Due to the strike, work at the docks had come to a complete standstill, and many business representatives were worried sick.
While they sought solutions from the dock management company, they were also actively looking everywhere for temporary workers at high prices to help them load their ships.
Some were also actively contacting the striking workers, hoping they could take some time to load their own goods onto the ships or unload goods from the ships.
For some of the more specialized jobs, such as operating large machinery for loading and unloading, hiring temporary workers was not an option; they had to find specialists.
Moreover, the dock management company would not allow those who were not trained to operate the large machinery. If it were to break, they would face huge losses.
If kneeling down to the striking gentlemen could get them back to their jobs, perhaps the capitalists in front of the striking crowd would already be on their knees.
Although most of the time it was the capitalists who were the predators, now, they had become the prey.
After all, commercial claims were no joke. Whether it was a large or small enterprise, they might not be able to withstand a lawsuit related to such claims.
If it were a normal, long-term trade relationship, the situation might be better. For example, if two companies had been cooperating for many years, the contracts would be signed with some leeway.
After all, the two parties were considered friends, and on the basis of mutual respect, some leeway could be given.
But some enterprises were different; they couldn’t even be called enterprises.
There are many companies active internationally that live by “eating orders.” Their main source of profit is the penalty for breach of contract.
For example, they would sign a contract that is relatively strict on the supplying enterprise, requiring the defect rate to be below a certain level and having a relatively strict delivery time.
Assuming it takes thirty days to manufacture this batch of goods and meet this qualification rate, these people would sign a contract with them for a thirty-day delivery, or even a twenty-eight-day delivery.
If the supplier fails to complete the quality inspection and load the goods on board within the specified time, they will sue the supplying enterprise for breach of contract and claim the liquidated damages required in the contract.
Often, this penalty is quite high. To make the other party willing to sign the contract and bear the excessively high liquidated damages, they often give the other party more profit margin, using profit to entice them.
If the supplying enterprise can complete the production task with guaranteed quality and quantity within the fixed time and get the goods on the ship…
Fine, then they have failed this time. They would sell these goods directly at the price they got them for, or even a little lower. For these companies, what they lose is only time. They might lose some money, but definitely not much.
Or they could just forfeit the deposit and disappear.
It’s impossible for these supplying enterprises to actually go to the foreign country where the ordering company is located to find the operator of this possibly non-existent company and have them pay the final balance.
But if the supplying enterprise cannot deliver on time, they will immediately file a claim and a lawsuit. Then, they might earn back one or two times the total price of the order, or even more, in profit from this order.
It’s just like the grape contract Lance signed with the Liji Agricultural Group. He was willing to accept a higher offer, releasing the profit margin to the Liji Group, but the Liji Group had to agree to a five-fold penalty for breach of contract.
However, a super-interest group like the Liji Group has the ability and capital to default on debts, while most small and medium-sized enterprises do not. If a claim is made against them, they must pay the compensation.
Some even worse companies would even arrange for people to sabotage the production site of the supplying enterprise, making it impossible for them to deliver on time.
Many times, the supplying enterprises can only pinch their noses and accept it, because the contract states very clearly that failure to deliver within the specified time is a breach of contract and requires payment of liquidated damages.
This situation happens every day in Golden Port. Many people know about this, but they are still willing to accept such orders.
In fact, many small and medium-sized enterprises know about this kind of order. But because the person placing the order, in order to get a higher penalty, will leave a large profit margin for the supplying enterprise.
Some enterprises even think it’s a good thing if the other party runs off, because they have received the deposit and produced the goods. By selling off this part of the goods at a low price, the profit can still be guaranteed.
And, having an order is always better than having no order.
They can’t refuse such high profits. Even if they know there are risks, they will grit their teeth and take a gamble.
Now, the docks have started to strike. This means that many small and medium-sized enterprises will be hit hard and may even go bankrupt as a result.
Those capitalists who used to shit and piss on the workers’ heads also began to feel helpless. Some even started to wail.
But none of this could change the situation of the strike.
The workers gathered together with hearts of stone, shouting slogans and waving placards. They would not go to work until the dock management company agreed to a pay raise.
For a whole day, the workers showed no sign of backing down, which also made some people try to shift the pressure to the dock management company.
After all, the workers’ side was indeed a bit difficult to deal with. On the contrary, getting the dock management company to give them a raise seemed less difficult.
Dave was a worker representative. He was over fifty years old and had worked at the docks for almost his entire life.
He had been working at the docks since he was seventeen, right up until now.
Although his position had been promoted, his salary had not increased much. It was barely higher than the Federation’s standard wage; he could get forty-five fifty.
For most workers, this salary was not low, but for him, who had worked his whole life to get this salary, it was still too little.
