When they were really injured in the factory, they immediately distanced themselves and turned against each other.

▲ Workers working in the assembly line of electronics factory. Source: Network

After one of my classmates posted these internship experiences online, several factories nearby informed him not to want him. In our small city, everyone who works in a factory basically knows each other. Every factory has several acquaintances.

Now that I have graduated, I may be angry at first when I encounter such unfair things again, but I will get used to it after I get over it, but I will never accept my fate. What is wrong is wrong. I work for the factory and he pays me. This is a matter of course.

Later, I wrote an article on the Internet and met my college friends who care about workers' problems. He recommended books and articles on labor issues to me. Recently, I read "Socialist abc" and realized the importance of internship in vocational schools, such as why.

In my ideal job, workers, factories and management should have an equal relationship. Workers should participate in various rules and regulations of the factory. These regulations must comply with the labor law and the labor contract law, and take into account the interests of workers.

Reflection on Vocational Schools: "This diploma is useless at all"

In August 2020, I finished my internship and officially graduated. In fact, for the school, we graduated from the moment we entered the factory. The school doesn't care about anything except telling us when we need to pay.

The school arranged for the teacher who led the team to come to the factory and tell him the working hours and salary. He always said, "The school lets you learn technology, not play. Work hard." After nearly a year's internship, I saw him come to the factory three times, and every time he came to the workshop to take a photo, he left. The teacher's irresponsibility and not asking questions are my saddest places.

For two years in technical secondary school, my daily life is to sleep in class and play with my mobile phone ... At first, the teacher gave a lecture, but then everyone stopped listening, and the teacher began to play with my mobile phone. Only two or three students in the class want to go to class. I will listen to these classes carefully if I am interested. For example, Chinese and history are not helpful for finding a job, but they can really enrich their knowledge and improve themselves.

Mechanical and electrical courses, in fact, can not learn anything real. I still don't know what "electromechanical" is. The teacher teaches junior high school physics concepts, such as current, voltage, positive and negative poles. Sometimes get a lathe, talk about the basics, and then simply operate it. These 90-year-old lathes, lacking arms and legs, barely work. Now everyone uses CNC lathes.

Students in vocational schools can't learn the real thing, but they can easily learn badly. No matter how bad the high school is, it is much more standardized than the vocational school. I really hope that vocational schools can have school management like high schools.

At school, only a few people have a chance to rise. The school will choose seven or eight students to form a separate group to teach, specializing in a technology such as electrician or lathe. I tried to fight for it, but it was too difficult. There are fifty people in our class, two of whom have been chosen. Students who fail to learn well will be sent back to their original classes. The last ones who stay will take part in some inter-school competitions. Most of these people will go on to college, and a few will go to factories.

At that time, I wanted to take the college spring exam, but the school wouldn't let us take it. We are only required to sign up and pay the examination fee. Probably afraid of delaying the factory to save money. Later, I wrote an article about it in Zhihu, and my classmates in several places told me privately that their schools wouldn't let them take the spring exam.

▲ The spring college entrance examination focuses on secondary vocational school students and ordinary high school students. Source: Network

Technical secondary school diploma is really useless. At that time, I thought the diploma was very important, and now I have graduated. I went to other assembly lines to apply, and people made it clear that the secondary school education was too low and I didn't want it.

Now that I have graduated, I am still doing assembly line work. The monthly salary is more than 3 thousand, and I buy gloves and the like myself. I work at least 12 hours every day and often work overtime. All the students in our class go to the factory assembly line, some go to the construction site, or work as security guards and waiters. Looking back now, I think the biggest role of secondary school is to grow up, and then I can go to work like an adult after graduation.

The current assembly line work is the result of compromise between my parents and me. They are firmly opposed to my continuing to study, thinking that wasting money is also a waste of time. In their view, if I hadn't been admitted to high school, I should have gone to work to make money long ago. After graduating from junior high school, they worked everywhere, thinking that I was seventeen or eighteen and wanted to continue studying. It's really outrageous.

Later, I heard that the factory squeezed student workers. They think it's too much, but they tell me that all factories are like this, and so is another one. My mother also works at least 12 hours a day, all year round, and there are no holidays on National Day and Spring Festival.

I expect to learn some really useful skills in vocational schools, such as lathes. I hope to know its principle and learn how to use it to produce qualified goods. Of course, the current social reality is that even if you really learn some skills, you still have to work.

I used to envy those students who taught by one person, but now I won't. They also go to junior college after graduation. How much better than us? These days, whether on the assembly line or not, there are always more than twelve hours of work.

I just don't want to accept my fate.