Shadow Empire

Chapter 378: Inside, During, and Outside
Edward (the son of the director of the dock management company) sat in the corner of the conference room. He came with his father.

Although his father is not an executive director, he is currently one of the rotating directors, which is a bit like a vice president.

The executive director presides over the daily work of the board of directors and the company, and the rotating director is responsible for assisting him.

As his son, he naturally brought his son to see the world. After all, in the end, everything he had would be inherited by his son.

Edward's eyes were always on a few people, James, whom he knew, and he and James were friends.

Jingang City is big, but the Bay Area is small. He has communicated with James and attended the same parties.

Both of them were the same, sitting against the wall, and could only listen, not speak, and could not speak actively.

Another person he paid attention to was the young man sitting relatively far back, Lance White.

When he got this list, he found it unbelievable why such an insignificant person would appear on this list.

He even wondered if someone had made a mistake, until his father told him that the list was drawn up by Senator Jeffrey himself, and he gave up the idea.

Why, is he here?

In fact, there are many people who have such questions, and their eyes keep touching Lance, but Lance seems not to notice and sits quietly in his chair.

The meeting started straightforwardly, Senator Cleveland looked directly at Edward's father, "They showed me this document when I first arrived yesterday...", he picked up the paper on the table and showed it to others.

There were three lines of words on it, and no other content. He tilted his head slightly and held a pen, reading out the content line by line, "Just three lines of content, three demands, can't you solve them?"

Edward's father looked regretful and apologetic. "Mr. Senator, I am the rotating director of the Jingang Wharf Management Company. Let me answer your question."

"First of all, the reasons why our internal discussion on the board of directors could not be passed are from three aspects."

"First, if we agree to their request to reduce working hours, it means that we need to pay them an additional salary of three dollars and thirty cents per month while their labor input remains unchanged."

"In other words, they are now getting the same salary, but only doing 90 percent of the work they did before, which must be equivalent to a disguised salary increase, and a considerable one at that."

"Secondly, the lunch at the dock may not have a lot of meat and eggs, but it is definitely enough to fill people up. If we add more meat, eggs and other foods, the meal fee will increase. Even if it only increases by three to five cents a day, there will be at least one dollar of expenditure per month."

"Third, if their demand for a salary increase of at least one dollar and seventy-five cents is made independent, we may be able to complete the negotiation and finalize it as soon as possible."

"But this one is 75 cents plus the previous 4.30. If we agree to their terms, it means that their monthly income will increase by more than 6 dollars. The one-time increase exceeds 15%. This is very unreasonable."

"That will increase our spending, and we will have to cut jobs and make workers work harder to balance the wage bill."

"But we have feelings for the docks and for the workers..."

The workers laughed when they heard this. These people sitting on the chairs were actually a bit out of place with the atmosphere on the scene.

They were wearing blue T-shirts and overalls, some of them even had pom-poms on their heads, and they looked unkempt. Their bodies were so broad and big that they looked like a giant sitting on a child's chair, even with their shoulders hunched.

They looked at the director with unfriendly eyes, and the bearded man sneered, "This is the funniest joke I've heard this year. Since you have such feelings for us, can you call out my name?"

The director glanced at him and said, "I can't call out your names, but the wages we pay you allow you to support yourself and your family."

When the workers heard this, they were silent because he was indeed not wrong.

Senator Cleveland held his forehead and looked at the contents of the document. "It says here that several workers were beaten. Who were they?"

Johnny stood up and there was another man, the Senator looked at him, "Why did they beat you?"

Johnny simply described how he had been wronged and how the manager threatened to fire him. "I have worked for the dock for more than ten years. He has no right to fire me when I have done nothing wrong!"

Senator Cleveland looked at Edward's father, who explained, "The manager has been suspended and is going through the termination process."

He then looked at Johnny, "Johnny, right?"

"Yes, sir."

"You see, in fact, both sides have been constantly advancing these issues, and the conflict should not be intensified and escalated so quickly."

"It's just some minor misunderstandings!" He used his thumb and index finger to indicate a small distance. "The fact that we can sit down and talk now means that both sides are willing to continue pushing forward."

"You have raised your demands and the terminal management company has also given feedback, which is good."

“This way, we continue to work towards each other and see if we can resolve this issue faster.”

"You guys should lower your requirements a little bit, don't ask for such a big reduction in working hours, or find a balance."

He looked at Edward's father again and said, "Don't think you can get away with it. I've seen that you haven't had a pay raise for a long time."

