AMU Strike Crisis

[Samukan]

Strikes Force Major Joe the Disgruntled Office Employeean Factories to Close, Threaten Regional Arms Manufacturing
CUBICLIA -- Amidst a union strike in Joe the Disgruntled Office Employee, important factories to the regional arms manufacturing industry has closed.

The Arms Manufacturers' Union (AMU) in Joe the Disgruntled Office Employee ordered a strike on Monday, which has forced many factories across the country to close. Among these factories are the Terric Industries plants. Terric Industries is one of the region's most prominent arms manufacturers, and it produces many of its firearm components and propellants in JDOE. Economists predict that many nations' militaries and police forces, as well as gun-owning citizens, will suffer from inadequate firearm supplies, and thus inflated prices.

The AMU called for the strike in response to lowered wages in Joe the Disgruntled Employeean arms manufacturing industry. Gradually rising costs of the raw materials used in Terric Industries' factories led to decreasing profit margins. As a result, Terric Industries left wages stagnant for several years to avoid rising prices and becoming uncompetitive. A recent housing crisis in several Joe the Disgruntled Employeean led to skyrocketing housing prices, leaving many arms manufacturing factory workers unable to pay rent. The AMU had been trying, and failing, to negotiate better wages with Terric Industries for several months. This crisis was the final straw, and the union called for a strike to force Terric Industries to pay up. Union leaders have stated that they hope the strike will draw international attention to the wages issue.

Representatives from nations across Kennan are meeting in Westminster to discuss the issue. Every nation is depending on these delegates to prevent disaster in the regional arms manufacturing industry, ensure the security of their nations with proper firearm supplies and ammunition, and negotiate an end to the AMU strike.

Please telegram Samukan on NationStates before entering the RP.

[Samukan]

    The Brookline Hotel elevator descended several floors to the ground. One wall of the elevator shaft was made of windows, looking out onto the city outside. Blue skies were speckled with a handful of puffy clouds; a good omen for the discussions to come.

   A woman and a man stepped out of the elevator and made their way to the Rogers Conference Room. The woman was Kara Ashenin, the Samukani Finance Minister, and she was accompanied by Terrin Havei, the Samukani Consul to Cubiclia. The two were each escorted by an aide. The party tried the door handle; it was locked.

    Havei glanced at his watch. "8:36. Well, at least we're early, right?"

    "Yep, better half an hour early than half an hour late," Ashenin replied. "Good thing too -- we don't want them thinking we don't take this seriously." She looked around the lobby, trying to make out any of the other conference-goers. "Let's see if we can't meet some of them before we start."

[Joe the Office Employee]

The JTDOE Minister of Finance was smoking her fifth cigarette in the past half hour when her counterpart, the Kennan Regional Representative, sauntered into the hallway from the stairs.

"What're you smoking, Melville? The delegation from Samukan beat us here by ten minutes!" Joyce James was notoriously uptight, not particularly common in JTDOE. 


"Relax, man. I'm still early. We've got time," Melville Herman replied with a relaxed smile, "No one else is here. We've got time to put together something. Now, what's the Finance office think of the coming storm?"


"The AMU needs to shut up for the sake of the nation and the region," grumbled James.


"Really? Even though the nation of Joe the Disgruntled Office Employee's people agrees with the principle of the strike?" Herman lifted an eyebrow.


"Why should the region pay for the liberal leanings of the nation?" was the retort.

[Sandwich Territories]

Now arriving to the Rogers Conference Room was the Sandwichian Minister of Finance, Ian Weston, and the Sandwichian Consul to Cubiclia, Kirsten Skulason. The Sandwichians usually were pleased to be negotiating in the Hackleberry Islands, and on such a wonderful afternoon, the delegation had reason to feel good about the upcoming meeting.

"You can only wonder if the Hacklets will even be represented in the meeting..."

