Chapter 382: 383. Chapter 378: In the Matter, In the Middle of the Matter, Outside the Matter

383. Chapter 378: In the Matter, In the Middle of the Matter, Outside the Matter

Edward (the son of the Dock Management Company director) sat in the corner of the conference room; he was following his father.

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

The executive director presided over the board of directors and the company's daily work, and the rotating director was responsible for assisting from the side.

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

Edward's attention had always been on a few people: James, whom he knew; he and James could be considered friends.

New Jincheng was big, but the Bay Area was small; he and James had exchanges and attended the same parties.

Both were the same, sitting in the position against the wall, only able to listen, unable to speak, unable to take the initiative to talk.

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

When he got this list, he felt it was incredible why such a person who couldn't get on the stage would appear on this list.

He even suspected that someone had made a mistake, until his father told him that this list was personally drawn up by Congressman Jeffrey, and he gave up that idea.

Why was he here?

In fact, many people had such questions. Their gazes also constantly touched Lanse, and Lanse sat on his chair steadily as if he hadn't noticed.

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

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

Edward's father had a regretful and apologetic look, "Congressman, I am the rotating director of the New Jincheng Dock Management Company; I will answer this question for you."

"First, the reason why our board of directors couldn't pass it internally comes from three aspects."

"First, if we agree to their request to reduce working hours, it is equivalent to them paying the same amount of labor, and we need to pay them an extra wage of three dollars and thirty cents per month."

"Or, they are taking the same money now, but only doing 90% of the work they did before; this must be equivalent to a disguised wage increase, and it is a very large part."

"Second, the dock lunch might not have much meat and eggs, but it can definitely make people full. If we increase more meat and eggs and other food, the meal standard will increase. Even if the standard only increases by three to five cents a day, there will be at least one dollar of expenditure per month."

"Third, the wage increase of at least one dollar and seventy-five cents they proposed, if independent, we might be able to complete the negotiation as soon as possible and set it down."

"But this one dollar and seventy-five cents added to the previous four dollars and thirty cents—if we agree to their conditions, it is equivalent to increasing their income by more than six dollars per month; the one-time increase exceeded 15%, which is very unreasonable."

"This will increase our expenditure, so we can only cut jobs and increase the workers' work to balance the numerical relationship of wage expenditure."

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

When the workers heard this, they made mocking sounds. These people sat on the chairs, and in fact, they were somewhat out of place with the atmosphere at the scene.

They wore blue T-shirts, wore suspenders, some also wore fur balls, were unkempt, and their bodies were wide and big, just like a giant sitting on a child's chair, even having to shrink their shoulders.

They looked at the director with unkind eyes, and the big beard even mocked, "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, "I can't call out your names, but the wages we paid you allowed you to support yourself and your family."

Several workers didn't speak when they heard this, because he was indeed not wrong.

Congressman Cleveland held his forehead and looked at the content on the document, "It says here that several workers were beaten; which ones are they?"

Qiangni stood up, and there was another person. The congressman looked at him, "Why did they beat you?"

Qiangni described the process of his grievance simply, as well as the manager threatening to fire him, "I have worked for the docks for more than ten years; he has no right to fire me without me making a mistake!"

Congressman Cleveland looked at Edward's father, who explained, "That manager has been suspended and is going through the dismissal process."

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

"Yes, sir."

"Look, in fact, both of our sides are constantly pushing these problems; the conflict shouldn't have escalated and upgraded so quickly."

"It's just some small misunderstandings!", he used his thumb and index finger to compare a very small distance, "We can sit down and talk now, which shows that both of our sides are willing to continue to push."

"You put forward demands, and the Dock Management Company side also gave feedback; this is very good."

"In this way, we continue to work hard toward each other and see if we can solve this problem faster."

"You lower the requirements a little bit, don't ask for such a reduction in working hours, or find a balance point."

He looked at Edward's father again, "You also don't think about not paying; I've seen it, you indeed haven't raised wages for a long time."

"You also try to take a few steps forward; although I haven't seen your report, I know your profit can definitely support these expenditures."

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

Another rotating director wanted to refute. He just said "Sir" when he opened his mouth, but was stopped by Congressman Cleveland raising his hand, "I don't want to hear these; you go back to have a meeting, and then tell me the result, instead of convincing me, understand?"

