Blackstone Code

The power of the Workers' Union in the Baylor Federation stemed from their role—mediating and controlling labor relations.

When workers held the upper hand, the union would align with capitalists to help suppress the workforce. This was easy enough to achieve by offering capitalists a steady supply of cheaper labor, forcing unruly workers to submit to the Workers' Union.

When capitalists were stronger, the union only needed to organize a few strikes during peak production times, pushing the capitalists to agree to all union demands without hesitation. After all, a breach of contract would not only jeopardise a business deal but also incur massive costs and penalties.

The Workers' Union had various methods to balance the power between workers and capitalists, which was why the workers' faction was the largest in the socialist party.

These representatives gave the working class across the federation a voice in politics. Though not always loud, this voice was impossible to ignore.

But if Lynch bypassed the Workers' Union, skipped over the traditional factory setup, and directly engaged with workers—essentially upgrading them to small workshop owners—then there were no longer employer-employee relationships. The Workers' Union would lose its purpose.

The Workers' Union couldn't afford to take such a risk by agreeing to Lynch's proposal, which was precisely what the union relied on: their control over workers' choices across the federation.

When they sent out staff to convince workers that something was a capitalist conspiracy, these workers—many without higher education and some only barely literate—were easily drawn into the lies.

Add in a few strikes, some free fried chicken and beer, and the union could stifle any response. This system of controlling the worker base had become second nature, both for the union and the workers.

This was a blatant attempt to probe, as well as a reminder from the union president of his and the union's boundaries.

No matter what Lynch intended, he must include some involvement from the Workers' Union. Only then could the union maintain its power and function, and continue leveraging the strength of millions of workers to pursue wealth and political influence.

Lynch gave a slight smile, looking at the men across from him, some feigning calm, others smiling. Suddenly, he thought of his neighbor's dog.

That was an amusing dog—it would greet every resident with a goofy grin, tongue hanging out, tail wagging, but would snarl at any residential compound workers, sometimes even barking ferociously.

It was a dog with a certain wisdom, knowing how to survive. Looking at these men, Lynch couldn't help but be reminded of that dog.

"You know, I'm still young," Lynch said with a smile, "I still want to study, and I have a lot to manage. I can't personally find every suitable household to handle my orders. I need someone to do that for me.

"Find the right families in need of help, give them short training, assign them some tasks or orders, and ideally, store the products in a designated place.

"All I want to do is look at the finished goods and pay. Am I being clear enough?"

The union members exchanged glances, and finally, the president gave a noncommittal smile. "We need to discuss this, Mr. Lynch. We'll need to consult with some experts to determine if this is suitable and legal. You know, sometimes we think something's right, but we may be mistaken."

The president's tone shifted noticeably, using vague phrases to respond to Lynch, though this time it wasn't mere evasion.

In negotiations, three types of stances would generally arise. First, there's outright opposition, which leaves no room for further discussion. The second is strong agreement, where they discuss deeper issues to convey a clear signal.

The third is the ambiguous stance, a "maybe" that suggests indecision, making it difficult to predict. In reality, this third type isn't ambiguous at all.

If they truly wanted to reject him, they wouldn't take this stance. For example, if Lynch had proposed bypassing the Workers' Union entirely, they would have coldly asked him to leave.

In negotiations, not rejecting is often a sign of acceptance.

The so-called "discussion" was just a formality. They would figure out how to gain more benefits, define their position, and then return to negotiate with Lynch.

Such negotiations rarely conclude in a day. Lynch agreed to their request, they exchanged a few minor details, scheduled the next meeting, and parted ways.

Negotiations can be lengthy or brief. Take, for example, an incident during the armistice negotiations in this world war: allies from both sides had just sat down and hadn't even had time to say a word when the foreign minister of Gevra abruptly tore up the document in front of him. He spat out a few ill-timed curses, declared the war would not end, and then stormed out of the negotiation room. This whole session lasted only under a hundred seconds, though each country had prepared for a week.

Leaving the Workers' Union office, Lynch knew the deal was practically done. The rest was simply for the union to create the illusion of a tough negotiation, and perhaps try to get more out of him.

Indeed, as soon as Lynch left, the union president closed the door for a private meeting.

"What do you all think?" The president's smile had faded. With the door closed, a stern authority settled on him.

People who could reach this level weren't ordinary. For the president, just one more step could see him become a politician, and he already possessed the skills of one.

A man beside him cleared his throat and said. "I don't see any major issues. We still hold the initiative. If Lynch resists us, we can use the same tactics we use against capitalists."

The union's tactics against capitalists included strikes, protests, demonstrations, environmental inspections, and pressure from human rights organizations. They had plenty of methods.

However, the president frowned slightly. "It's not that simple. Previously, the workers sided with us because we protected their ‘rights.' But this time, Lynch is different from our past opponents."

Leaning back, he fiddled with a pen on the desk. "Previously, we could use legal regulations to control both sides. When workers wanted to rebel, we gave capitalists cheap labor. When capitalists wanted to upend the table, we pulled out the legal clauses. We could always make both sides comply. Lynch is different.

"He doesn't have an employment relationship with these workers, meaning we can't use existing legal clauses to bind his actions. If he becomes dissatisfied, his actions will only add pressure on us."

The president tossed the pen onto his notebook. "If he suddenly ends the cooperation, workers would immediately lose their jobs. We can't use lawsuits or hefty fines to force him to comply with our demands.

"He can ignore us entirely, because we have no leverage over him. There's no legal solution to this. We would instead become the target of those small workshop owners' anger.

"If Lynch incites them, these people might believe we caused them to lose their orders. They might cause us trouble, and we'd have no effective way to counter him."

The man beside the president frowned as well. "Should we turn him down?"

"Turn him down?" The president was taken aback. "Of course not. Although we can't gain much advantage in Lynch's arrangement with those workers, we can still benefit.

"Besides, Lynch's model only applies to low-tech light industries, where we have the weakest control. We can work with him."

In the light industry, many jobs were low-skill and had low entry requirements; some could be started with minimal training. More importantly, many small and medium-sized light industry companies had very lax management over their employees and typically did not have any formal long-term employment contracts with their workers.

These small companies would expand their workforce when they had orders and cut it down when orders were completed, so the union's oversight was weak.

The Workers' Union's real power lay in large, tech-dependent corporations and heavy industries. These industries were clearly more dependent on their workers than low-skill light industries, with a more stable workforce and a higher proportion of skilled roles.

The workers in these industries were also more inclined to cooperate with the Workers' Union, as they understood that, to secure better treatment from capitalists, they needed the union to advocate on their behalf.Please vote for this novel at https://www.novelupdates.com/series/blackstone-code/There are advance chapters available nowAccess will be granted 24 hours after the donationTier 1: 7 Advance chapters Link

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