Empire of Shadows

Chapter 385: It's All Your Fault [666+4]

Events proved that for skilled people who fled to other countries, their skills and craftsmanship couldn't bring them much change.

At least, not at first.

Lans had a locksmith who, according to his own boasting, could open any lock, it was just a matter of time.

There was also a deaf man. This deaf man couldn't hear any sound, but he could speak, although his pronunciation was a bit off, not as clear and natural as a normal person's.

His ears were originally fine when he was a child, but he had a fever, and as a result, he inexplicably lost his hearing.

In the years since he grew up, he gradually mastered the method of understanding what others were saying by observing their lip movements.

Then, based on these words, he would respond accordingly.

He touched his parents' throats with his hands, felt their pronunciation, mastered the pronunciation skills, and at least communication was not a problem.

This was a lip-reading expert.

In addition to these two special individuals, there were also two teachers and some skilled workers from factories. However, Lans didn't really care much about these. Skilled workers were something that could be obtained in any quantity as long as the money was right.

Lans told them the nature of the work, which was to work at the docks.

All were the most basic and arduous jobs, all physical labor, but they had nothing to complain about.

Being able to have a stable job now was already great news. They signed contracts with Lans on the spot.

It wasn't until after one o'clock in the morning that everyone had finished signing.

This was the first time they had a full meal since arriving in the Federation. Some people ate while crying, and some asked if they could take the food back because their families were still hungry.

At first, others didn't quite understand why Lans had to find manpower from the refugees, but at this moment, they understood.

Because they couldn't be like those workers, with nothing to be held against them.

When they felt that things were in their favor, they would side with Lans.

When they believed that siding with the Labor Union would bring them more benefits, they would not hesitate to side with the Labor Union.

But these people, these people in front of them, they must all be people with firm positions!

They wanted to live, their families wanted to live. Without Lans, their lives would be a mess again. This was their biggest weakness!

The next morning, Lans called Johnny and Dave over.

"How many people are willing to return to work now?"

Johnny wiped his face, "About fourteen or fifteen hundred people."

Lans looked up and thought for a while, "That means there's still a shortage of about ten thousand."

Dave's expression was a bit solemn, "I'm afraid so."

Lans thought for a while, "I've gathered five thousand people here, ready to be sent to the docks to work at any time."

"Before that, I will communicate with the management company. You will re-sign a supplementary contract. They will re-sign the contract with you according to the conditions they gave last time."

An extra thirty minutes of rest time each day seemed good, but in reality, the working hours went from eleven hours to eleven and a half hours.

In fact, most of the time, even if you get half an hour of rest, no one will really take exactly half an hour of extra rest every day.

During work, they would rather finish the work first and then rest. In other words, this last half hour is actually dispensable.

Then there were more meat and eggs in the meals, and the salary was increased by one dollar and fifty cents.

Calculated in this way, most workers' income could reach about thirty-nine to forty dollars, and the monthly income of workers with a little skill had already exceeded the average.

After the dock management company received feedback from Lans, they obviously breathed a sigh of relief. Then they began to contact those skilled workers.

This time, the salary increase they gave was very large, with the minimum increase being two dollars and the maximum being five dollars.

After a busy day of sorting things out, the next step was to transport the workers to the docks.

In the evening, rumbling trucks shuttled back and forth between the industrial area and the docks. People living on both sides of this road were already used to it.

Either the factory was sending the produced goods to the docks to wait for shipment, or the raw materials that had just disembarked at the docks were being sent to the factory for processing.

When a large number of uniformly dressed workers appeared here, it still made the workers at the docks feel a trace of indescribable feeling.

Early the next morning, when the striking workers were preparing for a new day of strike, someone suddenly told them that the port had begun to resume work.

This made many workers incredulously run back to the docks!

Docks No. 1 to No. 3 had fully resumed work. They watched those unfamiliar workers working clumsily at the docks. Even if they were stupid, they knew that these were people transferred from other places by the dock management company!

"What to do?" When the workers and worker representatives saw this scene, they were a little panicked!

The Labor Union promised them that the dock service company would definitely compromise, but now, not only did they not compromise, but they also recruited a group of people to replace them!

Most of the people here have worked for the docks for many years, some for a few years, and some for more than ten years, and some for decades!

Although the company has not told them that they are no longer needed, they can feel the sense of urgency!

