Shadow Empire

Chapter 454: The casual workers, the specialists and Bai were beaten
Ten minutes later, the manager of the terminal management company drove over.

The pier is very large and it may take about twenty minutes to walk there.

With a hint of embarrassment on his face, he walked over and shook hands with the general manager after getting off the car, "I came to see what happened."

The general manager of Liji Group looked behind him and raised his hands with obvious emotion, "Where are the workers?"

"Our goods are waiting to be loaded on the ship. Can we let them load these onto the ship first and then discuss these things?"

These orders also have liquidated damages. The compensation ratio for liquidated damages is not large, many are 50%, but this kind of order requires compensation!

The manager’s face was still full of embarrassment. “I tried, but failed.”

The general manager's expression became even more strange. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know what to say!" The manager of the terminal management company looked confused and kept looking around. "They said... they refused to provide services for all the businesses of the Liji Group because you look down on them."

"They said they felt insulted by working for you and they refused to continue working for you, even if we deducted their wages."

"Fuck!" the general manager cursed, "I don't look down on them, and you have to help me with these things. We have signed a contract!"

There are formal contracts for renting warehouses on the docks and using workers from the dock management company.

To be more precise, after they rent a warehouse, the terminal management company will provide the corresponding labor to help them complete the work that requires labor.

Hearing the offensive words coming from the other party, the manager of the dock management company was no longer so polite, "We did sign a contract, but it doesn't say you can insult our workers!"

"If you think we have breached the contract, you can sue us!"

This was the Liji Group's most common response method, but it was thrown in their faces at this time. The general manager took a deep breath and suppressed his temper.

The most important thing now is to transport these goods out.

"I'm sorry, I'm so nervous. Our goods need to be shipped before 2 o'clock this afternoon, but there is no one here who can help us now."

"I apologize for my inappropriate remarks just now. Can you see if there is any other way to resolve this issue?"

In his heart, he hated his employees and the workers here, but he had to pretend that "it was my fault". He was so angry that his lungs were about to explode!
"Can you get those workers over here?"

"I'll talk to them again, I can compensate them something, financially or in other ways."

The manager at the dock shook his head. “I accept your apology, but they said they won’t see you.”

Considering that the other party was a major customer of the dock and would continue to cooperate in the future, he lowered his voice slightly and reminded, "There are many casual workers outside the dock. You can hire them to work for you."

"It's just a day job anyway, so we can just pay them by the day, one or two dollars per person. Many of them are familiar with the work at the docks."

"One or two hundred dollars is enough to solve your troubles today."

"But don't tell anyone else, I told you this!"

These casual workers are actually dock workers who have lost their jobs before. Companies or individuals who rent warehouses at the dock or need other services can use the labor force provided free of charge by the port according to the contract.

Those are the dock workers wearing blue overalls now.

They can also hire a group of workers to do the work themselves, which is allowed. However, even if they hire workers themselves, they will not be exempted from the costs of equipment use and other expenses.

These are a complete package of services, and you have to pay for them whether you use them or not.

The general manager nodded, said thank you, and watched the other party leave.

He turned around and glanced at the employees who already knew they were in trouble, then drove to the dock gate.

There has been a casual labor market outside the dock for a long time. In the past, the majority of people here were illegal immigrants, who would squat or stand together, looking listless.

When someone who looks like they're hiring workers passes by, they stand up.

Seeing these low-level casual workers approaching with an obvious strange smell on their bodies, the general manager who had just got out of the car was almost frightened and shrank back!
The obvious disdain in his eyes made the casual workers tactfully avoid getting too close to him.

"I need some people who can do loading and unloading work at the dock warehouse. Today's work must be done today. Two dollars."

He quoted a little more money. In fact, there would be people willing to do it for one dollar, but to be on the safe side, he gave one dollar more.

By the way, he also added, "You have to be strong, and it's best if you have done these jobs before."

In an instant, the crowd seemed to be boiling, and people kept coming over here with their hands raised high!
He took two steps back and took a look at one of the bearded men. “You, have you ever done this before?”

The bearded man nodded repeatedly, "I used to be a worker at the dock, and I was also a worker representative."

This made the general manager confused for a moment. He certainly knew what a worker representative meant, but he also couldn't understand how a worker representative could become a casual worker.

But he didn't have time to think about these things now. He pointed at the bearded man and said, "Help me recruit a hundred workers. I want you to go to work right away."

The bearded man's face was filled with joy, and quite a few of the people surrounding him sighed and began to leave on their own initiative.

The bearded man is the representative of local casual workers. He has many friends. If he were to choose, those immigrant casual workers, illegal immigrant casual workers, and refugee casual workers who come here in search of opportunities would have no chance at all.

