Before Liu Jun went to report to the consul, he called old Charlie again.
"Old Charlie, I'll give you another chance. It's not too late to call off the strike now."
"Chairman Liu, you don't need to persuade us any more. We have made up our minds and will not back down from the battle."
Old Charlie's tone was tough.
Liu Jun looked around and suddenly lowered his voice: "Old Charlie, for the sake of our acquaintance, I will not hide it from you. Just last night, the consul held a high-level closed-door meeting.
door meeting.
According to the information I heard, the meeting was attended by the chief of police, the commander of the National Guard, the person in charge of the entire east coast garrison base, Commander Zhu of the escort fleet, and personnel from other emergency units.
With such an obvious signal, I believe you should know what it means? Don’t be overconfident, maybe the Archon has no intention of negotiating with you at all.”
"Haha, Chairman Liu, don't scare me. The consul is not a dictatorial warlord. I don't believe he will do anything to ordinary people like us."
Old Charlie remained unmoved.
In his view, the consul's move was mainly to put pressure on them and increase bargaining chips for the subsequent negotiations.
"Old Charlie, don't be stubborn. If the consul really wants to negotiate with you, he doesn't have to wait until now. He will actively intervene from the beginning."
"Chairman Liu, what you said is just speculation. Please forgive me for disagreeing."
Hearing this, Liu Jun couldn't help but increase his tone:
"Old Charlie, just take the risk yourself. You shouldn't involve other people, just in case..."
Old Charlie took over the words: "If there is any danger, I will immediately cancel the strike, and I will bear all the consequences. No one else will be affected."
"To put it lightly, once the consul makes up his mind, the situation is beyond your control."
Liu Jun persuaded patiently again.
"Chairman Liu, you don't need to persuade us anymore. We are all law-abiding citizens, not thugs. Article 45 of the Federal Constitution clearly stipulates that citizens have the freedom to strike. The governor has no reason to use force against us."
Old Charlie was obviously determined by the weight.
Seeing that he could not convince the other party, Liu Jun sighed subconsciously and finally sent a blessing:
"Okay! Good luck to you!"
Old Charlie said "thank you" and then replied with a famous quote from the great philosopher Marx:
"In a democratic country, the law is the king; in an autocratic country, the king is the law."
It seems that he wants to strengthen his confidence through this sentence.
Liu Jun didn't say anything else and hung up the phone decisively. He had done his best.
…
Ten minutes later, Liu Jun appeared in front of the consul with a worried look on his face. At the most serious level, this matter would affect the normal lives of millions of miners. At the most minor level, it would also affect his career.
Zhang Hao motioned the other party to sit down and asked solemnly:
"Is the union going to have results?"
"Yes." Liu Jun nodded, and then reported: "The union does not agree to disband the strike team. They want to negotiate with you personally, the governor."
Zhang Hao immediately snorted: "Do you really treat me like a soft persimmon? You can pinch me if you want?"
"Consul, that's not what they meant..."
"Well, whether it is or not, now that it has happened, we can only deal with it with all our strength."
Liu Jun carefully probed: "Consul, what should we do next?"
"What do you think?"
Zhang Hao asked back.
At the same time, I also want to test the other party's attitude.
"I think..." Liu Jun hesitated for a moment, and finally said through gritted teeth: "I think we should strike hard to make those in the union realize the official determination. Only in this way can the strike issue be completely resolved."
"Chairman Liu, if this matter is handed over to you, how are you going to strike hard?"
Zhang Hao asked with interest.
Liu Jun was very straightforward and immediately took out a plan from his briefcase, which he summoned several important subordinates and took two full days to complete.
"Consul, this is the action plan we have drawn up. Please take a look at it."
Zhang Hao took the plan and opened it on the spot. Overall, the plan was not complicated. The core idea can be summarized in four words:
Use force to promote talks.
"Chairman Liu, your plan is a bit too conservative. In other words, you only want to solve the immediate crisis and have no long-term plan."
Liu Jun immediately pretended to be panicked: "Consul, we also thought about solving the problem once and for all, but the cost is too high. If it affects the local energy supply, I'm afraid we can't explain it..."
"Chairman Liu, Australia's coal resources are indeed very important. This is the reason why you were successfully upgraded to a large region this time."