It wasn't exactly an important meeting for the Sandwichians, but none-the-less still had importance on the regional stage. It was clear to the Sandwichian delegation, and the nation's government that a blow-up in one of the most sensitive markets of the region would cause some rather messy conclusions to the issue if it wasn't dealt with, especially in a nation that focuses so heavily on production. Such an issue requires responsibility, and it was presumed the other delegations here would be focused on putting an end to the crisis at hand. The hope of the Sandwichian delegation, representing a rather unaffected party, would be to ensure the peaceful talks between the union, the JTDOE nation, and the region went as smoothly as possible. Furthermore, while the economic impact of a crisis in this sector wouldn't affect the nation much, the political ruckus would surely force the Commonwealth to take measures it wouldn't be very thrilled taking, especially during such a stable period of national affairs.

The true fear was not of the affect of its neighbors in particular, but their fellow Sandwichsphere members, and the effects of an arms manufacturing shutdown in such a vital part of the market would cause to the group. While the most members, for one reason or another, weren't a concern, the Sandwichian government had concerns about the market's effect on the Republic of Kildare and the Helvetican Confederation.

The Kildareans, as good neighbors they were, always pushed for more distant relations with the rest of the sphere, Sandwich in particular. The nation, while recognizing the ties between the two nation with good stride and welcoming, always did want to ensure that they weren't a puppet of the Sandwich Territories or subject to the influence of the Commonwealth. This was somewhat humorous to the Sandwichians, who, while clearly recognizing the independence of the Kildare nation, also considered it to be of strong connections to the homeland. Not to say that the Kildareans were Sandwichians, but the closeness of the two nations wasn't to be overlooked to the Sandwichian people in general, and the government took that into consideration. While relations between the two nations have always been peaceful, some Kildareans wanted to ensure their freedom from the grasp of Sandwichians with any means possible. Terrorism wasn't a decent threat, but awareness for it was always on the back of the mind of the Commonwealth security forces. While both nations cooperated in the past to ensure the safety and good relations of the relationship, it was a united fear that an arms market collapse would cause a good deal of instability to the Republic of Kildare, and that couldn't happen if the relationship between the two nations was to remain strong.

The Sandwichians feared having to possibly intervene in the situation, and while, as previously mentioned, the Commonwealth liked to influence the ties between the two nations, it certainly did respect the sovereignty of its island neighbor, and certainly didn't mess with this. The Republic had similar fears; the Sandwichians were to keep their meddling hands out of Kildarean affairs, but if they couldn't reasonably control radicalists, then on what grounds was this policy to be held on? The Kildarean people have always liked the Sandwichians in general (the sphere, even through divide, has seemed to always be on good relations with each other), and ties hadn't been tested heavily in quite some time. They might not be tested, regardless of outcome, but that was no chance to take.

Small groups that act can strike fear colossus groups who do nothing. Terrorists were terrorists to the Kildareans, so acting was key, even if nothing were to come of a complete arms sector failure.



For the Kildareans though, their economic independence was key, and while they could fall back on the Commonwealth for weaponry, they would prefer to make their own weapons if needed. However, the nation relied on JTDOE weaponry to ensure the armed nature of their reserves, so it wasn't much of a surprise when Minister of Defence, James Whelan and Minister of Finance, Paul McKay, came up to the conference room with a sense of urgency.

"Lets get this deal secured as soon as possible", Whelan stated shortly after greeting his fellow committee members with a "good day, sirs".

Terrorists weren't a big deal to the Kildareans. The main concern "population-wise" for them were the criminals, who, in the midst of an arms-manufacturing failure, would cause a minor black market weaponry problem to possibly explode. That wouldn't be tolerated, and it wasn't in the interests of the government, the police, and law-abiding citizens to deal with that. As a precaution, police had already begun to try and clamp down on illegal market activity, and, while it was working now, it was only a matter of time before the news of the union strike made its way to the unsavory side of Kildarean society, and the criminals adjusted their black market production and violence rose with it.

The Kildarean group searched the room, looking for other nations who could relate to their issue, and start a small voting block.



The Sandwichian delegation was mostly afraid of the implications of the union decision on the Helvetican Confederation. The confederation was pretty well knit, but war with other nations was not something the Helveticans feared much. While the civil disputes had ended years ago (the main ones happening almost a century ago), there was still a culture of personal protection in the nation, and all male citizens aged 18-35 were required to own a weapon in case of attack. This resulted in little violence, but costed a lot of money...and a lot of weaponry.


