Shadow Empire

Chapter 849: Expand or Not
Some industry trade unions sent specialists to Jingang City, and some industry unions that had nothing to do with the strike also arranged people to come and watch the excitement.

This year's rotating vice president of the Labor Federation even came to Jingang City in person to solve the biggest problem now - the strike is invalid!
It's like... the weapons in the hands of the gangsters in the middle of a gunfight misfired and couldn't fire bullets. This is fatal!

At the same time, they had never encountered such a situation before, and during the meetings within the Labor Federation over the past two days, they considered this to be a test.

They must fight back strongly, otherwise these people will shake the foundation of the Labor Federation and the Workers' Party that is being established!
The last time it was so lively was when Jingang City held the first workers’ skills competition.

When the rotating vice president of the Labor Union came in from outside, people in the hotel conference room stood up to show their respect for the vice president.

The Federation of Labor has actually developed into a monster!

They have won over 70 to 80 percent of the skilled workers in various industries in the Federation and have a great influence on these skilled tools. They have become a political group with great strength and influence.

The vice president is equivalent to the third or fourth-ranked figure in a party. If they evolve into a Workers' Party, then this vice president will most likely be the chairman of the National Congress of the Workers' Party, a position of high power.

The vice president is only in his fifties, with slightly gray hair and a tall stature.

Like all labor federations and union management, there is nothing working-class about him.

His hands looked soft and well-maintained, without any calluses at all.

It seemed that every gap between his fingernails had been cleaned by someone. He had no extra stubble, probably because someone cleaned his beard for him every day. His hair, sideburns, and eyebrows were all groomed.

If you say that such a person is a representative of the working class, it is actually a joke.

But the working class throughout the federation seemed to have acquiesced to this fact, or, with the interference of certain forces, they began to fail to sense the most wrong thing here.

Why are these hard-working people still working so hard, while those who rely on them for solidarity have already achieved class transition?

They don't think about that.

The vice president strode in and raised his hand to stop people from shaking hands and greeting him at close range, which would waste his time.

He came here immediately after getting off the train, without wasting a moment on the road.

The local branch president who received him even suggested that he take a rest, but he refused.

He came to his seat, pulled out his chair, and then sat down after motioning for everyone else to sit down.

"The situation is not optimistic, so I won't waste my time chatting with you."

"Your Excellency the President is shocked by the result of the strike in Jingang City. This may not be the first time, but it is the first time in recent years that our strike has been broken up!"

"Some people have begun to have a terrible idea that our strike method is not effective."

"We have to save the situation here!"

He paused as he spoke and looked around, "Who is responsible for following up on the attackers?"

A little ways to his right, an AFL official raised his hand. "I take responsibility, sir."

The vice president nodded, "Tell us about the attackers."

The official in charge of this task pursed his lips and said, "These attackers are all refugees who fled from the war in the Tanfit continent. They don't have any other elements."

The vice president had actually heard about this, "Is there no one organizing them?"

“Why did they clash with our parade?”

The official shook his head. “Some of them said that our demonstrations affected their work and lives in the federation, so they spontaneously planned to take action against us.”

"No one organized them. Someone just came up with an idea and then others followed suit."

"A sudden impulse?" The vice president shook his head. "I don't believe this. Let's see if there is any way for us to get more reliable testimony. We can use some appropriate means."

"Give them money, give them legal federal citizenship, provide protection, provide jobs, anything they want, give it to them!"

"As long as they tell the truth, tell the truth to us, tell the media!"

"I don't believe that the benefits Lance gave them can compare to the benefits we gave them!"

"Don't skimp on money and commitment in this matter. The first thing we need to do is to get through the current difficulties."

The official nodded vigorously. In fact, there are some things that everyone knows how to solve, but they just don't want to take the responsibility.

Just like the matter of bribing witnesses, the person responsible for figuring out the matter is unlikely to bring it up on his own initiative, and it is even more impossible for him to apply for funds from higher-ups for the purpose of bribery. It is necessary for the people above to say it themselves before he can proceed with the execution.

After resolving this matter, the vice president continued, "We need to do a more rigorous investigation first, and then I will talk to Lance."

"If necessary, the president has already begun considering expanding the scope of the strike, but this is only a last resort and may not be used."

After this statement was made, the atmosphere in the conference room changed significantly. The escalation of the situation would put Jingang City under even greater pressure.