He pointed to this person, watched the other party close his mouth, and then nodded satisfactorily, "Look, in fact, there is no difficulty; 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 beside him was the general representative of the Federal Labor Union. What he represented was all skilled workers in all industries in the Federation—of course, this was the Labor Union's statement.

As for whether he could really represent the skilled workers in the whole industry to speak, that had to be asked to himself, as well as the thoughts of every person who was represented.

But at this moment, he indeed represented these people.

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

Congressman Cleveland organized the documents on the desktop, "Please speak."

This general representative's gaze stayed on Qiangni and the other worker for a while, and then transferred to the rotating director of the Dock Management Company, "Regardless of whether it was you who ordered it, they beat the workers; this is their fault."

"The Federation has a perfect legal and disciplinary system; since they broke the law, they should be severely punished by the law."

"I hope you can compensate our two worker brothers for the medical expenses, mental damage fees, etc. they deserve, and at the same time send the people who beat others to be handled by the law."

"We advocate solving problems rationally, not using fists and sticks!"

"How long has slavery ended? Why is there still such a bad act of beating

Watching his voice grow louder and louder, with an attitude that clearly said, "As long as you dare to shake your heads, I will push for a strike," Senator Cleveland quickly said with a smile, "The ideological level of some people indeed cannot keep up with the development of the times, but most people are still qualified."

"I believe that after this lesson, the dock management company will definitely be more cautious and careful in its employment practices."

"Of course, what the General Representative said is also very correct. Compensation should be paid where it is due, and legal procedures should be followed where they are required. As long as it is a crime, it cannot be condoned!"

He looked again at the representative of the Dock Workers' General Union sitting to the side, "Your dock workers' union needs to be a little busier and act as a bridge for communication. Strive to help both sides resolve the problem as soon as possible; this is what you should be doing most."

The representatives who were observing did not express anything; they just listened quietly. Senator Cleveland cursed a few times in his heart, but on the surface, he still maintained a very enthusiastic appearance.

Finally, he looked at Lans and the others who had not spoken, "We can express any views you want to say here today. There are no senators, and there are no workers; we are all citizens of the Federation."

This sentence made Lans want to laugh. He thought of a joke where someone actually believed it, and their outcome was not very good.

However, he would not show it, as that would make him stand out too much.

It was just that even if he wanted to hide, he might not be able to hide completely.

"Mr. White," Senator Cleveland called out a surname, and no one, including Lans, reacted immediately.

The others did not react because they were not "Mr. White," and Lans did not react because very few people addressed him that way.

But it was only a matter of a second or two before he nodded slightly, "Senator, sir."

"I heard that you have given the worker brothers a lot of help?"

Lans was not quite sure what he meant, "That is the case, sir." Senator Cleveland nodded slightly, "This negotiation requires the cooperation and promotion of multiple parties; this is a collaboration."

"Including you, and including you all..." he looked at the others, "We are all striving toward the same goal. I hope that each of us is working hard, rather than holding others back."

"If there is anything, give me a call. Before these problems are solved, I will not leave New Jincheng for the time being."

"Then..." he looked at the people around him, and after they all indicated they had nothing else to say, he said with a smile, "... let's stop here for today. We have successfully taken the first step."

"See you in two days!"

"I hope that by then we will already be able to have a perfect solution!"

After he finished speaking, he packed up his things and stood up, and the others followed suit.

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

Lans followed everyone in giving a brief round of applause, walking at the back of the crowd and heading outside with the others.

Just as he was about to get into his car to leave, a staff member with an obviously arrogant attitude came to his side.

This arrogance was well hidden; it was probably like a wealthy person in the city meeting a poor relative from the countryside—very enthusiastic, hypocritically enthusiastic.

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

"Mr. Lans, I am Tang Mu from the Senator's office. There are some things I would like to chat with you about."

Lans, who had already opened the car door, turned around to look at him, "Of course."

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

This was not a question, nor was it a request; it was a declarative statement.

Regardless of whether Lans agreed or not, he intended to ignore those honorifics or titles.

"Lans, I heard that you have a lot of prestige at the docks."

"And many people in the labor agency you run work at the docks."

"They are more willing to listen to what you say. See if you can talk to them and have a portion of the workers return to work first—the portion under your management."

