Page 95 of Rich and Bossy

“Ol’ crazy Brittany, good times. We did some things.” Soon he sighs, serious again. “But we are going to have to make a move. Soon. They’re going to be on our asses like never before.”

He doesn’t have to say whotheyis.

“I know.” I rub my temples, though it doesn’t do anything against the storm raging in my head. “What if we just made some adjustments over at the warehouse? Get rid of the trackers, upgrade equipment, some kind of limits on what can be robotic to look like we’re keeping some human jobs in place, set some new policies in place for breaks and offer extended periods of leave for family and medical emergencies. Make sure everybody is more comfortable. We don’t have to give all of it, but maybe negotiate some of that shit. It seems like the right thing to do.”

He winces, giving me my answer before he says a word. “That shows weakness. They’ll get rid of us.”

“It shows we can be reasonable. We’re not running a fucking sweatshop. Half that shit shouldn’t have been implemented to start with.” I hold up a hand. “I’m not blaming you. I get why it happened.”

“You’re preaching to the choir. I was under enormous pressure, that mounts more with each quarter. To be honest, I held some of that up as long as I could. Tried to keep it confined to the Minnie warehouse to look like experiments. I was going to delay rolling it out as long as possible. Figured we could ride out profits for a few more holiday seasons. I’m speaking on behalf of our shareholders, not to mention the board. They will not like your suggestion. Most of them are pretty old school when itcomes to stuff like this. If it weren’t for laws, they’d work kids eighty hours a week with no safety regulations.”

“Yeah, I know.” I lean my head back against the top of the chair and stare at the ceiling, groaning as I do. “Fuck.”

“Yeah,” John mutters. “This is going to be a fucking epic battle, on multiple fronts.”

CHAPTER 26

Hazel

“Didyou think it would get this big?” Jenny, one of the girls who works packing boxes, shoots me a grin as she picks up a stack of pamphlets to help hand out to workers as they come in.

She was one of the first people I spoke to, since the two of us have kind of been bitch buddies—that’s what we called ourselves anyway—for the last few months about how bad things have gotten.

“No. Absolutely not.” I laugh a little, because I know I can trust her. I don’t need to put on my media face. If anything, having a few hours to talk one-on-one with people I already know has been a refreshing break compared to the way the day started off.

This is what I’m suited for. I know Campbell has faith in me, and yeah, I think I did pretty good this morning. But these are the people I’m in it for. They’re the ones I want to spend time with. Who will benefit the most if we can get some changes around here.

And when I see Jim, whose hand is still bandaged up, I remember why.

“How are you feeling?” I ask, eyeing the bandage on his hand.

He shouldn’t even be working right now. That’s how this place goes, though. I’m sure he wants to keep his health insurance for his family, so he shows up and keeps plugging away.

“Fired up.” His voice booms when he says it. He then takes a pamphlet—as an afterthought, he grabs a few more, and I watch him walk over to a cluster of delivery drivers who just pulled up.

My adrenaline spikes, just watching him smile while he talks to them about everything going on. It’s amazing, seeing people finally ready to stand up, after feeling beaten down in this place for so long. It’s like they can smell they have a chance, like this is their only chance.

A few women who I recognize from other departments stare at me from across the warehouse. One of them shifts her weight back and forth from one foot to the other like she’s not sure she’s in the right place. I catch her eye and she looks away.

Instead of waiting for her to come to me, I stroll over to the group, making sure to take my time so they don’t feel like I’m rushing them.

“I know things look a little different out there today.” Not my best ice breaker, but it’ll do. I don’t think I’ve ever talked to them much, even though I know all their names.

I’ve been studying employee files all week, all the information I could gather online anyway.

One of the women—the oldest of the group, Monica—speaks first.

I can tell by the look on her face that I’m in for it. I didn’t see her behind them when I walked over, or I might have kept my distance.

“Why you making trouble like this? All some of us want to do is work, collect our paycheck, and go home to our families.” She then nudges the uncertain girl, the one who now looks like she wants to crawl into a hole and never come out. “My daughterhere. She’s expecting her first baby in six months. Is she going to have a job when your little crusade is done? Or you going to get us all fired?”

“Mom.” The girl stares at her.

I know her name is Susie. They’ve both worked here for a while. Monica since the place opened, Susie going on five years.

“It’s not like that. This is a good thing she’s doing.”

“Oh, it’s a good thing?” She stares daggers at me, then turns back to her daughter. “How do you know what it’s like?” Monica glares at me, then back to the other ladies. “You heard the guy at the meeting. One out of six, that’s how many get fired when a union happens, you start up this kind of shit.” She turns back to me, pointing at her daughter. “Who’s going to pay her hospital bills when she loses her health insurance because you decided to stand up forallof us?” She sneers. “What are you gonna lose when it happens? You’re a kid. You’re a damn kid, and you’re messing with our lives. You don’t know what it’s like to live in the real world. This some kind of game where you get to be a hero? Yeah, I saw you on TV. I’m sure it’s fun for you, but some of us are going to live with the consequences when this circus show of yours falls on its face.”

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