"You guys should try to move forward a few steps. Although I haven't seen your financial statements, I know your profits can definitely support these expenses."

"The losses caused by the strike during these days are enough for you to fulfill these conditions."

Another rotating director wanted to refute. He just opened his mouth to say "Sir" when Senator Cleveland raised his hand to stop him. "I don't want to hear this. Go back to the meeting and tell me the result instead of convincing me. Do you understand?"

He pointed at the man and watched him shut up before nodding with satisfaction. "See, it's actually not that difficult. What we need is understanding and forgiveness."

He paused and looked at a man on his right, "Do you have anything to add?"

The person next to him is the general representative of the Federal Confederation of Labor. He represents skilled workers in all industries across the federation. Of course, this is what the Federation of Labor says.

As to whether he can really speak on behalf of all the skilled workers in the bank, that depends on himself and the thoughts of every person he represents.

But at this moment, he did represent these people.

"Your arrangement is very appropriate, but I also have something to add."

Senator Cleveland sorted out the documents on his desk with both hands and said, "Go ahead."

The general representative's gaze stayed on Johnny and another worker for a while, then shifted to the rotating director of the dock management company. "Whether it was your instructions or not, they beat the workers, and that's what they did wrong."

"The federation has a complete legal and disciplinary system. Since they have violated the law, they should be severely punished by law."

"I hope you can compensate our two workers for the medical expenses and mental damages they deserve, and bring the perpetrators to justice."

"We advocate solving problems rationally, not with fists or sticks!"

"Slavery has been over for so long, why does such atrocious behavior as beating workers still exist?"

Seeing his voice getting louder and louder, with an attitude of "If you dare to shake your head, I will push for a strike", Senator Cleveland smiled and said, "Some people's thinking level is indeed not keeping up with the development of the times, but most people are still qualified."

"I believe that after this lesson, the terminal management company will be more cautious in hiring people."

"Of course, what the general representative said is also correct. Those who deserve compensation should be compensated, and those who deserve legal procedures should go through legal procedures. As long as it is a crime, it cannot be tolerated!"

He then looked at the representative of the Dockworkers' Union who was sitting next to him and said, "You, the Dockworkers' Union, should be a little busier and serve as a bridge of communication. Try to help both parties solve the problem as soon as possible. This is what you should do most."

The representatives who were listening did not say anything, they just listened quietly. Senator Cleveland cursed a few words in his heart, but he still looked enthusiastic on the surface.

Finally, he looked at Lance and the others who had not spoken, "We can express whatever opinions you want here today. There are no senators or workers. We are all citizens of the federation."

This sentence made Lance want to laugh. He thought of a joke. If someone actually believed it, they would end up in a bad situation.

He won't show it though, and that makes him special.

But even if he wants to hide, he may not be able to hide completely.

"Mr. White." Senator Cleveland called out a last name, and no one, including Lance, reacted.

The others didn't react because they weren't "Mr. White", and Lance didn't react because few people called him that.

But it was only a second or two, and he nodded slightly, "Senator."

"I heard that you gave a lot of help to your fellow workers?"

Lance was a little unsure of what he meant. "That's right, sir." Senator Cleveland nodded slightly. "This negotiation requires the cooperation and advancement of many parties. This is a cooperation."

"Including you, and you all..." He looked at the others, "We are all working towards the same goal. I hope that each of us will work hard instead of holding others back."

"If you have any questions, give me a call. I will not leave Jingang City until these problems are resolved."

"Well..." He looked at the people around him, and after they all said they had nothing else to say, he smiled and said, "...Let's stop here for today. We have successfully taken the first step."

"See you in two days!"

“Hopefully we’ll have a perfect solution by then!”

He then gathered his things and stood up, followed by the others.

In fact, this meeting lasted only about ten minutes, but it played an important role in promoting the negotiations.

Lance followed everyone in clapping briefly, then walked to the end of the crowd and headed outside with everyone else.

Just as he was about to leave in the car, a staff member with an obviously arrogant attitude came up to him.

This arrogance is well hidden, probably like when a rich man in the city meets his poor relative in the countryside, very enthusiastic, but hypocritically enthusiastic.

He wanted to pretend that he didn't care about Lance's identity, but he didn't want to have any more contact with him, and he didn't even shake hands with Lance.

"Mr. Lance, I'm Tom from the congressman's office. I want to talk to you about something."

Lance, who had already opened the car door, turned and looked at him, "Of course."

"Mr. Lance...I'll call you Lance."

