Chinese employees at a thermo-electric firm are in hot water after skipping work to see Avengers: Endgame.
After an anonymous tip-off about the film, Communist Party discipline officials inspected the Heihe Thermoelectric Group’s center in Heihe, Heilongjiang province. The inspection on April 26th was conducted after an accusation was made that that the company was acting unprofessionally.
Inspections like this are not altogether uncommon in China. What was uncommon, however, was that all but two members -- including the Group's director -- had taken a few hours off work to watch Avengers: Endgame that day when the inspection took place.
“The entire staff of Heihe Thermoelectric Group’s customer service center skipped work to watch a film, creating a bad influence," an official statement from the city commission said. "It shows there is a lack of daily supervision within the company, and not enough ideological and political education of party members.”
Director Zhang Dexin was transferred to another job after being given a state warming. Following this, numerous other organizations in Heihe, including the Heihe Environmental Protection Bureau, were put under far stricter scrutiny from the Communist Party discipline board.
In a combined statement, businesses and political bodies throughout Heihe have announced plans to tighten discipline to avoid any further international embarrassments like this in the future. Further meetings will be conducted to address any further concerns about how the city and those in it conduct daily business operations.
Directed by Joe and Anthony Russo, Avengers: Endgame stars Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man, Chris Evans as Captain America, Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow, Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye, Brie Larson as Captain Marvel, Paul Rudd as Ant-Man, Don Cheadle as War Machine, Karen Gillan as Nebula, Danai Gurira as Okoye and Bradley Cooper as Rocket, with Gwyneth Paltrow Pepper Potts, Jon Favreau as Happy Hogan, Benedict Wong as Wong, Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie and Josh Brolin as Thanos.
(via South China Morning Post)