I, Qi Tongwei, will never yield, even if it means defeating fate by half a move.

Chapter 445 Resolving Part 1: Wage Arrears

"County Head, the statistics on the amount of unpaid wages owed to cadres in our county have been compiled. Please take a look!"

Miao Changfeng handed a summary table to Qi Tongwei.

In the past few days, the office has compiled statistics on the arrears of salaries for cadres throughout the county.

"Our county owes its officials such a huge amount of wages!"

Qi Tongwei was shocked after reading it.

He encountered employee unrest as soon as he arrived, and then he was busy with enterprise reforms and didn't pay much attention to the issue of unpaid wages.

After the enterprise reform was completed, Governor Ye Ruyun asked him to double the GDP, so he was busy with the export of tea and canned goods and didn't have the energy to find out about the wage arrears situation in the county.

Qi Tongwei felt there was no need to investigate the wage arrears situation for the time being, because given the circumstances in Xichun County, even if they did, they wouldn't be able to resolve it.

It would be better to focus on economic development first, and then consider this issue once fiscal revenue has increased.

Unexpectedly, the export of tea and canned goods brought a lot of tax revenue to the county, increasing the county's fiscal revenue several times over.

Therefore, Qi Tongwei only agreed to resolve part of the issue after Zheng Shanhai raised the problem of unpaid wages for cadres.

However, when the statistics came out, they really startled him.

The situation of wage arrears for cadres in Xichun County is very serious. The county averages four months of arrears per year, while the townships average six months of arrears per year, a situation that has lasted for ten years.

The county has been in arrears for a total of 3 years and 4 months, and the townships have been in arrears for a total of 5 years.

"The main problem is that our county has always been very poor and often couldn't pay wages. For a period of time, it even affected the normal operation of our work, which is why we received transfer payments from the city."

Miao Changfeng said.

Xichun County used to be mainly agricultural. Although there were some enterprises, and the county and townships were actively developing enterprises, the results were not good.

This results in low tax revenue and low fiscal income, making it impossible to pay salaries and leaving little money for construction and development.

This is also why Xichun County has consistently ranked at the bottom, lagging far behind other districts, counties, and cities.

"Have you checked it?"

Qi Tongwei asked.

To resolve the issue of wage arrears for officials, it is necessary not only to compile statistics on the arrears but also to verify them clearly.

"It's already been checked!"

Miao Changfeng said.

He wouldn't dare show it to Qi Tongwei without verifying it first.

"Notify the deputy county heads and the director of the county finance bureau to hold a meeting tomorrow morning to discuss the issue of paying back wages owed to all county officials!"

Qi Tongwei said.

Now that the detailed statistics are available and have been verified, we need to study how to pay the back wages owed to the cadres.

All officials in the county should already know that the county's fiscal revenue reached 1.114 million yuan this year.

If the county does not pay a portion of the back wages, it will cause resentment among all the county's cadres, thereby affecting their work enthusiasm.

"Yes, County Head!"

Miao Changfeng nodded.

The meeting was held as scheduled the following morning.

"The office has compiled a list of all the county's cadres' unpaid salaries. Let's take a look, and then we'll discuss it."

Qi Tongwei asked Miao Changfeng to distribute the statistical data to everyone and give a live report.

"County Chief Qi, I think we can first pay the back wages owed to all the cadres in the county for the first year, so that the cadres can have a good New Year."

Guo Hongguang said.

In this way, all the cadres in the county can receive several more months' salary and have a good New Year, and the county won't have to spend much money.

"I think that's inappropriate. The year before that, which is ten years ago, how much was the salary per month back then?"

Several years of back wages should be paid in full so that the majority of cadres can have a good New Year.

Wu Pengfei said.

It's not like the county is short of money; moreover, wages were relatively low back then, so even if they paid back several years' worth of back wages, the total amount wouldn't be much.

"I also think that more of the back wages should be paid back, including the wages owed for the first three or five years!"

Chu Tianjin said.

This would resolve the issue of nearly one-third of the county's cadres' unpaid wages.

"Let's make up for the back wages owed for the past five years, which totals about 3800 million yuan. The county can afford this amount now."

Dong Xiyan said.

The county can afford 3800 million.

"I also believe that the back pay for the cadres from the previous five years should be paid in full."

Zheng Shanhai said.

It was his suggestion to pay the back wages owed to all the county's cadres, so naturally we should support it.

"I also agree to pay back the wages for the previous five years!"

Xia Deqing said.

The back wages for the previous five years have been almost paid out, since the county cannot resolve the issue of unpaid wages all at once.

"I also agree to pay back the wages owed for the previous five years."

In addition, all salaries for this year must be paid out in full, without any delays.

Township-level issues are the responsibility of the townships; if they cannot be resolved, the county will take over. Urban issues are the responsibility of the county.

Ensure that no cadre is owed wages this year.

For the remaining portion, the county is responsible for the unpaid wages in the city, while the township and county are each responsible for half of the unpaid wages in the townships.

While easing some of the burden on townships, it also puts some pressure on them.

Qi Tongwei said.

Originally, the townships should have been responsible for resolving the issue of unpaid wages, but since they lacked the capacity to do so, the county had to help resolve a portion of the problem.

However, we can't just solve the problem for the townships all at once, lest they become complacent and stop working hard.

The plan was quickly finalized and then submitted to the county party committee.

Liao Changyong immediately convened a Standing Committee meeting to discuss the matter.

After all, this is a matter that can win over the hearts of the cadres, so the county party committee and the county government must make a decision together.

Then, the county party committee and the county government jointly issued a document stating that the county would make up for the back wages owed to all county cadres for the previous five years.

This year's salaries will be paid in full, with township salaries handled by the townships themselves and the county making up the difference.

Wang Pingyue immediately arranged for the Finance Bureau to allocate the funds.

Soon, all the cadres in the county received their back pay and the wages they hadn't received this year, and they were overjoyed.

With this money, they can have a good New Year and overcome many difficulties.

Over the next three days, Qi Tongwei visited nine companies, including a food company and a soft drink company, to check their operations and preparations for new products.

Then, Qi Tongwei took Jiang Xiangrong and Luo Kang to Beijing to discuss advertising cooperation with the national television station.

"Leader Zhou, we'd like to advertise on the CCTV Spring Festival Gala. Do you know anyone at CCTV?"

Upon arriving in Beijing, Qi Tongwei called Leader Zhou.

To quickly secure advertising slots for the national television station's Spring Festival Gala, we must ask Leader Zhou for help.

"Tongwei, are the companies in your county going to advertise on national television?"

"Leader Zhou asked."

"Yes, Leader Zhou, our county winery wants to expand rapidly after the enterprise reform. I think making a phone call during the CCTV Spring Festival Gala is the best way to promote it."

Qi Tongwei said.

"Okay, I'll put in a good word for you with the national television station. Just bring a few bottles of wine from your county over!"

"That's what Leader Zhou said."

He wanted to first see how the wine was from Qi Tongwei's county.

"Yes, Leader Zhou!"

Qi Tongwei said.