In this strike, his personal demand was to have his salary raised to at least forty-seven, with a target of forty-eight.
He supported the strike because he had two sons. The eldest was already married and planned to have a child soon.
Regardless of whether his eldest son would move out of his house, it meant that the family’s expenses would increase significantly in the near future.
One or two dollars might not seem like much, but what he wanted was not just one or two dollars, but for the dock management company to affirm and accept the matter of a pay raise.
Then, with a raise every six months, it wouldn’t be long before his income could exceed fifty dollars. In three to five years, it might be over fifty, and the financial pressure would be greatly reduced.
Coming home from the docks, just as he pushed open the door, he saw three tough-looking guys sitting on the old sofa in the living room.
He also saw his wife, his two children, and his eldest son’s wife in the dining room.
“Who are you?” he hesitated for a moment, didn’t lock the door, and walked straight in.
One of the men was playing with a dagger in his hand. He glanced at Dave. “Dave?”
Dave nodded. “That’s me.” He walked in front of his family, becoming a wall between these men and his family.
All three stood up. The young man playing with the dagger sheathed it and walked up to Dave.
Dave raised his arms, protecting his family on one side, and motioning for the other party not to come any closer on the other. He was a little nervous.
After all, these people didn’t look like good people. As the man of this family, he was like a lion protecting his territory and his pride. “Stay away from us!”
The young man pursed his lips and stopped with his hands spread. “You shouldn’t have participated in the strike, Dave.”
“If you don’t want to see us here again, then you’d better be back at your post on time tomorrow morning to start work, instead of participating in those boring strike games.”
“If you do that, I promise you and your family will not see us again.”
“If you can’t…” the young man showed a slight smile, “you see, we know where you live, and we’ve met your family.”
“I know you don’t want to get hurt, right?”
Dave didn’t speak. The man still had a smile on his face. “You’d better think about it carefully tonight, and discuss it with your family.”
“Really, there’s no need to let things get out of hand for the sake of one or two dollars.”
Dave was clearly very angry. If he were only twenty now, he would spit in this person’s face and then tell him to get out of his house with a kitchen knife.
But now, he was in his fifties, and behind him was the biggest weakness of his life.
He wasn’t actually very attached to his family, or rather, he would usually find his family annoying.
His wife was always nagging non-stop, and about very small things, like the price of vegetables going up, the price of beef going down, and so on. He didn’t like to listen at all.
His two sons, apart from asking him for money, rarely had direct communication with him.
It might have been better when they were younger, but as they grew up and had their own social circles, that “all-powerful dad” had gradually left their lives.
They were more often with their friends than with their family.
He didn’t like these people very much. Sometimes he would even think how good it would be if they all disappeared.
But at this moment, he suddenly felt that long-lost sense of responsibility. He was the head of the family, he had to protect his family’s safety, and this was his biggest weakness.
He looked at the person opposite him, did not speak, did not tell the other party to get lost, nor did he directly refuse, just remained silent.
The young man knew his goal was achieved. He raised his hands to show he was harmless. “Alright, what needed to be said has been said, I should be leaving now.”
“Dave, think it over carefully, whether it’s worth it or not!”
“This time we can still stand here and talk properly, but next time…” he showed a meaningful smile, and then left.
The three of them swaggered away. Dave quickly went over and closed the door. He turned to look at his family, who were full of worry, and for a moment didn’t know what to say.
His wife looked at him, still shaken. “What have you done?”
Actually, Dave hadn’t done anything. He had told his family about the situation at the docks, that everyone was on strike, and he was one of the supporters of the strike.
“Tomorrow…” his wife was a little hesitant.
Dave sighed. “I’ll think about it again.”
“Why don’t you guys go to the countryside for a few days?”
Dave still didn’t want to give up this opportunity. Not only did he not want to give up, he also didn’t want to be a traitor.
Everyone was very supportive of the strike. If he went back to his post, he would become a traitor to the strike, and it would be very difficult for him to continue working at the docks.
He was already a low-level manager. What would the people under him think of him?
It would be hard for him to gain a foothold at the docks in the future.
His two sons said nothing and went back to their rooms. His wife held his hand worriedly. “They are a gang. We can’t win against them.”
Dave pursed his lips. “I said, I’ll consider it.”
In fact, it wasn’t just Dave’s family that had encountered this situation. Many others had also been harassed by the gang. Some decided on the spot to withdraw from the strike, but some were still holding on.
The next morning, Dave tidied himself up and came to the docks. He saw many people.
The expressions on these people’s faces were all a bit strange, as if they had something on their minds.
Although his test scores in school never exceeded a C, at this moment, he could figure out what kind of situation these people had encountered.
