Shadow Empire

Chapter 119 Routine and Bridge Building

Johnny and the people around him who were beaten breathed a sigh of relief when they heard the sound of the police car, but a small accident also happened -

Some people in blue work clothes took the initiative to block the police car and even surrounded it.

Even if these people were illegal immigrants, Officer Phelan would not dare to actually run them over with his car. When it comes to murder, there is no distinction between victims based on nationality.

Even illegal immigrants.

You can beat him, humiliate him, and scold him, but you must not kill them or cause serious injury, otherwise the criminal investigation team will definitely be dispatched.

This forced him to open the car window and whisper to a worker who was glaring at him and blocking his door, "One of us."

At this moment, he felt Lance's power more clearly!

These people usually avoid the police when they see them, but now they are willing to block them here. This also makes Officer Ferran feel that Lance will definitely be one of the big figures in Jingang City in the future.

A few minutes later, the police car slowly arrived at the scene. They arranged for someone to pick up Officer Phelan and the others, otherwise they would have been blocked at the door.

Officer Phelan coughed and walked over with his partner. The two pretended not to know Lance, but in fact some people had seen these two policemen outside Lance's office just now.

This also made these Imperial people in blue work uniforms feel the power of Lance. He could even manipulate the police!
"What happened?" Officer Phelan asked.

Baker stepped forward and said, "I beat them up." Then he picked up a bat and said, "Use this."

Some people in the crowd couldn't help laughing. There was no doubt that one person could not beat these several people. This was just nonsense, but who cared?
They just feel that it is refreshing, interesting, and more cohesive and centripetal. They don't think it is ridiculous or unacceptable.

Johnny had come back to his senses. He covered his arm and looked at Lance, his expression changing.

He could say that Lance had beaten him, but he could also say nothing.

He is the primary victim, and both the police and the court will respect his testimony more.

But he was a little scared now.

But someone behind him suddenly pointed at Lance's group and said, "They're taking action too!"

Johnny continued to remain silent; this was not what he said.

Officer Phelan looked at Lance, "He said you guys did it, too."

"Have you started yet, sir?"

"This is slander!" Lance emphasized.

"Whether you did it or not, we will investigate it thoroughly." Officer Phelan looked businesslike. He looked at the man who reported Lance's attack and said, "Your name and home address, sir."

The man looked confused, but he still said, "My name is..., and I live in..."

Just as he was speaking, he suddenly realized that someone next to Lance was also recording what he said, and he suddenly shut up.

Officer Phelan looked at him. "What number on this street do you live?"

He was a little confused. Why did he feel like the policeman was helping this group of people?

But he knew this was not the right time for him to say these words, so he shook his head and stopped talking.

"If you're unwilling to talk, I can't take them back for investigation."

He still didn't speak. Officer Phelan put away the notebook and looked at Johnny, who was obviously more seriously injured. "Do you need me to call an ambulance for you?"

Johnny shook his head and gritted his teeth, "Take me to the hospital."

The ambulance transportation fees and on-board treatment fees are very expensive, and this part is not covered by medical insurance, so he is unwilling to pay the money.

Officer Phelan nodded, then looked at Baker, "You need to come with us. Before that, I need to search you."

Baker cooperated by pressing his hands on the police car, and Officer Phelan's partner briefly searched his body, but did not find any contraband or dangerous items, and then took out handcuffs.

But Officer Phelan stopped him, "I think he's safe, there's no need to handcuff him." Then he opened the back door and said, "You go in first..."

According to federal local law, when the police officer who receives the call determines that the suspect is merely suspicious and not dangerous, he or she may not wear restraining devices such as handcuffs. This is the police officer's right.

Baker said thank you and got into the back seat, then came Johnny. His left arm was broken and was severely swollen. The fact that he could hold on until now might be related to the excessive secretion of adrenaline in his body.

Officer Phelan left his partner to continue his routine work, while he left with Beck and Johnny...

As Lance and the others left, the people who had gathered together also dispersed, and what happened here began to spread as they left.

Peace soon returned to the dock, but the vibration and aftermath it caused were far from subsiding.

When Vaughn arrived at the dock at around nine o'clock, he called Lance immediately and someone told him what had just happened.

As the vice president of the dock workers' union, he felt this was a very serious matter!
If not handled properly, it may lead to a series of unpredictable consequences.

As a trade union organization, Vaughan knew very well that as long as someone guided and organized it, it might turn into another march or something like that, and he had to prevent this possibility from happening.

Lance arrived quickly, and this was his first time at the union office.

It is located on Pier No. 1. It is a two-story building with a single floor area of ​​approximately 800 to 1,000 square meters. The vice president's office is on the second floor.

After knocking on the door, Vaughn welcomed him in.