The Helveticans were massive consumers of JTDOE arms; a mark that sat very poorly with many Helvetican citizens. While the debate over weather to increase national production grew back home, as nationalists and socialists clashed with capitalists, the Helvetican delegation made its way to the conference just hoping to allow the nation to have that option if it wants. The delegation, made up of Minister of Defense, Fabian Widmer, and Head of Helvetii Arms Association, Alec Rajkovic, looked to find a solution to the crisis while asserting their policies to an international audience. It was going to be an interesting affair, as, while the main goal was peace between everyone in the committee room, a chance to secure safety for their people was not to be blatantly overlooked. Of course though, priorities are priorities. The two men nodded at the other delegations and took their seats.



Skulason made her way over to the JTDOE delegation, greeted the two men, and simply stated:

"How is the situation currently going among the population currently? Is everything under control?"

Surely there was no bigger concern at the time. The meeting hadn't started yet, but the threat of a large outbreak of violence would pressure the entire committee. A conflict like that would ruin any chance of further talks, and the Commonwealth would be forced to start pushing policies onto the region. That was something the Sandwichian government would rather stay out of.

[The Hackleberry Islands]

The Brookline Hotel - 32 Yorkstown Avenue, Westminster, the Hackleberry Islands

8:30 AM Local Time

- - -

    The Brookline Hotel stood tall above the streets of Westminster, the capital of the Hackleberrry Islands. One of the most prestigious and famed hotels in the region, the Brookline had hosted a variety of guests over its long lifespan - actors, musicians, artists, professors, businessmen, royalty; visits from foreign heads of state and ambassadors was business as usual for the Brookline. As such, when the Senate and House of Chambers approved the request to host the regional conference to discuss the AMU crisis, it was a unanimous choice for the venue.

- - -

     A polished black SUV pulled up to side atrium of the Brookline; outfitted with red and white lights on the top of the car, and a Hacklet flag attached to the front right corner of the hood. Building security identified the vehicle as an official government car.

     I'm not even sure what position we're supposed to be taking today, sir. The strike affects the whole region, but we're supposed to be playing the role of moderators for the duration of the conference," said a man in a black suit. The car came to a halt, and he stepped out of the back side door of the car. He waved his chauffeur off, who nodded and pulled the car away. "Hold on one second, I'll get back to you in a few minutes," he said to the voice on his phone.

     "Sorry about that. Michael Shepherd, Secretary of Finance." He flashed various forms of identification at the security guards.

     "Right this way, Mr. Secretary," one responded in a deep baritone, as Shepherd followed him inside. The side entrance opened up into an atrium that connected via escalator to the main lobby for check-in. He continued following the guard to the elevators, where one was already waiting for him. Both of them stepped inside, and the guard pressed the button for the 20th floor. Shepherd marveled at the view outside, as the glass elevator began to rise above the city skyline. The view looked north, across the Westminster Delta, where Neptune City's shoreline and southern waterfront shimmered in the sunlight, about 10 miles across the sound. All too soon, the elevator came to a halt, and they both stepped outside.

     The security guard walked down Hallway 221 and stopped at Room 2215: he unlocked the door by inserting a card into the lock of the door, which flashed green and opened. "Your room, sir," the baritone voice reverberated. Shepherd looked around. A pleasant room with a conference table, stocked fridge, television, bedroom, bathroom, and other amenities.

     "These keys are for you, Mr. Secretary." The security guard handed Shepherd four key cards for his room. "If for some reason you require assistance, call the "security/assistance" contact on your phone. The conference is scheduled to begin at 9 AM." The guard nodded, and exited the room, closing the door behind him. 

     Shepherd picked up his schedule: he needed to meet at the Rogers Conference Room on the 3rd floor in 20 minutes. Several other Hacklet delegates had already shown up, and were introducing themselves to the ambassadors and ministers who'd just arrived. He began to gather his materials for debate.