Soon they contacted the people from the Labor Union. The people from the Labor Union, like them, were unwilling to see this scene, so the news quickly spread, and at the same time, they also figured out the origins of these workers!

"These are all refugees, people who came to the Federation through smuggling or other illegal means. Employing them violates the law. We will talk to the dock service company."

"If they do not immediately dismiss these illegal workers, then our Labor Union and the Dock Workers' Union will jointly sue them for infringing on the legitimate interests of the federal workers!"

The people from the Labor Union came to take a look and came to this conclusion.

According to the current laws of the Federation, there is indeed such a regulation that if you use illegal workers, you will face administrative penalties.

If they fine them one hundred dollars per person, they say there are at least several thousand workers here, which is a penalty of hundreds of thousands!

The people from the Labor Union did not believe that the dock service company could withstand such a large penalty, so they were not nervous at all, and even planned to collect some evidence before going to the dock service company.

They also advised other striking workers not to worry, because these tricks would eventually be proven useless!

But at this moment, Senator Cleveland had just finished a call with the President, which was part of the plan.

That night, the President delivered a public speech at the Presidential Palace.

In view of the fact that the war on the Tanfite continent has already broken out, a large number of refugees from Tanfite have poured into various cities in the Federation, which has had a certain impact on the original environment of the cities.

Originally, the federal government should not have kept them and should have deported them.

But in the spirit of humanitarianism, the President agreed that local governments should handle the situation with limited scope, arranging the lives and work of these refugees.

But the premise is that the federal government will not allocate funds.

In other words, if local governments are willing to arrange it, they should find a way to arrange it themselves and pay for it themselves.

If they are unwilling to arrange it, they do not need to deport them.

The President also talked about the issue of illegal immigrants. He admitted that he had mentioned these issues during the campaign. He is currently actively communicating with the cabinet and plans to provide a channel and standard for illegal immigrants to obtain legal immigrant status through legislation.

These messages sparked huge public debate within the Federation that night. For the first time, the federal government has faced up to the illegal immigrant community that has made important contributions to the rapid development of the Federation.

This also made many illegal immigrants shed tears of happiness. The air in the Federation is not only sweet, but the water is also sweet, and now even the hearts of the people are sweet!

These words, which seemed to say something but didn't seem to say anything, instead gave local governments a great degree of freedom.

For example, in Goldport City, as long as the state government does not object, then employing refugees within the state is legal—

It must be refugees, not illegal immigrants!

More people began to appear at the docks to work, and the strike in Goldport City seemed to have entered a fork in the road.

And as the first billing day approached, some families could no longer hold on!

"We should talk to them. More and more refugees are starting to replace our jobs. What if the dock management company directly fires us?"

Someone loudly advocated his own point of view, and many people around him supported him.

But some people also believe that they should continue to resist, which is represented by the people from the Labor Union and the industry union.

The dock service company is not communicating with them anymore, which makes them anxious!

They are afraid that if they continue to strike, they will really lose their jobs.

In the end, the deterrent power of a strike lies in stopping all work. Once they can't do this, the strike becomes meaningless!

Someone suddenly complained, "It's all your fault. Dave and his people have already returned to work, and I heard that they have re-signed contracts with the company!"

"Why didn't you agree in the first place?!" He pointed the finger at the worker representatives.

The worker representatives also looked shocked, "We didn't agree because you didn't agree, wasn't it?"

The worker's neck was red with anger. "You're the ones who went to the meeting, you're the ones who went to negotiate. If you don't let us agree, we won't agree! I don't even know what kind of meeting you had or what kind of negotiations you held!"

The worker representatives were also seething with anger, just like Big Beard had said to Lance.

If they agreed, but the workers didn't, then even if they signed an agreement with the company, it would be meaningless, because the workers could refuse to acknowledge their signatures and continue to cause trouble.

It's the same now. They don't agree, but the company is forcing the workers to agree. Now, the workers are throwing the responsibility back on them, the worker representatives. Who could be happy about that?

The representative from the labor union gave his assistant a look, and the latter immediately began to soothe both sides. "We're all in this together, remember?"

"As long as we're united, no one can stand against us!"

"We can continue to negotiate with them, and even find a way to get these refugees out of the docks..."

He coughed. "...drive them out, just like last year!"