"Robert F. Young - Project Hi-Rise" - читать интересную книгу автора (Young Robert F)

Finally, we have the real story behind why a certain tower in Babylon was
never finished and why all great builders, from Nebuchadnezzar to Moses
(Robert), have such a rough time.

Project Hi-Rise
by ROBERT F. YOUNG
As soon as we got word that the strike was on, we walked off the job. It was 10:40 A.M. Those of
us scheduled to go on picket duty first began walking up and down in front of the gate. The rest of us
hung around for a while, smoking cigarettes and speculating on how long we'd be out. Then we
meandered on home.
The minute she saw me, Debbie's face fell. When we voted the Union in last month, she had a fit, and
ever since then she's been dreading a walkout. How were we going to manage now, she asked me when
I came in the door, with prices the way they were and with no money coming in? I told her not to worry,
that with the Project so close to completion and the King on their backs morning, noon and night, the
Company would have to come across pronto. She said she hoped so, what with another mouth to feed
any day now and our savings account down to two figures, and what would I like for dinner тАФbaked fish
or fried figs? I said baked fish.
Women don't understand about strikes, about how important it is for workers to show who they're
working for that they mean business when they say they want more money. Sure, I know the Project's an
important undertaking, but construction workers have to live the same as anybody else, no matter how
important what they're constructing is. Like the Organizer says, it's dog-eat-dog these days, and
workingmen have to look out for themselves, nobody else is going to.
This afternoon, Ike dropped by with a sixpac, and we sat around most of the rest of the day, drinking
beer and talking. He's up for picket duty tonight; I'm not scheduled till tomorrow morning. I'm glad,
because that'll give me a chance to attend the Union meeting tonight. Ike told me to listen real good so I
could tell him all about it, and I said I would.

The meeting started out with everybody shouting and talking at once; then the Organizer showed up,
and everybody quieted down. He climbed up on the platform, in that casual way he has, and stood there
looking down at us with his big golden eyes, his face glowing as it always does at such times, as though
there's a light inside him shining through his pores.
"Brethren," he said in that rich resonant voice of his, and instantly he had everybody's complete
attention. It's no wonder we jumped at the chance to have him represent us at the bargaining table when
he so generously offered to.
"Brethren," he repeated. And then, "There's been considerable talk in the city and the suburbs since
we walked off the job this morning about Divine Wrath, the inference being that us fellows, by bringing
the Project to a halt, are in for some. Well, don't you believe it, fellow members of Local 209 тАФdon't
you believe it for one minute! Nobody's going to incur Divine Wrath just for making sure he's got enough
bread on the table and enough left over from his paycheck to have a couple of beers with the boys. If
anybody's going to incur it, the Company is. Because I happen to have it from a pretty good source тАФ
and you can quote me on this if you like тАФ that somebody up there doesn't want the Project
completed."
All of us applauded. It was just what we'd wanted to hear. After the applause died away, the
Organizer outlined what we were striking for, and I paid strict attention so I could tell Ike. It adds up to a
pretty nice package: a fifteen-percent across-the-board hourly rate increase; full-paid hospitalization;
retirement after twenty-five years service; nine paid holidays; three weeks vacation after four years on the
job; and a podiatric clinic, financed and maintained by the Company, where brickmakers can receive
immediate treatment for chilblains, arthritis and fallen arches.
 After the meeting a bunch of us stopped in The Fig Leaf for a few beers. I was still there when Ike
got off picket duty and dropped by. I told him about the package and he agreed it was a nice one. By