To: Unioners || From: Bristol C&M

[Enkidu]

✶✶✶ SYNDICNETZ TERMINAL ✶✶✶

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Encrypted Uplink – Rheinland Worker’s Front Secure Transmission

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-- FACILITY ACCESS PROTOCOL --

• Identifkation .............. Corin Frei
• Location Sector ........... Pacifica Base / Bering Orbit
• Facility Class ............ Riss
• Encryption Level .......... EXTERNAL
• Transmission Status ....... STABLE
• Authorized Personnel ....... Syndikatsliga, Bristol C&M

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▌ LOG ▐

James Hollywood - ah. Hollywood has his shelf in the archive; hard won, and well-deserved. He was only the second Libertonian to become a director of labor protection.

'Protection' is an apt word, is it not? In Libertonian English, it carries criminal connotations.


I understand why you would reach out to us first. You, and the board for B, C and M. We share a star. We share history. We share casualties and grievances. You are a corporation, and we are the watchdogs.

You know who we are, what we stand for - how we could be inconvenient, if we chose to be. Unioners protect the employee through protection rackets - protection rackets aimed squarely at corporate assets. If there is a god, his name is Shipping Insurance; well, we raise the value of the goods so that the employee may also be valued. Beyond the earnings call, beyond the ledger, we keep corporations honest... through counterfeiting, through smuggling, through piracy. Theft; it's the equalizer of all men.

I'm oversimplifying, of course, but I think you can understand. Your assets are concentrated in Bering, after all.

But we do not pillage the undeserving. We are anarchists, not arsonists. We are not legalists; we do not believe in the laws of the state, but we do look at the merits of each case.

Bristol, and your partner venture, Bristol-Kress, provides employees with living wages, and reasonable protections. Your investments on Alster Shipyard are sufficiently compensated for their trouble. There are points for improvement, but they can be addressed at a later time.

Yes, is it a matter of historic fact that Admiral Victoria Knight, the ultimate founder and reckoning of the Libertonian Seperatist Movement, created Bristol as a shell company, through which she concealed a buildup in Bering that was aimed at replacing Battlegroup Harmony's dependency upon Pacifica. Your corporation began as the means through which she could separate herself from the Unioners. Bristol was the logistical engine that powered her force. It was also the lever through which she exercised her assault upon the Union. Now, betrayal, to me, is an old, familiar pain. But the death of a great many of our Arbeiterkameraden is not a loss that can be buried in their graves. Bristol was used as an instrument by a Tyrant - for that is all Admiral Knight ultimately became. She turned Bering into a killing Field, and led not only those who put their faith in her, but also the Hellfire Legion, and the Commonwealth of Liberty, to destruction.

However, it is also correct that the Unioners have also been used as tools by Tyrants. centuries ago, during the Eighty Years War, and, in more recent memory during the rise of Kaiser Albrecht, I cannot accuse you of that which we are complicit, could I?

Only a poor workman blames their tools. Manipulated though we both were, we both represent organizations that strive for liberation. As much as I begrudge Bristol's past, I sympathize with your present.


On with it, then: Vascoguoncellos's assessment was truthful. Consider offering him a raise. But I'm afraid your pitch fell on the wrong ears. Aye, "honesty, hard work, reliability" are virtues, but I am not the person you need convince. Nor was James.


We put the matter of our relations to the popular vote. For we Unioners function as a direct worker's democracy. Every voice has a say.
For we answer not to a man, but to each other.



As a result, these are the terms I can offer you:

Code:

The Unioners WILL NOT threaten, extort, or conflict with the operations of Bristol C&M, unless Bristol C&M transgresses against either the Unioner Syndicate, or the explicit goals of the worker's front. Bristol C&M will be warned if perceived transgressions occur. Further, should a perceived transgression occur, the Unioners will commit to de-confliction and diplomatic discussion before any punitive action is taken.

Bristol C&M WILL NOT threaten, extort, or conflict with the operations of the Unioner Syndicate, unless the Unioner Syndicate transgresses against Bristol, or pre-identified clients of Bristol C&M within Bering, or engaged directly in fulfilling joint contracts. The Unioner Syndicate will be warned if perceived transgressions occur. Further, should a perceived transgression occur, Bristol C&M will commit to de-confliction and diplomatic discussion before any punitive action is taken.

Bristol C&M WILL NOT threaten, extort, or conflict with the operations of the Unionist movement.

Bristol  C&M WILL NOT donate credits, resources, or products, to anti-labourist political campaigns operating within House Liberty, House Rheinland, or House Gallia.

The Unioners WILL NOT threaten, extort, or conflict with the operations of Bristol C&M.

Neither party will filter information regarding either party, or their operations, to third parties.

Bristol C&M WILL NOT interfere with Union-endorsed free commerce, or free agents, operating within the Bering system. Bristol will not enforce the laws of Liberty, Rheinland, or any other state actor, within the Bering system. The sole exception is if said operations directly threaten Bristol's operations, or their clients' operations, through the threat of violence or extortion.

The Unioners WILL not interfere with Bristol-endorsed free commerce, or free agents, operating within the Bering system. The Unioners will not enforce the laws of Liberty, Rheinland, or any other state actor, within the Bering system. The sole exception is if said operations directly threaten the Union's operations or their clients' operations, through the threat of violence or extortion.

Bristol C&M WILL consult with, and accept Unionist oversight, in its internal labor and employer-employee relationships.

Bristol C&M WILL allow its employees to join, form, or participate in, collective action and collective bargaining organizations.

Bristol C&M WILL NOT disclose the identities of Unionists aboard Alster Shipyard to any other party.

Bristol C&M AND The Unioners reserve the right to contract the other to provide products and services, when such products and services are not to be used in a manner deleterious to the other party.

Bristol C&M AND The Unioners will seek to collaborate on matters of trade and commerce, especially when such matters further the cause of a free and independent Bering.

Bristol C&M AND The Unioners reserve the right to dock ships at each other's installations for the purpose of mutual trade and mutual commerce. This right does not extend to Unioner or Bristol C&M vessels attempting to escape combat, or when attempting to dock during a situation that may cause direct or indirect harm to Bristol C&M OR The Unioners.

When necessary, Bristol C&M AND The Unioners will maintain an open dialogue regarding our shared operations and separate operations aboard Alster Shipyard, with the goal of preventing conflict, labor abuses, and sabotage.

Neither party will register bounty contracts against the other party.

The spirit of this agreement is intended to foster mutual trade, enterprise, and the furthering of labor conditions within Hamburg and the Independent worlds. This text held within this agreement should not be weaponized against the spirit of this agreement.

Mit Gruß,
Corin Frei
Arbeitnehmerverteidigungsrat

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Verbindung Stabil – Datenfluss Synchronisiert
Awaiting response from recipient...

✶✶✶ TRANSMISSION TERMINATED ✶✶✶

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THE SYNDIC LEAGUES
(A co-operative of Rheinland's outlawed trade unions, determined to take the underworld for themselves.)

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