This is not a question or a request, but an affirmative sentence.

Whether Lance agreed or not, he planned to ignore those honorifics or titles.

"Lance, I heard you're very popular on the docks."

"And the labor agency you run has a lot of people working on the docks."

"They are more willing to listen to what you have to say. See if you can talk to them and let some of the workers under your command return to work first."

Lance kept smiling, "Is this what you meant, or does the congressman mean?"

He wanted to reach out and hug Lance, but Lance blocked him.

This made Tom look a little embarrassed, but when he thought of Senator Cleveland's attitude towards his work, he could only smile.

He slapped his hands together in front of himself, "Sorry, Lance, maybe I have an attitude problem."

"That's what I mean. We all want order to be restored on the dock sooner, right?"

Lance nodded slightly, "You're right, we all hope so."

This sentence made Tom feel a little relieved, but he was also a little annoyed. He suddenly felt that he was being led by Lance.

But this was something the congressman asked him to do, and if he did it well, it was his duty and his job. He not only got a salary, but also political dividends.

If he didn't do it well, it was his problem, so he immediately realized that this person was not easy to fool.

"So...", he asked tentatively, but Lance didn't respond, so he could only continue, "Make friends?"

This time, he extended his hand. Lance glanced at his hand and also extended his hand with a smile. "I will talk to them, but I can't guarantee what the result will be."

Tom nodded repeatedly. He had begun to control his emotions and temper. Following the congressman around the country, he had met all kinds of people. He could adjust quickly, otherwise he would not have followed the congressman all the time.

"This is my temporary phone number in Jingang City..." He handed a card to Lance, which was customized by the hotel.

Like a business card, it has the hotel location and room number, as well as the room's phone number, but everything else is blank.

Some temporary residents may need to work locally for a period of time. They just need to write their names and it can be sent out.

This avoids the need to print a set of business cards separately. After all, printing business cards is not such a simple thing in this era.

Of course, these small cards are not free. They charge ten cents for each one. It is up to you whether to use them or not.

Lance took a look at it and put it in his hand. In fact, he wanted to talk to the senator more than this worthless little card from Tom.

Even if it's just to get to know each other.

But this is obviously difficult and not very realistic.

"it is good."

The two shook hands again, and Tom walked a few steps with Lance after he got into the car.

When he got back to the hotel, Senator Cleveland had some free time. "Told him?"

Tom was extremely humble at this moment, like a docile house cat. His eyebrows, which had been stiff just now, softened and fell down. "Yes, I told him. He will try to communicate with those people."

Senator Cleveland took a drag on his cigarette. "Do you think he's obedient?"

Tom shook his head. "He's not very obedient, and he's a little different from the average person."

He couldn't help laughing as he told Senator Cleveland what had just happened. Senator Cleveland frowned, "Do you know why I don't like this era?"

Tom and the others shook their heads, and he continued, "Because everyone is questioning authority!"

This is the spirit of the times, the symbol and direction of the times.

If you question authority, your teachers will praise you, and your friends and classmates will also praise you.

If you challenge the "authority", of course, I mean those fake authorities who are not real authorities, then more people will come to praise you for your federal free adventure and challenging spirit!
But young people cannot distinguish between what is "real authority" and what is "fake authority", and this is where the trouble lies.

He quickly missed the topic, "That Johnny and that other guy at the meeting today, the guy sitting second to his left..."

"Dave, sir."

"Yes, Dave. These two people frequently look at Lance. Lance can influence their decisions."

"Continue to maintain smooth communication with Lance, and contact me if you have any questions."

After giving his instructions, he moved on to the next step of his work.

Not long after Lance's car drove out of the hotel, Vaughn stood on the side of the road and waved to him.

"Lean closer."

The motorcade slowly stopped beside them, and Vaughn looked at him, "We need to get together with the AFL and the unions, will you come with us?"

Lance had a basis in the past; the Lance White rating system had been tried in some areas, and he was half a member of the labor union, although he was not a worker.

In fact, Lance didn't want to go. Perhaps seeing that he looked a little embarrassed, Vaughn said softly, "They may not want to end the strike so soon."

Lance's eyebrows shot up at this statement, "What good will it do us if we drag out the strike?"

Vaughn shook his head and said, "There is no benefit, but they want to gain some political benefits from this!"

Now that the AFL-CIO people have arrived, they will definitely have to take a bite out of Congress before they can leave. The same goes for other industry unions.

Lance picked his ear and motioned for Vaughn to get in the car. "Take my car."

(End of this chapter)