When everyone stands up to accuse a person who has done nothing wrong, and asks him to apologize for something he has not done wrong and to apologize to society, right and wrong no longer matter.

Stability is the key!
This is also the ultimate killer weapon of the Labor Union. Now it is during the war, and they cannot accept the sudden occurrence of large-scale strikes, which will bring more than just a stagnation in production.

It is more likely that this expanded strike will lead to problems in the war.

This is equivalent to the Labor Federation forcing the federal government, the people, and everyone to stand up and put pressure on Lance!
Can he withstand the pressure from the labor federation, the trade unions, the entire country, and even the entire military alliance?

If the Federation loses the war on the front line, it will not only be the Federation that loses, but also Slade and other countries!
Half of the world's pressure is focused on Lance, and the vice president doesn't believe that he can handle it!
As the discussion deepened, some tasks and things that seemed difficult to handle were quickly organized by him.

A capable person will show his ability no matter what he does, while an incompetent person will still have no ability even if he tries hard.

After the meeting, the vice president returned to the hotel suite, and they had already begun to make arrangements for food, clothing, housing and transportation according to political standards.

He lives in the best suite, and if the president travels, it must be the presidential suite.

Sitting in the suite, he changed into casual clothes and looked very relaxed.

The branch president of the Likale State Labor Federation sat on the sofa with several local core members. After the vice president changed his clothes and came out, they had a brief "socializing" and then sat in different positions on the sofa.

"Mr. Vice President, why... don't we push for an expansion of the strike now?"

There was some confusion on the face of the branch president. The failure of the general strike in Jingang City made him feel ashamed, as if the branch presidents of the remaining 18 states in the federation were laughing at him.

He is now eager to prove himself, to prove that this incident is an isolated case, and that it is not his ability that has problems, but these people, who have fucking problems!
If the strike can be expanded, he believes that this is indeed an option and method that can work.

The vice president lit a cigarette, crossed his legs, and put one hand on his knee. "And then?"

The branch president was stunned for a moment, "What... then?"

"The scope of the strike has been expanded. I agree, and the president agrees, too. So what?"

"What are you going to do?"

The branch president smiled and said, "I will first make all the factories in Likalai State go on strike and stop production, and then force the Lance family to agree to our plan, otherwise we will not start production!"

"He can't bear such great pressure. We must be the ultimate winners!"

The people around him also nodded, seeming to agree with his point of view.

The vice president sighed softly, "That's why we only discovered the problem after it expanded."

"I doubt your ability to do your job!" He looked at the shocked branch president without giving him a chance to speak. "The pressure we are under is no less than that of Lance."

"There's fighting at the front, gentlemen."

"Although Likalai State is not a heavy industrial production area, it also produces a lot of equipment and goods, all of which need to be shipped to the front line." "If we fail to maintain a stable supply to the front line and eventually lose the war, do you think the federal government will think this is Lance's problem or our problem?"

The branch president said almost without even thinking about it, "This must be Lance's problem."

The vice president had no intention of speaking. He was such an idiot!
"Lance was only doing these things in one city, and we launched a strike across the entire state. The efforts we put in were not equal, the consequences were not equal, and the rewards we received were not equal."

"To be honest, I doubt whether you got this position through the backdoor."

"Don't say such stupid things next time. I'm allergic to stupidity!"

The branch president suddenly became very embarrassed and his face turned red.

The people around him also lowered their heads, not daring to speak, let alone show any expression.

"We will not expand the scope of the strike unless it is absolutely necessary, so it is better for us to solve these problems locally rather than expand them!"

He glanced at the branch president and said, "According to what I said in the meeting room, act as soon as possible..."

Chief Blue and Deputy Chief Duke have been very busy these days because they have arrested a lot of people, but none of them actually gave any confessions that could be of value to Lance.

For example, when it comes to strikes, marches and demonstrations, everyone knows who is behind them, so it would be meaningless even if these people spoke out.

They are willing to cooperate, and the Constitution gives them the power to do so. They can only let these people go little by little, but before letting them go, they will definitely torment them for a while.

For example, for two days, they were only given a little water and no food.

Or they are not allowed to get a good rest in the middle of the night. Just as they fall asleep, the police will use batons to hit the steel grille as they walk forward. The clanging sound makes it impossible to sleep.

If someone really fell asleep, they would go in and pull the person out, then send him to the interrogation room and ask him some simple but, to them, confusing questions.

For example - did you see someone when you went out that morning?