“…uh…” a man stood out, in his thirties, a crane operator.
His child had just started elementary school, and he earned forty-two fifty a month, which was a notch above the average person’s salary.
When he spoke, everyone looked at him. He looked very embarrassed, but considering the fright his wife and child had received last night, he gritted his teeth and finally chose to follow his heart.
His salary was not low to begin with. There was no need to take this risk for a dollar and a half. “I quit.”
When he finished speaking, a burly man next to him suddenly walked over and grabbed him by the collar. “What the fuck are you saying?”
The two were actually good friends. His friend couldn’t believe that someone would quit at this time.
The crane operator had an embarrassed and ashamed expression. He looked at the various gazes cast by the people, and finally, he decided to tell the truth.
He still wanted to continue working at the docks, so he had to tell the truth.
“Last night, a few gang members came to my house. They threatened me and my family. If I don’t quit, they will take measures.”
“My child is still young. I want to continue the strike and be with you all, but… I can’t!” His face showed some pain. “I can’t just sit and watch them threaten my family, and I can’t resist them. They are a gang…”
After hearing this, Johnny stood up. “Don’t be in a hurry to make a decision. I’m going to make a phone call.”
In the office, people were constantly coming in and out. The conflict between the Empire District and the Port District was also beginning to heat up, with both sides starting to engage in tentative firefights.
Yesterday, there were several clashes in the Empire District. Both sides had losses, but they were not large.
“So far, they have all been minor frictions. Wolf’s own people have not appeared. The ones we’ve caught are all newly established small local gangs.”
“They’ve been incorporated into the Wolf Gang. Wolf told them that whoever captures the territory, it will be theirs.”
Lance nodded while smoking his cigarette. “I don’t care if they are locals or not. They bared their teeth at us, so we’ll deal with them.”
“Any news on Wolf and that Professor guy?”
Bolton nodded. “They are in an arcade, surrounded by their people, probably seventy or eighty, or even a hundred or more. If we actively attack, we might have some casualties.”
Attacking someone’s heavily defended headquarters on their own turf was indeed not a smart decision. Lance scratched his head. “Do you know where all their bars are?”
“The best way now is to force them not to huddle together. As long as they don’t huddle together, we can dismantle them bit by bit.”
Bolton looked troubled. “I’m still checking. We don’t have many eyes in the Port District.”
He was telling the truth, and Lance didn’t blame him. Just as he was about to arrange some other work, the phone suddenly rang.
The room immediately fell silent. He picked up the phone. “This is Lance.”
“Mr. Lance?”
“It’s Johnny. We’ve run into some trouble…”
After patiently listening to Johnny explain what trouble he had encountered, Lance suddenly felt… perhaps there was a change in this matter.
“Bring some people over, to the company. I’ll talk to them.”
After hanging up, Lance looked at them. “There might be a way.”
Looking at the inquiring gazes of the others, Lance explained, “The Wolf Gang’s people have threatened the striking workers at the docks, telling them to quit the strike.”
“We don’t know where the bars are in the Port District, but these workers definitely do!”
“They are native Port District people. They know the environment there better than we do.”
This sentence invigorated everyone.
Everyone knew that actively attacking the arcade was not the right choice, but if they couldn’t continue to expand their gains, it would inevitably make people feel a bit anxious.
If they could get the locations of the Wolf Gang’s bars through the Port District workers, the pressure would be shifted to the Wolf Gang’s side.
If they chose to send people to strengthen the defense of the bars, it would inevitably weaken the defense of their headquarters.
If they chose not to send people to strengthen the defense of the bars, then Lance and his crew would take out all the bars.
For a gang, wealth and economy are very important things.
One of the reasons for the Camille Gang’s demise was that their funds couldn’t keep up.
Ammunition, pensions, medical expenses.
Now, a gunshot wound could easily cost one or two thousand in surgery fees. This part of the cost alone was a huge expense.
Lance had paid more than twenty thousand in surgery fees yesterday.
A gang war, without hundreds of thousands, simply couldn’t be sustained.
Half an hour later, Johnny brought some people to the company. Lance received them in his office.
Dave was also there. He looked at these young men who clearly didn’t look like good people and was a little nervous. At the same time, his gaze towards Johnny had also changed slightly.
He knew Lance and knew that Lance was the one who had broken Johnny’s arm, but he didn’t know that Johnny could still bring them to see Lance now.
This guy he had always thought he knew well had suddenly become a stranger.
“…I heard from Johnny about your situation, and I am very sympathetic and angry about what happened to you.”
“The people who threatened you are from the Wolf Gang. Coincidentally, I also have a grudge against them. So, helping me is helping yourselves!”
(End of chapter)