Zhang Hao paused, then changed the topic:
“However, if we just want to ensure the energy supply, we have to compromise with those greedy people and let them take whatever they want. This is tantamount to raising a tiger and causing big problems sooner or later.
Besides, summer is coming soon, and the demand for energy will drop significantly. Coupled with the increasing coal production capacity in recent years, seriously speaking, the cost is definitely not as serious as you think."
As soon as these words came out, Liu Jun's heart suddenly tightened. This was 100% going to be cruel!
He could no longer care about anything else and hurriedly advised:
"Consul, I admit that our union did not play its due role, which is a major work error, but...but the current situation is generally controllable. Are you a little over-concerned?"
"Haha, you are right. There won't be any big problems for the time being, but what about in the future? We can't leave the problems to the next person just because we are afraid of trouble. This kind of thinking is unacceptable." Zhang Hao took the opportunity to criticize.
Liu Jun's face was full of tangles. After weighing the pros and cons, he made a decision immediately: "Consul, if you want to solve the problem once and for all, it seems that there is only one way, and that is to ban the Australian trade unions."
"Bah bang bang..." Zhang Hao clapped his hands a few times and nodded with a smile: "Haha, heroes really think alike. Since we both thought of going together, I'll leave this matter to you."
"I...I have no experience, I'm afraid I won't do it well..."
Liu Jun immediately excused himself.
He didn't want to bear the reputation of being an executioner, and if something went wrong during the suppression process, he, as the executioner, would definitely be the most suitable person to take the blame.
Zhang Hao saw through the other person's thoughts at a glance.
However, he did not force the order, but casually took out the cigarette case, lit one himself, and also handed one to the other party.
Liu Jun did not refuse. He was very stressed at the moment and wanted to relieve his stress by smoking.
Zhang Hao took a few puffs of cigarette, and then patiently persuaded: "Chairman Liu, you have been the mayor of Sydney for six years, and then the governor for two years. It is equivalent to staying in Sydney for eight full years. Sydney is your territory.
This mission belongs to you."
"Consul, aren't you afraid that I will show favoritism to others on official business?" Liu Jun said with a bitter smile.
"I believe you are not that kind of person."
Zhang Hao smiled and waved his hands.
Just kidding, he just wanted to give the other party a name. In fact, he secretly directed the entire operation. After all, this kind of suppression of workers has a bad reputation.
Seeing that he couldn't shirk it, Liu Jun had no choice but to agree, and his face looked very bad.
Seeing this, Zhang Hao comforted him casually: "Chairman Liu, the central government will never mistreat those who work seriously. As long as I am still in the position of consul, I will not watch others attack you. Please take it to heart."
"
"Thank you Archon!"
Liu Jun suddenly became energetic.
Zhang Hao shook his head, also took out a plan from the drawer, and threw it in front of the other party:
"This is the plan drawn up by Commander Zhu and others. You can take a look at it. If there are any deficiencies, we will correct them immediately."
Liu Jun did not open the document immediately, but asked a key question: "Consul, can I ask, what does it mean to start the clearing operation?"
"It will officially start after the curfew tonight, and we will try to finish all tasks before going to work the next day."
Zhang Hao said coldly.
"So urgent?" Liu Jun was shocked.
"The earlier the better, so as not to let the news leak out."
"But……"
"No but." Zhang Hao waved his hand, "This action is limited to Sydney. Other cities will remain on hold for the time being. Although Sydney has the largest number of strikers, they are unarmed after all. As long as we act quickly, we don't have to worry about causing chaos."
"Only in Sydney?"
Liu Jun breathed a sigh of relief immediately.
If this is the case, the difficulty of cleaning will undoubtedly be much easier. The most feared thing about large-scale group activities like this is that there will be a large number of people working together, which will make people exhausted.
"That's right, I hope you can remember one thing. The main purpose of our clearing operation this time is to ban the illegal unions of Australians, and at the same time, wipe out all the middle and high-level leaders of the union to avoid future troubles."
Zhang Hao clenched his fist fiercely.
"I see."
Liu Jun pursed his lips tightly.