[Guadalajara]

"Late once again," muttered José Luis Álvarez Villarreal, Secretario de Economia de Guadalajara. In his hand was the letter, the date on it was 4/14. Accompanying him were, Jorge Váldez Guajardo the Tapatío Ambassador to Westminster and Rodolfo Avellaneda Rodriguez, Ministro de Asuntos Exteriores.

They got aboard the black Mercedes S550's with Tapatío flags that were waiting for them in the airport and rode off to The Brookline Hotel.

[Joe the Office Employee]

James greeted Skulason with a hard stare.

"The situation is fine," she said, "It's just a matter of convincing the hippies I preside over that arms serve a purpose besides being melted down for their metals."

Herman broke in quickly, with an apologetic cough.

"Ahem, James, I think what you mean is that the situation is contained and that the nation of JTDOE is OK. We merely need to quell the strike, either by force (unlikely for the government of our country) or by appeasing the strikers. The AMU wants living wages for its workers, which I'm sure with the help of the international community we'll be able to receive. Now, what say the Sandwich Territories to a good stimulus package, as JTDOE's arms market is so important to Kennan?"

[Spaztislavia]

"This way, Minister! We are running late!" The chauffeur said while indicating the direction of the official limousine.

Chief Minister of Economy Boleslav Kaczyński, being followed by his guards hasted his pace and got in the car.

This conference was of crucial importance for Spaztislavia. Lacking internal weapons industry, she depended on regional imports to feed the market for hunting weapons and arm her police and minimal army personnel. The minister was worried about the outcome of such a market crash.

Boleslav snapped back when one of his guards told him they had reached Brookline Hotel. It was time. He rushed to the conference room and shaked hands with the delegates already in place.

[Pyruvic Continuity]

*Ding!* Now entering air space of Joe the Disgruntled Office Employee. Please enjoy the rest of the flight!*


Lith B., the Representative of the People, glanced at his watch. The wrist watch hands aligned in the shape of a backwards letter L. It was 9:00, the exact time the meeting started.


9:00 huh…. Wait...The meeting starts right now! Quickly looking up, Lith yelled over the roaring of the engine attempting to communicate with the pilot. “Hey! How long until we reach Westminster?”


The pilot, used to the growl of the engine picked out his question easily from the background noise. “Well, depending on the weather, and luck of course, we should arrive in about, I dunno, 15 minutes or something along that lines. And with our luck so far, it gonna be waaaaaay more than that.” Lith attempted to pull his answer from the symphony of noises around him but failed as the sound of the engine was too overpowering. After several second of screaming, Lith finally received the news and his blood pressure started to rise.


Realizing there was nothing he could do but wait, he pulled out his phone from his right pocket. Lith swiped his finger across the screen and quickly flipped through his contacts. His finger hovered over a green tab reading “Representative of the Military: John S.”. Hesitantly, Lith pressed the contacted and dialed his number.


A boisterous voice emitted from the speaker. “WHERE ARE YOU! DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG I’VE BEEN WAITING? 5 MINUTES. 5 MINUTES! IN THE LOBBY! DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG THAT IS?!


“5 minutes, as you just said. And you know that's not that long right? I mean, you could make ramen in that amount of time.”


“EXACTLY! THAT'S WHY I’M SO UNDERWEIGHT! I STARVE TO DEATH ALMOST EVERY DAY!”


Lith sighed. Uggh. Why do I have to deal with him.

“Anyways I’m going to be extremely late to the meeting meaning YOU will have to cover for me until I get there, alright?


John’s voice crackled over the speaker. “Late? Oooh, Mr. Perfect’s late. Oh well, sure. Now the view of the people is the exact same view as the military riiight?”


“What!? No! We’ve been over this before! The military's view is drastically different from the people's view! You need to represent both vie…”


“Hmm? I’m sorry but I think we’re breaking up.”


“Don’t pull this on me! There's a god-dang tower right next to the the building. Don’t treat me like a child!”


*Beep!*


Lith, leaning back in the chair sighed again putting his phone back in his pocket. Looking up at the ceiling Lith murmured to himself. “He’s going to screw everything up isn’t he?”