Looking at those people dispersing, the general manager vaguely realized something, but he didn't care.

What he needs is someone to solve his troubles, not to resolve social conflicts.

Soon, a white team was selected. The bearded man had a smile on his face, but he felt a mixed feeling in his heart.

"Boss, the guys are selected, I guarantee they are the best guys on the dock!"

The general manager's mouth twitched slightly. Why would the best guy be outside the dock instead of inside?
He didn't dwell on it, just nodded and said, "Then I'll go to work."

"When you finish your work, my employees will settle your wages!"

"I have some things I need to do. He will take you to the dock."

The commissioner was coming soon, and he had to get ready.

He asked the staff to take these people away and then went to the station.

Ligi Group has many cooperative relationships with various federal railway companies, and it is natural for large-scale agricultural products to choose cargo ships for sea transportation.

Then on land, train transportation becomes their only option.

It’s not that cars are not good, but based on current technology, the carrying capacity of trucks is much worse than that of trains, and the transportation cost is also higher.

Federal railways and trains are all owned by private companies, and the Ligi Group is their major customer, so these railway companies provide a kind of "symbol of honor" for the Ligi Group -

Exclusive carriages for people to rest, and even more advanced exclusive carriages!
Just like the carriage that the commissioner is riding in now, it is from more than 40 years ago. It is a very luxuriously decorated carriage and does not look like sitting on a train at all!

Exquisite furniture, furnishings, offices and lounges ensure that distinguished guests have a good space to rest and work even on the train.

Apart from the three major agricultural product distributors, only the resource companies can own such an exclusive carriage.

They are also heavyweight customers of railway companies.

When the train came to a stop in a puff of steam, a gentleman, who looked very refined and dressed in a formal suit and a wide-brimmed fedora, got out of the train.

He looked to be in his thirties, about the same age as the general manager, but he was already a specialist in the company.

"Mr. Commissioner, I am the local head."

The commissioner nodded a little arrogantly, "I've heard of you..."

After seeing some smile on the general manager's face, he continued, "But it's not a good thing!"

"The company has sent two commissioners in one year. To be honest, I have doubts about your ability. I hope the board of directors has not been blinded by something."

He didn't give the general manager any face at all. Such people are very common in the company. They all belong to the vested interest group that believes in "doing business in a fair and impartial manner".

To put it more simply, they care about the system and abide by it more than anyone else, and because of their strict compliance, they are selected by the company and become the company's middle-level managers. Even if their relatives make mistakes at work, such as their parents or brothers and sisters, they will not hesitate to fire them and hold them accountable, with an attitude of sacrificing relatives for the sake of justice!

This is their working principle. Maybe they may be a little more humane in life, but at work, they are more like a machine than a human being!
The general manager's smile froze on his face, and several staff members followed him out of the car, "Where is the car?"

The specialist asked, "We are very pressed for time, so forget about all the socializing and just tell me what I need to deal with."

The general manager took a deep breath and thought about the previous commissioner and his fate.

Suddenly, he began to look forward to it a little bit, expecting the commissioner to anger Lance and then arrange an "accident" for him.

Soon they returned to the company, and out of bad taste, the general manager placed the "car accident toy" given to him by others in the temporary office prepared for the specialist, in a very conspicuous place.

The commissioner saw the model at a glance, looked back at the general manager, and then threw it into the trash can.

"Get out, I have to work."

Before the general manager returned to his office, his secretary came running over and said, "Something happened at the dock again..."

The bearded man led the workers to the dock and started working. Johnny immediately called Lance and said, "The bearded man is leading people to help them work. Should we interfere?"

The bearded man stood directly against Lance during the strike. Later he was fired by the management company. He made a scene and was beaten, but he finally chose to compromise with reality.

Some people went to the industrial area to try their luck, but others were still looking for job opportunities at the docks.

Although temporary workers' jobs are unstable, they can barely support their lives.

The terminal management company did not kill them all, and whether to hire them is the customer's own business, and they would not interfere.

Lance is a generous person most of the time, but at certain times, he is not so generous!
He was actually very nice to these workers and had always been helping them fight for their rights. However, when they found that there was a greater benefit ahead and the price was to abandon or even damage Lance's interests, these people abandoned Lance.

Lance couldn't be generous to these people, not to mention that this involved the conflict between him and the Liji Group.

"Don't worry about it. I'll arrange for someone to go."

He hung up the phone, "Send Alan over."

Hiram, who was sitting on the sofa, walked to the door, "Alan, come here!"

It wasn't long before Alan came into the room.

