Chapter 744: Driving Up Their Costs

In the conference room of Pittsburgh City Hall, display screens covered nearly every wall.

The screens were split into forty-three separate video windows, and in each window sat a mayor or county executive.

From the once-glorious steel towns of Western Pennsylvania, to the small coal-mining cities hidden deep within the Appalachian Mountains in the central region, to the manufacturing bases in the north near the Great Lakes Region.

Two years.

The Industrial Revival Alliance had snowballed from its initial seven founding cities to forty-three.

As for the remaining cities, even those that hadn’t joined the Industrial Revival Alliance had refrained only due to special circumstances.

They used Alliance scrip, joined the Mutual Aid Alliance, and engaged in efficient exchange with cities in the Industrial Revival Alliance. Administratively, they were already part of the Industrial Revival Alliance.

This vast network covered more than half of Pennsylvania, controlling the livelihoods of millions and the operations of tens of thousands of factories.

In this country, besides the President and the leaders of Congress in Washington, only Leo Wallace could summon so many local chief executives to the same screen at once and have them wait quietly for his command.

Leo sat at the head of the table, his fingers tapping lightly on the desktop.

“Everyone.”

Leo’s voice was transmitted simultaneously to forty-three offices over a secure network.

“Sterling and those natural gas giants are planning to stir up trouble in our territory.”

“They’ve secured a hundred-billion-dollar order from Houston and are preparing to build massive liquefied natural gas export terminals along the Delaware River, laying thousands of miles of new pipelines.”

“They want to use our land and our workers to make money off the Europeans.”

Leo paused for a moment.

“I’m not against them building it, but I can’t let them have an easy time doing it.”

Leo began to lay out his plan.

“Listen up. Starting tomorrow, all administrative approvals for projects related to liquefied natural gas must be slowed to a crawl.”

He looked at the screens.

“For all environmental assessments for pipeline construction and all road transport permits for heavy construction machinery, I want the approval times stretched to the very last day of the legally mandated maximum period.”

The mayors on the screens had mixed expressions.

In the traditional logic of municipal governance, having orders and investments come in was a great thing for boosting the local economy.

They didn’t understand why Leo would deliberately create obstacles, why he would push away such a juicy prize that had been handed to them on a platter.

A few mayors opened their mouths, about to ask a question, but forced themselves to swallow their words.

They were well aware of the rules of this Alliance.

In this conference room, Leo Wallace had absolute control over the agenda.

He sat at the head of the table, and the oppressive aura born from countless victories pressed down on everyone, even through the screens.

These mayors had taken the orders Leo gave them and boarded the express train he had built; now, they could only listen in silence.

Not until the final command had been given.

Leo leaned back in his chair, his eyes scanning the dozens of faces on the screens.

“Now.”

Leo’s tone was calm.

“You may ask your questions.”

One mayor looked troubled. “Leo, they have one of the top legal teams in the country. If we intentionally delay, they’ll sue us for administrative inaction.”

“They won’t sue,” Leo sneered. “A lawsuit would take half a year, maybe longer. They can’t afford to wait.”

“They signed an international supply contract; the breach-of-contract penalty is astronomical. If they’re in a hurry for the permits and want to use the fast track, fine.”

Leo offered a solution.

“Make them pay. Double, or even triple, the infrastructure compensation fees and ecological restoration deposits. All payments must be made in the form of Alliance scrip and deposited into your municipal accounts.”

He turned to Ethan, signaling for him to take notes.

“Tell your local steel mills, cement plants, and heavy machinery rental companies.”

Then he continued, addressing the screens.

“Starting when the market opens next Monday, all price quotes for orders from the liquefied natural gas projects will be uniformly raised by thirty percent. The official line is: tight supply chains and production at full capacity.”

“If they try to transport materials from out of state, you all know what to do at the highway weight inspection stations and toll booths along the way.”

The side door of the conference room opened, and Frank Kovalsky strode in.

The Union leader had just finished a rally with over a thousand people and still smelled of sweat.

Leo looked at Frank.

“Frank, I’m leaving the Union side to you.”

“Get the word out: all senior welders, heavy machinery operators, and specialized pipefitters are to reject the first round of recruitment from the gas companies. Not a single one is to go.”

Frank frowned. “Leo, the workers need money. Those gas companies are offering a decent starting salary. If I force them not to go, there will be complaints from the rank and file.”

“I never said they couldn’t make money.”

Leo looked at Frank.

“Have the workers wait two more weeks. When those project managers are looking at their empty construction sites and tearing their hair out, that’s when you’ll go in and negotiate with them on behalf of the Union.”

“Demand a higher base hourly wage, full double-time for overtime, and have them pay a hazardous work safety deposit in advance.”

“Once they’ve paid up, then you can let the men go to work.”

Frank understood Leo’s intent and grinned.

“I know this game. Leave it to me. I’ll squeeze those recruitment managers dry.”

Frank suddenly thought of another problem, and his smile faded slightly.

“Leo, what if they get desperate and, instead of hiring from our Union, they just bus in a load of cheap, non-union labor from Ohio or West Virginia? Wouldn’t all our efforts be for nothing?”

Leo snorted, his eyes flashing with dominance.

“This is Pennsylvania.”

Leo said.

“Work in Pennsylvania can only be done by Pennsylvania’s workers.”

“I’ll have the State Department of Labor hold them up under the guise of an interstate labor qualification review. At the same time, Ethan will mobilize our people in the State Assembly to force the implementation of Project Labor Agreements on all projects.”

Leo looked at Frank.

“Anyone who isn’t one of our Union members, any worker who isn’t certified, won’t even be able to set foot on the construction site.”

“It’s local law.”

“I understand,” Frank said, completely reassured.

Leo scanned the forty-three windows on the screens.

“Let me reiterate: my goal is not to stop their construction, nor is it to prevent our workers from making money.”

“What I’m doing is using legal means to increase our workers’ earnings.”

“At the same time, I also want them to know who really calls the shots here in Pennsylvania.”

The mayors on the screens nodded one after another.

This logic would not only bring substantial extra revenue to the local governments but also improve the workers’ compensation.

In truth, this bunch of mayors had wanted to do something like this for a long time. It was just that before, as isolated cities, they had no leverage. Now that all of Pennsylvania was united in a municipal monopoly, they were naturally delighted.

As long as Leo was out front taking the heat from Washington, they were happy to see it happen.

The video conference ended, and the screens went dark one by one.

“Boss,” Ethan said, walking up to the table. “Drain their cash flow, and then what? How does this directly help us restart the Three Mile Island Nuclear Power Plant?”

Leo leaned back in his chair, staring at the darkened screens.

“Ethan, the total amount of capital in the market is finite.”

“If they pour all their cash into the bottomless pit of the liquefied natural gas projects, they won’t have any spare funds to lobby Congress.”

“It’s an election year. We also have to consider what Washington is thinking.”

“The Democratic Party will be very pleased.”