There was no answer. But in reality, it was quite obvious.

[Joe the Office Employee]

Regional Representative Herman nervously adjusted his collar as the Military Representative of the Pyruvic Community continued.

"And I mean, it's not like workers even really have rights. They're just meant to be part of a bigger machine! So can't we just raid the AMU's headquarters or something?"

James, who had stopped nodding in agreement five minutes ago, spoke up tentatively.

"Well, sir, it isn't particularly clear where exactly that is, not to mention that the people of JTDOE wouldn't be particularly happy with a military invasion. We do pride ourselves on being particularly peace-loving, after all. Erm, is there a civil representative of the Pyruvic Community we could speak to?

[Sandwich Territories]

Skulason had to stifle a chuckle, and calmly spurted out, "I'm afraid a government-funded monetary injection into your nation would go down pretty poorly from a tax-paying populace who's nation has close to nil reliance on JTDOE arms, if that's what you're suggesting. My apologies if so."

The Kildarean delegation overheard this discussion, and Paul McKay made his way over to the other two delegations, first shaking the hand of Mrs. Skulason, and the two JTDOE delegates.

"Pardon yours truly for intervening on yer rendez-vous. I feel inclined to note that the Kildarean nation needs to have cooperation between us and JTDOE first and foremost. Although my mate James -- Mr. Whelan over there is our Minister of Defense, I can confide in you myself the dangers of a failure of the arms manufacturing market would have on illegal arms sales. The situation could get pretty messy region-wide, and our nation isn't spared from that fear. I know some other delegations here feel the same pressure as we do, so I'd like to get the conference to get vocal about this issue. We simply can not allow this market to collapse."

Mrs. Skulason nodded, and stated to Mr. McKay that, "We're committed to ensuring the safety of all citizens of the Kennan region, and I'm sure other delegations here feel much the same."

Mr. Weston came over and saluted the group, and noted, "I can confirm that the fiscal damages from a collapse here would affect many nations region-wide."

There seemed to be a nervous pain in the face of Mr. Weston, who felt as though the JTDOE wouldn't be as cooperative with the union as the other delegations would hope.

[Joe the Office Employee]

Ms. Joyce held up her hands in exasperation.

"How does the region expect our arms sector to continue functioning if we don't get some means of aid from Kennan, Mrs. Skulason? What, do you think Small Talks come raining from the sky or something? We need money! Now, Mr. Weston and Mr. McKay know the urgency of this situation. This must be rectified immediately. Regardless of the small stipend all workers get from the government of JTDOE, we have people that can't afford to lose a month's paycheck, and the company might start bringing in scabs to replace the union workers. Even I know how bad that could get."

[Sandwich Territories]

Mrs. Skulason wasn't amused.

"If you need money, make an appeal to a regional program or the Kennan Union. It's not the Sandwich Territories' job to pay for something that we have no usage for, and more-so, a monetary injection won't even solve the issue, just delay it's inevitable failure, unless we actually get a plan between the union and the nation to continue making arms. Might I ask why the economic situation is so poor in JTDOE? I've been a consul to your nation for a while, and yet, I've never been able to access such information. Furthermore, I'm here to ensure that talks between the union and the nation go smoothly, not be a link for free, condition-less money from a foreign government."

McKay had to agree with Skulason, although ensured to Ms. Joyce that, "Our main concern is the safety of the region from an arms manufacturing sector collapse, whether it be economic or physical. I'll be making sure to keep in close contact with your delegation, aight?"

He smiled with a nod, and walked away to the Hacklets in the room.

Now coming over to hawk the conversation were both Rajkovic and Widner from the Helvetican Confederation. Surely, this could get a little out of hand.

"I heard that the Sandwichians were not concerned with the economics of a JTDOE manufacturing collapse", noted Mr. Rajkovic.

"That is absolutely not the case with us. If you'd like to consider some possible business moves, if you don't mind me stating as such, I suspect both me and my partner, the Secretary of Defense, Mr. Widner, would be more than glad to take the time to talk with both of you. Maybe I could speak with the union as well."