"What on earth happened?" Vaughn couldn't help complaining as soon as he sat down. "I was still having breakfast when they called me several times, saying that someone was causing trouble at the dock and dock workers were injured. This matter will be very troublesome if it is not handled properly."

Lance briefly explained what happened, and Vaughn felt a little upset after listening to it.

In fact, he also knew that the dock workers bullied illegal immigrants. Although they were called the Dock Workers' Union, they were not very fond of these illegal immigrants.

So sometimes when something like this happens, their choice is to just let it go.

In the past, these illegal immigrants, especially those from the empire, were very loosely organized and had not formed a group. They did not dare to speak out when they were bullied.

Because there are no big shots or tough guys among the empire's legal immigrants.

The Camille Gang is somewhat famous, but they are obviously more brutal to their compatriots than the Federals!
Moreover, local workers have paid their dues, while illegal immigrants and the like have not paid their dues, and this is enough for the union to know what their choice should be.

Therefore, the attitude of the trade unions has always been to not care and pretend not to know as long as no big trouble occurs.

But the situation is obviously different now. The appearance of Lance has changed the situation, and he has taken action personally.

Lance looked at Vaughn, who was frowning, and was a little puzzled. "What are you worried about?"

Vaughn looked at Lance for a moment, "I'm worried if this Johnny is going to cause trouble."

Lance looked very relaxed, "I promise, no one will cause you any trouble."

Vaughan is still a little worried. "But the impact is very bad. It may be taken advantage of by some people. You know, the anti-immigration issue has only been around for a short time."

"Vaughn, we can't just ignore these problems forever. Today's incident is just a small matter... Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Did I say something wrong?"

"It was indeed just a minor incident, with just one person injured, but it did not affect the work at the dock and no one was killed."

“But will it always be just like this?”

"When the contradictions accumulate to a certain extent, and the power of rules can no longer restrain them, they will definitely explode, and everyone will be hurt!"

"We can no longer do nothing and ignore everything!"

Vaughn's brows furrowed even more after hearing this. "But what can we do, or do you have any solution?"

"I plan to ask them to pay dues to the union, so that the union will have more power to intervene. You can better control and solve the problems and conflicts on the docks than I can, and you will have a reason to intervene." Vaughn was stunned when he heard this. "Do they have money?"

Lance's answer still caught him by surprise, "They don't, but I do."

Vaughn was a little speechless after hearing this. "With so many workers, the monthly dues are as high as 2,000 yuan. Are you sure you want to pay this money for them?"

In fact, Lance didn't pay all the money himself, because his firm made profits from both sides. Both the owner of the work card and the person who rented the work card needed to give him money, that is, each side gave him one dollar for each job.

He can get four dollars for a work card, and the owner of the work card can get a stable thirty-two dollars per month. Illegal immigrants can get at least fifteen dollars per month for each job.

It may not seem like much, but it is stable. If a person does two jobs at the same time, it would be thirty dollars, which is close to the income of federal citizens!
These illegal immigrants are not short of hard-working people, they just lack job opportunities.

Lance thought it was totally possible to take out a part of the profits obtained from them and return it to them through other means!

He is not short of money now, what he lacks is a good reputation and status in the eyes of the imperial immigrants!

This is obviously a good opportunity to gain great fame with little money, and he will not let it go easily.

Vaughn was a little undecided. "But... they are all illegal immigrants. We have never accepted membership fees from illegal immigrants."

"There's always a first time for everything, and I think this could be tried as a federal precedent."

"They are workers first, and then their composition is a question. Since they are workers, is there any problem with paying union dues?"

“The entire federation will face some of these problems to a greater or lesser extent. If you solve them first and provide a path for other unions to follow, I think you might become famous.”

Vaughn was somewhat tempted. For him, there were only two things he wanted in life: money and fame.

Of course, his pursuit and desire for these two things would not be so naked, but would be relatively subtle.

When people reach middle age, they see through everything. Ideals are never as important as life. Otherwise, he would not have accepted Lance's kindness and accepted the twenty yuan for nutrition.

Nor would he have put the three hundred dollars together separately instead of putting it into the public account.

"I need to discuss this matter with the president. No one has ever done this before."

Lance continued to intensify his persuasion, "It's because no one has ever done it before, so it only makes sense for us to be the first to do it!"

"If someone has done it, the fame and benefits belong to others. What does it have to do with us?"

"Vaughn, I consider you a friend, so I'm telling you this. People won't remember who passes by the bridge every day, but they will definitely remember who built the bridge!"

Vaughn was somewhat moved. If President Scott could take one more step forward and he worked hard, he could become the president of the Dock Workers' Union.

Jingang City is the economic engine of the Federation, and many people's eyes are on it. Even if he is just the president of the dock workers' union, he will have a certain status in the federal political arena.