Zhang Hao nodded with satisfaction, then waved his hand: "For the sake of confidentiality, from now on, no one is allowed to leave the city hall. In addition, Commander Zhu and the others are having a meeting in the conference room next door. You should hurry over!"
"Okay, I'll go now."
After Liu Jun finished speaking, he immediately stuffed the plan into his briefcase, then turned around and left the office.
…
The time soon arrived at 9:15 pm, and the curfew would begin in ten minutes.
Sydney is the capital and largest city of Australia, so the curfew is relatively late. It usually starts at 10pm and ends at 6am the next morning, which adds up to exactly eight hours.
In fact, the curfew time is carefully designed to perfectly correspond to the evening shift of three shifts.
At the union headquarters, old Charlie and others are having a meeting.
Since the strike, they have been sleeping in the office at the headquarters and have never returned home once.
Old Charlie faced the crowd and encouraged him loudly: "I have great news for everyone. Liu Jun just called and said that the consul has overriding all opinions and agreed to negotiate with us on the strike issue."
"Wow, hooray!"
Everyone cheered.
As long as the consul is willing to come forward, this strike is already half successful.
Little Charlie was so excited that he performed a magical dance on the spot, and his excitement was beyond words:
"As we expected, whether it is to show closeness to the people or just to show off, the consul has no choice."
Diao Guoping couldn't help but remind him: "Old Charlie, we Easterners pay attention to courtesy first and then attack. Tomorrow is the first negotiation, so try not to irritate the consul."
It wasn't until this moment that he truly breathed a sigh of relief.
"If you don't tell me...I know, don't worry."
Old Charlie nodded seriously.
Someone took the opportunity to suggest: "Old Charlie, since the consul is so sensible, should we add another condition for the official recognition of our union?"
Old Charlie lowered his head and thought for a while, then finally shook his head:
"It's better not to cause more trouble. Let's talk about this matter again when we have the opportunity next time."
"I agree. Anyway, our union has never taken a dime from the city. It doesn't matter whether they admit it or not."
"This is a great event, should we have a drink to celebrate?"
"That's fine! Let the cafeteria cook some dishes to go with the wine."
Old Charlie smiled and nodded.
Soon, under his instruction, little Charlie got two bottles of brandy from nowhere, and everyone was drinking small drinks and eating midnight snacks.
The more we chatted, the more excited we became.
During the wine tour, there was a sudden noise outside. Before everyone at the wine table could react, Liu Jun personally led a team of policemen and barged in.
When old Charlie saw this scene, he suddenly woke up and asked: "Chairman Liu, what do you mean?"
Liu Jun didn't talk nonsense, he took out an arrest warrant and explained in public:
"Old Charlie, this is the arrest warrant from the court. Please come with us!"
"Why? We...we didn't break the law?"
Little Charlie said impatiently.
"Whether you have broken the law or not is not up to you, it is up to the law."
Liu Jun couldn't help but snarled.
Old Charlie quickly calmed down and stared into Liu Jun's eyes: "Chairman Liu, please don't talk behind the scenes. I know you are here because of the strike. If you have anything to say, we might as well say it directly."
"Humph, it's too late." Liu Jun said sarcastically, "Just this afternoon, the regional council urgently passed a bill, officially ruling that your miners' union is illegal..."
"This is nonsense. The union was formed voluntarily by our miners, and no one was forced to join. How could it be illegal?"
Old Charlie was furious.
"You have violated the emergency law. Large organizations like trade unions must pass parliamentary review, otherwise it will not only be invalid, but also illegal."
Liu Jun told him the excuse he had prepared in advance.
It is undeniable that the emergency law is very useful. No matter what the officials want to do, they can find a legal basis. It can be called a panacea.
Diao Guoping on the side could no longer sit still and stepped forward to argue: "Chairman Liu, you are trying to make excuses. Our miners' union has a history of nearly seventy years and has complete procedures. How can it be illegal?"
"This moment is the same as that moment. Just because it was not illegal before does not mean it is not illegal now. I advise you not to mess around and come with us!"
Liu Junyu spoke with great emphasis.
"I'm not going anywhere, I want to see a lawyer..."
Old Charlie glared.
Liu Jun waved his hand and ordered the accompanying police officers to arrest everyone and put them into police cars.