Widner had to bite his tongue. Now wasn't the time, he whispered into Rajkovic's ear, who nodding response went rather unnoticed to anyone else. He did ensure that he added into the conversation.

"While I assure you that we mean no offense to the Sandwichians, Mrs. Skulason and Mr. Weston, we have to note that unlike your nation, we are much more intertwined with the JTDOE arms manufacturing sector, and therefore feel a higher sense of urgency economically to not see that sector fall at all costs."

"Hopefully you have the unions in mind, Mr. Widner.", noted Mrs. Skulason, who had done a good job controlling the meeting's tempo.

"Sure, but I bet they understand the consequences of a sector failure, don't they, Ms. Joyce?", noted Widmer.

[Guadalajara]

Mr. Villarreal had been standing close enough to hear the exchange between the JTDOE and Sandwich representatives. He stomped his way over to Ms. Joyce. "Quite frankly, the arms manufacturing industry in JTDOE is not something that concerns us, Ms. Joyce." muttered Mr. Villarreal. "Like Ms. Skulason said, you should complain to the Kennan Union."

He would have continued if it wasn't for Mr. Avellaneda who said, sternly, "You've got to look at the bigger picture, José Luis. We should be concerned about this, especially being the third biggest contributors to this sector of the industry in the region. This could affect us and lead to a nationwide economical collapse." Mr. Váldez stood behind him, quietly, not yet knowing what to do or say.

[Joe the Office Employee]

Melville Herman straightened up and assumed a strained, focused look. He peered again at the caller ID on his cell phone: "My Dear Leader."

"Hello?"

Herman looked astonished as the person on the other end of the line spoke to him.

"We're ... what? That's impossible. There's no way."

The voice on the end of the phone rose audibly. The people around Herman perked up their ears. After some brief deliberation, Herman and James walked out of the room with their heads down and their faces shielded from the paparazzi.

"We'll be back tomorrow," Herman muttered.

[Spaztislavia]

'I most certainly agree with mrs. Skulason too', said Kaczyński as the Joe the Office Employee delegates left the room, who was listening close by without muttering a word.

'Right now' he continued, 'the only thing we can do is wait for what they have to say. I believe it is of utmost importance to raise an intervention overseed by a Kennan Union committee.'

'We are facing complete regional economic collapse here, and I believe this measure should be ruled out, even in the case of a negative from the sovereign nation'.

Inside his mind though, doubt beset him. What he just said was something really controversial, even more coming from a self-proclaimed neutral nation delegate.

[Joe the Office Employee]

(My apologies for the delay)

As Joyce and Herman re-entered the conference room the next day, a hush fell over the assembled representatives. Joyce nervously cleared her throat.

"Excuse me, everyone. The union has agreed to cease striking on one condition: that nations of Kennan provide modest (hopefully very modest, she muttered) subsidies to the Arms Manufacturing industries of other nations. The AMU feels that they are underrepresented in regional politics, and wants a stronger voice in Kennan. To this end, the union also wants a region-wide, universal union organization to help lobby for union workers. Unfortunately, many people in JTDOE support the union's plan. As JTDOE's government refuses to fund what it feels is an illegitimate business, this seems to be the only solution to this dilemma. It seems very likely, according to the entirety of JTDOE's economic advisory (all six people), that the Arms Manufacturing sector will respond well to this infusion, and rebound quickly. However, due to JTDOE's government's feelings on the issue and the fragile status of the economy, JTDOE will not be able to reimburse nations for their subsidies. JTDOE feels that the nations will benefit enough from the regaining of their weapons. We hope that this compromise sounds amenable to everyone," Joyce stated.

A hush fell over the room for a brief second before the nations broke off into small groups and intense debate once more.

[Guadalajara]

Villarreal stood up and cleared his throat. He announced "The Republic of Guadalajara agrees to pay a subsidy of twenty thousand Tapatío pesos to the regional Arms Manufacturing Industry. We have also agreed to the creation of a Kennan Worker's Union to give the workers a stronger voice in the region. Thank you." He promptly sat back down and continued drinking his coffee.