In recent years, there has been no shortage of people who have jumped directly into politics from the union system. For example, the governor of a certain state was previously the president of the largest union in the area.

Because he had a very good base of public support, he easily gained a high level of support after deciding to run for governor.

Regardless of what will happen to him later, at least he is already the governor. Maybe he will be a senator or even the federal president in the future!
The dead dream began to attack him again. He pursed his lips and said, "I will try to talk to President Scott about this."

"And you're quite right, this is something that would benefit both of us."

"The union gets more dues, which can help us better help workers in need and help us do our work better."

"At the same time, we can also better help those vulnerable groups who need help. After all, they are also workers!"

As for Johnny and his friends?
Vaughn no longer cared that much, but of course he still had to say what he had to say. "I'll let you know as soon as I finish discussing this with Scott, but you have to deal with what happened this morning. I don't want this matter to escalate."

Lance nodded, then stood up and said goodbye.

When he left the union office, there were already quite a few people in blue work clothes standing by his car.

When they saw Lance coming, they immediately went to greet him, Jamie among them.

What happened in the morning gave him a sense of refreshment from the inside out. Watching Johnny being knocked to the ground, he wished he could be Lance, but he knew he couldn't do it.

But this doesn't stop him from reaching orgasm!
"Lance, I don't know what to say. No one has ever taken care of us like you do."

"Even my father wouldn't be like this when he was at home. I really don't know how to express my gratitude to you!"

He was very excited. He had suffered so much injustice and unfair treatment. Finally, Lance tore through the haze like the sunshine, and he was so moved that he wanted to cry!

The others also stood beside him, thanking Lance for everything he had done for them.

"We came from the Empire, and no one knows if we will have the chance to go back in the future. Here, apart from taking care of each other, no one else can sincerely help us."

"Now that I have some power, I should do my duty and my ability to help you solve your problems. This is what I should do."

Jamie's friend was a little worried, "They didn't cause you any trouble, did they?" The "they" here refers to the union, because they were here because they were afraid that Lance would be troubled.

Lance shook his head. "President Vaughn is a very easy-going person. We talked a lot... By the way!"

He raised his voice slightly and said, "I just talked to President Vaughn about helping you pay your dues. You don't need to pay for it. The firm will pay for it."

“This way, if there are conflicts between you and local workers in the future, even if the union doesn’t help you, it won’t stand on their side!”

"I say this not to gain your gratitude, but to let you know that you are no longer helpless in the Federation."

"But you also have to remember that even though our working environment has changed, we still cannot let our guard down and we still have to stick together."

“I believe that one day, what we do will become an opportunity to change our living environment!”

He patted Jamie on the shoulder and said, "Go to work and don't let those capitalists get into trouble with you."

"If they fire you for absenteeism, I won't help you. After all, it's your fault!"

The atmosphere at the scene was very relaxed. Lance said goodbye to them one by one, and then left the dock as they watched.

Soon the news began to spread among the immigrant workers. Lance would pay union dues for them, and they would become members of the dock union and enjoy the union's guarantees and protection!

If any capitalist mistreats them, the union will stand up for them!

This made some people very excited, as they had never experienced such a relaxed working and living environment.

Even those who have been here for several years find it unreal!
Suddenly there is a strong person who makes decisions for them, suddenly they can join the union and obtain membership, everything becomes better and better, and it makes them want to cry more and more, venting all the grievances they have suffered over the years through crying!

President Scott only arrived in the afternoon. He also knew what happened at the dock, but because the situation did not escalate, he was not very worried.

After Vaughn told him about the situation, he quickly focused on the issue of illegal immigrants paying dues.

As for Johnny and the like, they were all small matters to him. Even if Johnny was not smart, he wouldn't mind helping Johnny to become smarter.

This is obviously paving the way for him to gain access to higher-level trade union organizations. Whoever destroys this will become his mortal enemy!

After Vaughn finished telling Lance about his opinion and expressed his own views, he proposed to meet with Lance for a talk.

"Make an appointment with him, the sooner the better. He is a young man with great ideas. I believe the Federation of Trade Unions will like this very much."

"If I ever get promoted, Vaughn, I'll nominate you to succeed me."

Hearing such a direct promise, Vaughn clenched his fists. Isn't this what he wanted?
"I'll call Lance now..." A few minutes later, he smiled, "He has plans tonight, so I've scheduled it for tomorrow morning."

Although President Scott was eager to meet with Lance, he was considerate of his busy schedule. "No problem, you're doing great, Vaughn."

A small reminder, there are still 298 monthly tickets to add more chapters, and there are also 3 days left, otherwise it will be cancelled.

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(End of this chapter)