Lans maintained his smile throughout, "Is this your idea, or the Senator's idea?"

He tried to reach out to put his arm around Lans, but Lans blocked him.

This caused Tang Mu's face to show some embarrassment and annoyance, but thinking of Senator Cleveland's attitude toward work, he could only force a smile.

He clapped his hands together in front of him with a 'pop', "Sorry, Lans, perhaps my attitude is a bit of a problem."

"This is my idea. We all hope that order at the docks will be restored as quickly as possible, right?"

Lans nodded slightly, "You are right, we all hope for that."

This sentence made Tang Mu breathe a sigh of relief, though he was also secretly annoyed in his heart; he suddenly felt that he was being led by the nose by Lans.

But this was a task the Senator had given him. If he did it well, it was his duty and his job; he not only got his salary but also political dividends.

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

"So..." he asked tentatively, but Lans didn't take the bait, so he could only continue, "Friends?"

This time, he extended his hand. Lans glanced at his hand and also smiled as he extended his own, "I will talk to them, but I cannot guarantee what kind of result will come of it."

Tang Mu nodded repeatedly. He had already begun to restrain his emotions and temper. Having traveled across the country with the Senator, he had seen all kinds of people, and he could adjust very quickly; otherwise, he wouldn't have stayed with the Senator for so long.

"This is my temporary phone number in New Jincheng..." He took a card and gave it to Lans; it was the kind customized by the hotel.

Like a business card, it had the hotel's location, room number, and the room's phone number, but the rest of the space was blank.

Some temporary guests might need to work locally for a period of time, and they only needed to write their own names on it to send it out.

This avoided the need to go and print a separate set of business cards, as printing business cards was not such a simple matter in this era.

Of course, these small cards were not free; they charged ten cents for each one, and it was up to you whether you used them or not.

Lans took a look and tucked it away. In fact, compared to this worthless little card of Tang Mu's, he would rather have chatted with the Senator.

Even if it were just to get to know him.

It was just that this was obviously very difficult and not very realistic.

"Good."

The two shook hands again, and after Lans got into the car, Tang Mu walked a few steps after him.

When he returned to the hotel, Senator Cleveland happened to have a moment, "Did you talk to him?"

Tang Mu appeared exceptionally humble at this moment, like a docile house cat; even his previously stiff eyebrows had softened and relaxed, "Yes, I talked to him. He will try to communicate with those people."

Senator Cleveland took a puff of the cigarette in his hand, "Do you think he is obedient?"

Tang Mu shook his head, "He is not very obedient, and he is a bit different from the average person."

As he spoke, he couldn't help but laugh and recounted what had just happened. Senator Cleveland frowned, "Do you know why I don't like this era?"

Tang Mu and the others all shook their heads. He continued, "Because everyone is questioning authority!"

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

If you question authority, your teacher will praise you, and the friends and classmates you know will also praise you.

If you go to challenge "authority"—of course, referring to those false authorities that are not true authorities—then even more people will praise you for having the federal spirit of freedom, adventure, and challenge!

But young people cannot distinguish between what is "true authority" and what is "false authority," and this is where some of the trouble lies.

He quickly moved past this topic, "That Jonny at the meeting today and the other person, the guy sitting in the second seat to his left..."

"Dave, sir."

"Yes, Dave. These two people frequently looked at Lans; Lans can influence their decisions."

"Continue to maintain smooth communication with Lans. If there are any problems, contact me in time."

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

Not long after Lans's car left the hotel, Vaughn stood by the side of the road and waved at him.

"Pull over."

The motorcade stopped slowly on the side, and Vaughn looked at him, "The Labor Federation and the union are going to have a gathering here. Will you come with us?"

Lans had a basis for going; the Lans White Rating Method had already begun to be piloted in some areas, and he could also be considered half a member of the Labor Federation, even though he was not a worker.

In fact, Lans didn't really want to go. Perhaps noticing that his expression was a bit troubled, Vaughn said softly, "They might not want to end the strike so quickly."

This sentence made Lans's eyebrows stand up immediately, "What good does it do us to drag out the strike?"

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

Since the people from the Labor Federation had come, they certainly had to take a bite out of Congress before they could leave; the same was true for other industry unions.

Lans picked at his ear and signaled for Vaughn to get in the car, "Ride in my car."