They just need to take a random photo, it's just a way to prevent them from getting enough rest, not really expecting them to see anyone.

In short, these workers have been tortured quite a lot during these two days.

At first they would warn the police officers by saying “I will sue you”, but they soon realized that such threats were meaningless because Lance said that if they lost their jobs because of this incident, they could go directly to work in Lance’s company.

What's good about being a policeman?

How can there be any real benefit in working for Lance?
The income may not get higher, but life will definitely be easier, you can take care of your family, and there will be great development prospects in the future.

For ordinary people, a policeman is just a police officer no matter how hard he works until his death.

So everyone was very active.

Chief Blue was discussing the history of these events with Deputy Chief Duke when a police officer knocked on the door and asked to come in.

"Come in."

After the police officer came in, he saw Deputy Chief Duke was also there. He knew that Deputy Chief Duke had a good relationship with Chief Blue, so he did not avoid anything. "There are several lawyers outside. They said they want to see their agent and asked us to provide a separate room."

Director Blue was not surprised at this time. He took the initiative to say, "It might be the lawyers from the Labor Federation or the union lawyers."

The AFL-CIO and trade unions all have their own legal teams. Since they often have to compete with capitalists, it is particularly important to have a stable legal team that specializes in serving trade unions.

Whenever there is a labor-management conflict, these lawyers appear at once, just like this time.

Just as he was about to ask the police officer to make arrangements, the police officer added, "They don't want to see the workers, they want to see the attackers."

Director Blue was stunned for a moment. He glanced at Deputy Director Duke. The two looked at each other for a moment, and the latter stood up and said, "I'll go see what's going on."

Soon he arrived at the work hall downstairs. Sure enough, a group of lawyers who looked very professional were standing there, and they were whispering about something.

When some of them saw Deputy Director Duke, one of the leading guys walked up to Deputy Director Duke and shook his hand. "We are lawyers from the Jinli Law Firm. We request to see our agent."

Deputy Chief Duke shook his hand and said, "I heard from the officers that you need to meet the attackers."

The lawyer he was talking to nodded, "Indeed, when can we see them?"

Deputy Director Duke was a little confused. "But I didn't hear them say that they hired a lawyer. Did they really hire you?"

The lawyer who was speaking kept smiling but had a serious expression. "We have a power of attorney. Their family hired us."

Deputy Director Duke once again looked at these people, "I doubt whether their families can afford you!"

The lawyer shook his head slightly, "This has nothing to do with you. We can represent these cases for free. You have no right to stop us from seeing them."

"According to Amendment No. ..." The lawyer was about to inform Deputy Director Duke of their rights when Deputy Director Duke raised his hand to stop him.

"I don't mean to stop you. I'm just curious." He glanced at the police officer beside him and said, "Go and arrange the room and have someone keep an eye on it."

His eyes lingered on these people for a moment, "Can you give me a business card?"

"Sometimes I have legal issues and want to consult someone."

The attorney he was speaking to handed him a business card and said, "Anytime, we have someone to answer the call."

Deputy Director Duke took a quick look at the law firm in Jinzhou and asked, "How much is your hourly consultation fee?"

"Twenty dollars, Mr. Chief."

"Deputy Chief!" Duke reminded him, and then he put away the business card. "If there is anything else, let the police inform me."

Having said that, he left.

He quickly told Chief Blue what he had seen, and Chief Blue passed it on to Lance.

Lance was a little surprised after hearing the call, "Record the names of the people they came into contact with, and place them separately."

"If you have any further news, please contact me."

Lance frowned after hanging up the phone. He could understand if the lawyers from the Labor Federation went to meet the workers.

They have been providing legal aid to workers for a long time, but this time they wanted to meet the attackers, the refugees, which he found interesting.

He didn't find it strange, he knew what these lawyers were going to do.

Lawyers may be the only ones who can now contact these attackers openly. In other words, they may represent the position of the labor federation and negotiate with these attackers, or even bribe them.

It’s just that the Labor Union has been running around like a headless fly in the past few days. How come their behavior suddenly became more organized?
This is what Lance was curious about.

Someone suddenly got it.

Or did they arrange for a more powerful character to come?

Just as Lance was thinking about this matter, the phone rang again, "This is Lance."

"Lance, it's me, Debbie."

"Uh... the vice president is here, and he wants to see you."

"What vice president?"

"The rotating vice president of the Labor Union said he wanted to talk to you alone..."

(End of this chapter)