Page 88 of Rich and Bossy

He doesn’t mention Hazel’s name at all. Maybe this wasn’t her. Something tells me we’re already too late on the PR front. The message is already beaming through those satellite feeds, loud and clear. It’s going to take some epic scrambling to explain this away to the shareholders and investors who I know are watching this unfold with the same horror I am.

I’m still not even sure what this is. Is it a strike? Usually negotiations happen before it gets to that.

“Be there as soon as I can.” I just sound defeated. I don’t have the energy to fuck with this right now. I know exactly why I’m so demoralized too, why this hurts so damn bad. Even if it is Hazel, I’d want to defend her. What the hell is wrong with me?

I get off the call, tossing my phone down on the passenger seat. There’s no doubt in my mind where this started, who’s behind all of this. I know it’s her. It has to be.

“Goddamn it.” I shove the car into drive and haul ass the other way out of the parking lot. “What the fuck did you do?”

CHAPTER 24

Hazel

It’s almost all toomuch to take in at once. I totally blank on the name of the guy I’m talking to. Campbell, almost like she instinctively knows what’s happening, mouths the name to me. Thank God.

It’s just a podcast. Still, he’s gigantic, and probably reaches more people than the regular news stations. For some reason, I feel like those will make me even more nervous than this.

According to Campbell, that’s exactly what I need to expect. This is going to get bigger by the day. The goal is to get the entire country on our side, backing our cause, and it will give the workers here a chance to see everyone has their backs. I know if there were no chances of repercussions, everything was perfectly fair, over eighty percent would want to join a union here.

They’re all afraid of management and their jobs being taken away, for good reason. This is all for pushback in the other direction, to shine a spotlight on what’s happening here, so Rapid can’t try anything insane and get away with it before we have an official vote.

Frankly, I’m having a hard time imagining all of it getting bigger than it is right now. We’re working out of her hotel room,because I know better than to hang around the warehouse until I have to go to work. Even though the volume on the TV is turned way down, I can still see live images of my workplace.

When Campbell described picketers, I had no idea there would be this many. They’re all pro-union protestors and labor rights activists. I didn’t expect the major news channels to pick up on it as quickly as they have. Social media is buzzing, we’re trending on every platform.

I have to thank Campbell for this. This is absolutely all her doing, and it really seems like they never saw it coming. The narrative is already a David vs Goliath underdog story, which is exactly what we wanted it to be.

I blink a few times and try not to fidget on camera. At least we’re on a Zoom call, so I can see the guy on the other end. None of these interviews have been hostile or required any thought yet, really. They’ve just been softball after softball questions. I’m sure Campbell did that on purpose too, to get me used to them, knowingly starting with friendlier broadcasts. If we really want to be out there and have this movement respected, I know I’ll have to take some stronger, tougher interviews. That’s okay.

The whole thing just feels odd, though. I can’t pretend it’s not.

“We just want a safe warehouse, and respectable benefits policies. That’s what this is about, and we tried. This is our last effort, a hail Mary. We tried everything we could, so this is on Rapid. It’s on them to make this right for everyone, and if we need to form a union, that’s what’s going to happen.”

Campbell’s standing behind the camera, giving me a thumbs up.

“Has anyone from the company reached out to you yet?” he asks. He seems like a friendly guy, which I’m grateful for.

“No.” I confide with a tiny shrug. “I’m sure they will soon.”

Why does a wave of guilt slam into me, right at this moment?

It’s been there all morning, right there in the pit of my stomach, but the second he asks about the company reaching out, it’s like a freight train. I can’t believe I did that to him last night.

He snickers a little. “What I’d give to hear that conversation. So let me ask you something: if Paxton Briggs himself were to reach out to you today and offer a settlement, something to quiet this push for a union, keep his shareholders and the employees happy, what would you say?”

Nothing will make sure the shareholders are happy. They won’t be happy until the union is crushed, and they will not make any deals unless they’re forced to. What would my little podcast friend here think if I told him I slept next to Paxton Briggs last night? The thought makes me a little sick to my stomach.

And a bunch of TV executives would go absolutely apeshit at how much ad money they’d make with that story.

Campbell has already coached me on this question. It’s going to come up more than once, she said. Still, just the mention of Paxton’s name gives me goosebumps.

“I would let him know any kind of negotiation needs to go through all the warehouse workers. They haven’t elected me as their leader. I’m just one person trying to find a way to get us all together, to bargain collectively.”

“So there’s nothing he or his team could do, to get you to stop trying to organize this? I mean, you said you’re the one trying to get it rolling.”

“No. The only way I’d stop is if every one of my co-workers received a new offer of some kind, or policies were changed on a warehouse level scale immediately. We tried the other channels, we’ve been patient. They have given us zero reason to believe they’re trying to improve things, and someone is going to get hurt.” I’m actually sort of proud of myself for getting that outso smoothly. A glance away from the camera shows Campbell giving me two thumbs up, grinning from ear to ear. Sometimes I still can’t believe she thought I was the person for this.

“Well, I’m sold. Hazel Strous, thanks so much for coming on and giving us the exclusive first interview about this. You picked a damn big fight. We’re rooting for you over here.”

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