He is easy to use, obedient, flexible, and most importantly, reliable.

Lance sat behind the table, cupping his hands together, "Liji's people found a bunch of casual workers to load and unload for them, but I don't want to see them load the things on the ship on time, do you understand what I mean?"

Alan nodded and said, "I'll take care of it."

Lance nodded slightly and kindly reminded them to bring more people.

After Allen left the room, he came to the lounge and called a few captains, "Bring your men and sticks with me. Bring your weapons too."

The captains' faces immediately lit up with joy. They ran to the back to call their men, and then followed Alan to get their weapons and head towards the port.

Everyone actually knows very well that there is a high probability that Allen will be promoted to a cadre, so even though everyone is a captain, but... they still listen to Allen very much.

Not only because he is popular, but also because his future is bright!
There were thirty or forty people in total this time, and all of these young people were wearing roughly the same uniform.

As the weather gets colder, windbreakers can be worn again. The red armbands make them seem somewhat out of place in the dark and gloomy dock.

Alan held the cigarette between his thumb and index finger and strode towards the warehouse. He learned this from Lance and he thought it was very cool!
Seeing the warehouse in front of him, some workers without work clothes were loading and unloading goods. He took a baseball bat from his men and pointed at the group of people, "Beat them!"

He rushed to the front and understood that if you want other young people to obey you, you cannot hide behind.

He immediately saw a familiar-looking bearded man in the crowd, and without caring whether the man was the one they were looking for, he swung the bat and hit him.

For a while, the area around the warehouse was filled with screams and curses. Although these casual workers were actively resisting, they seemed to be lacking something compared to these more professional young people holding baseball bats.

In less than ten minutes, many casual workers were lying on the ground outside the warehouse, and more casual workers took advantage of the chaos to run away and watch from afar.

Alan handed the bat in his hand to the person next to him, and he carefully adjusted his windbreaker, which was specially customized.

When he saw an obvious blood stain on his clothes, his heart ached!

He kicked the casual worker lying next to him again, "Son of a bitch, fuck!"

In the distance, a police car was approaching with a clattering sound. There were already many workers standing around watching. A few minutes later, the police car arrived.

When the police officers saw the clothes of these social members standing outside the warehouse, their originally cold and indifferent expressions softened.

"what happened?"

Allen dropped his cigarette and crushed it with the toe of his brown shoe. As he walked over, he said, "There was a little conflict, officer."

The police officers at the Port Branch all receive their "salaries" from the Lance family. They know Allen, but it is not convenient for them to show that kind of familiarity now.

"I have to take you and your people back for questioning."

Alan didn't resist, but raised his hands, "Do you need handcuffs?"

The officer shook his head. "We won't handcuff you until we're sure you've committed a crime."

Alan smiled and nodded, "Okay, can I drive my own car?"

"Of course!" The police officer still did not embarrass him.

He expressed his gratitude, then turned around, glanced at the guys lying on the ground with cold eyes, and walked towards his car.

Soon the group left with the police, who asked if they wanted to call an ambulance for the injured - they would have to pay for it themselves.

As a result, everyone refused the ambulance service. They had to get up from the ground by themselves, report to the police station, and explain the situation.

The one who was beaten the worst was the bearded man, whose face was covered in blood.

He looked at the direction where the police cars and other private vehicles were leaving, and finally felt a little regretful.

A moment later, Chief Duke called Lance and said, "Lance, could you please not do this in front of so many people next time?"

“I’m having a hard time handling it!”

More than thirty people, should we arrest or release?
If no one saw it, they would catch the victim, intimidate him, then mediate and the matter would be over.

But with so many people seeing it, it's not easy to handle. After all, there are too many witnesses, and there will always be some people who have a sense of justice.

"We'll handle it as it should be. I'll have someone pay the bail and tell them that if they want to sue, they can. We'll accept it."

In the federal government, fighting is a very vague "case" that often needs to be resolved through litigation and requires "witnesses."

If there are no witnesses, the judiciary can only handle the case 50-50%. The obvious perpetrator may be detained in the process, but Lance will pay bail, so in a sense, the bearded man and the others were beaten for nothing!

Even if the judge makes a ruling, such minor injuries would at most result in some restricted movements, community service, and compensation.

But do they dare to ask Allen for compensation?
No, they don't dare!

With Lance's instructions, the next things became much easier. In less than ten minutes, Lawyer Robben paid the bail.

The person who beats others goes home immediately, but the person who is beaten has to be investigated at the police station.

Perhaps this is the most psychedelic scene in federal justice...

It’s my birthday today, and I’ll have one later

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(End of this chapter)