A joint lawsuit requires numerous formalities.
Bella, accompanied by attorney Jerry Hogarth, met separately with Old Joe and the others to discuss their demands.
Their demands were simple: the timely and full payment of the elderly's pensions. If the acquirer disagreed with this payment model, a lump sum payment, taking into account the elderly's health conditions, would be acceptable.
As for the steel plant's relocation to Vietnam, what would happen to the current employees' jobs?
There was no solution! Eastern labor was inherently cheap; it was unreasonable to demand that capitalists use expensive resources over cheaper ones.
This was a major social issue, one that not only Bella and attorney Hogarth, two newbies, but even the president, who ruled the country through Twitter, had no solution.
From a national perspective, the best they could do was implement some tax cuts to encourage capitalists to hire domestic workers. Whether the capitalists would listen was another matter.
Bella certainly couldn't solve this social problem; she wasn't a savior. The employees should be left to figure it out on their own.
After more than ten days of negotiations, Bella secured the signatures of fifty-nine veteran workers, including Old Joe, Old Willy, and Old Yar, as joint plaintiffs in a civil lawsuit against Wexler Steel and the Phoenix branch of Stark Industries, the company that acquired the steel company.
Jerry Hogarth, eager for fame, began accompanying Bella in interviewing the veterans, compiling materials, and preparing for an appeal, even though her legal fees hadn't been fully paid.
Meanwhile, Natasha organized a large group of veterans for demonstrations in the old city and the east and west districts.
Bella hadn't received any of her past memories, meaning she didn't recognize her former classmates or teachers, making her a fake local. Organizing the demonstrations had to be left to Natasha.
The veterans wouldn't be able to stand in the sun for two hours, so they were told to just come and stroll around every morning, like a check-in. Part of the marchers were young students from the neighborhood, while the majority were the workers' sons, daughters, and grandchildren.
Signs like "We want bread, we want work" definitely can't be used. The old men and women are already eighty years old; forcing them to work is sheer murder.
The main message of the slogan is that pensions must be paid, and that they must not be withheld for any reason. With this dual approach, their momentum quickly surged.
The Flight 180 accident dealt only to the passengers of that flight, while the current demonstrations and lawsuits represent a single group, targeting a multinational corporation. The impact on society is completely different.
Los Angeles, California.
Tony Stark, the super-genius who claimed to have been able to make circuit boards at age four, build engines at age six, and graduate from MIT at age seventeen, had just sent off a female celebrity he couldn't name.
He's always been a media darling. Questions about who he's dating, his opinions on certain policies, his opinions on New York and Los Angeles council members, his sports team support—all sorts of random questions would besiege him the moment he left his villa.
It's normal for him to be asked questions. As a highly talked-about figure, it would be strange if he wasn't being peppered with questions by reporters.
If the female reporter was pretty and had a good figure, Tony Stark would respond; otherwise, he'd ignore her.
But today's questions had a few new twists.
"Mr. Stark, what are your thoughts on the embezzlement of elderly pension funds? Where do these funds go? You've left them homeless while you yourself enjoy top-tier social resources. Don't you feel guilty?"
What kind of nonsense are these? Opinions? What opinions could I possibly have? These questions meant nothing to Tony Stark. He was already plagued by people lashing out at him. Without a second thought, he opened his car door and scurried out of his villa.
He didn't take it seriously, simply because he was too far away.
But as the news spread from Arizona to California, tens of thousands of industrial workers were still alarmed.
Retired workers worried about their pensions being suspended, while those still employed worried about their futures. What if, upon retirement, their pensions were wiped out? Who could bear that?
Management didn't take the workers' concerns seriously enough. Stark Industries had been sued by so many companies and individuals that if the company had to deal with every case with such fanfare, management wouldn't have any business left.
Someone sued us? Fine, hand it over to the legal department and let them handle it.
Stark Industries didn't take it seriously, but their competitors were quite pleased. These individuals were behind protests in states like California, Nevada, New Mexico, and Colorado.
Even Bella received a bearer check for a full ten thousand dollars. Perhaps the other party was just trying to get her to be a bit more serious?
In the Phoenix Courthouse,
Bella, formally dressed and calmly dressed, sat behind the plaintiff's table. Attorney Jerry Hogarth sat beside her.
The clients and attorneys for the steel plant and Stark Industries' Phoenix branch sat on the defendant's side. In the back gallery sat Old Joe and his group.
Flanking the judge and the court clerk sat the twelve-member jury.
The bearded judge opened the court, and Attorney Hogarth began his sharp statement.
"On behalf of fifty-nine seniors, I formally sue Wexler Steel and Stark Industries.
History should not be forgotten. I hope history will remember today, remember this moment.
Our predecessors worked hard and selflessly for the war. Now they are old, and those companies are so stingy that they even want to take away that meager pension. What about us? When we are old, what will we rely on to live?
When I lose my ability to act and can no longer stand in court to speak, when the jurors retire from their current jobs due to illness and age, if our pensions are frozen at that time, what should we do? Beg? Kneel in front of the gate of Stark Industries and beg them to give us a piece of bread?
The law! The law is the effective weapon to safeguard our own rights and interests and protect ourselves! What we want is not begging, not Mr. Tony Stark, and Mr. Obadiah Stane gave us a piece of bread like a saint. What we want is decency, the last dignity that a person can use to spend his old age in a civilized society!" Miss
Jerry Hogarth is still a little immature, but you can see that her tone is excited.
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(End of this chapter)