Upon hearing the word "strike," Perfikot instantly felt her blood pressure rising. Discover more novels at ⓝovelFire.net
At a time when she's trying every possible way to improve construction efficiency, having someone play tricks to slow down the construction progress is really infuriating for her.
Almost immediately, Perfikot wanted to order a suppression of the strike.
But she quickly forced herself to calm down because the White Bear Knight reported that there was only talk of a strike, rather than an actual strike starting.
In this situation, it means there is still room for easing the tensions, and not necessarily to the point of becoming so intense.
So after taking a deep breath, Perfikot steadied her skyrocketing blood pressure and asked the White Bear Knight, "What exactly happened? Are these workers so full that they want to strike!"
"It's because a worker was identified as a wanted criminal; an Engineer recognized him and wanted to hand him over to the Police Station, but the group of workers insisted that he is their coworker and didn't allow the Engineer to take him away, leading to a conflict between both sides." The White Bear Knight quickly reported the situation to Perfikot and also informed her of their prior investigation results: "We investigated that person, and indeed he is wanted in his hometown due to participating in Langton's labor movement, which is why the Langton Police Station issued a nationwide manhunt for him.
According to Empire laws, upon discovering this person, unless you, Lord, provide special protection, he should be arrested immediately and detained or escorted back to Langton."
"So he's a worker leader?" Perfikot wasn't surprised that the workers wanted to strike for him.
"You could say so." The White Bear Knight answered as such.
Perfikot put down her teacup and shook her head helplessly, then said, "Send a company from the City Guard to the site to maintain order. First, control the key figures on both sides, especially the so-called worker leader and the wanted man, don't let him escape."
"Yes, Lord." The White Bear Knight nodded upon hearing Perfikot's order and immediately turned to execute it.
As for Perfikot herself, she helplessly rubbed her slightly aching forehead, feeling the frustration brought by this incident.
Emotionally speaking, she actually doesn't want to deal with a worker leader.
After all, as long as such individuals are not opportunists, they are people striving for ideals, deserving respect as comrades.
But as a Lord, from a rational standpoint, she still can't allow anyone to influence or sabotage the construction of the Energy Tower, even if it's a labor movement led by such a worker leader.
In fact, this kind of labor movement is what Perfikot hates the most and is the factor most impacting the project.
Compared to suppliers providing inferior goods and shoddy construction, this only increases costs and delays deadlines; as long as Perfikot is tough on them, these issues can still be timely addressed.
But labor movements are different; they can truly and completely disrupt the Energy Tower's construction.
Perfikot has no intention of discriminating against workers, but in this era, most workers are really no different from illiterates, and explaining things to them often ends up being ineffective.
Though some joke that once the splendor of Langton is mentioned, even the beggars on Langton's streets can't help but stand tall, if you talk about how much national and ethnic concept they grasp, that'd be purely overthinking.
Their sense of pride is merely because the Empire, as the world's most powerful country, provides a series of conveniences and benefits to them as Empire citizens.
Patriots also need education; they must at least understand the concept of home and country before talking about patriotism.
By the same token, even if Perfikot were to solemnly tell these workers that the world is about to be destroyed, humanity will face an apocalypse, and the Energy Tower is humanity's only chance to survive this crisis, they would mostly consider Perfikot's words as nonsense, or even think it's a story fabricated by nobles to deceive them.
In this situation, Perfikot finds that suppressing labor movements has become a necessary measure and means to maintain stability.
So, as frustrated as she is, Perfikot still has to leave her office and drive to the construction site to handle this incident.
However, upon arriving at the scene, before she even got out of the car, she heard someone shouting loudly, "Don't believe the nonsense of these government dogs! They just want to drive us back to labor!
They say they paid us wages, but do your salaries honestly match the work you put in?
They say if you work hard, you'll have a good life, but no matter how hard I work, I can't become an Engineer, be a noble, and live a luxurious life!
Think, friends, we work like Palu every day, doing exhausting and menial work in three shifts, yet we earn less than those who sit around doing nothing and still have the nerve to point fingers. Where in the world does this make sense!
We must resist! We must strike! We're done with this! These jobs should also let these folks who only eat and do nothing every day try them out!"
Listening to what this speaker was saying, Perfikot's expression darkened.
If he just mentioned the work was hard and the pay did not match the effort, Perfikot could understand, as worker wages in this era are indeed not high.
Even though she has tried her best to increase the workers' wages, given the era's circumstances, she can't offer very high salaries.
If he complained about effort not yielding rewards, social hierarchy being rigid, workers having no upward mobility, Perfikot wouldn't say much either.
After all, while the Empire allows children of ordinary workers to study and attend university, granting them equal job opportunities upon graduation, the glass ceiling still exists.
Only those who can break this fixed norm with their talents have the real chance of achieving a class breakthrough.
This was also why, when the Old World's three nations declared war on the Empire, the happiest were the young officers nationwide, as it meant they had the chance to earn enough military merits on the battlefield and in exchange, earn a chance to break the glass ceiling.
However, the Seventeen Days War was swiftly ended by Perfikot, and these young officers' promotion opportunities vanished, leaving them quite resentful.
But for these matters, the old masters in the Military Department are responsible, so Perfikot does not need to concern herself.
What really concerned Perfikot was the implication in the other party's speech.