[FH] Alarishi Sovereignity

>Sep 2144: a factory workers in a Maskill Heavy Engineering
plant in the
>New New New York asteroid sovereignty

leave it to damyankees to come up with something like this....

> of the Alarishi Empire go on strike
>over working conditions, halting the factory's production of
>electroperistaltic plasma pumps, hydromagnetic wave initiators,
quadrupole
>ion lenses and high-quality dishwasherproof ceramic cutlery
('Maskill - A
>Cut Above The Rest'). the management begin talks, but as they
approach
>their third month, and the company approaches bankruptcy, the
directors
>begin to despair of ever satisfying the hardline union
negotiators. A
>late-night brainstorming session at the Smoke Ring Thought
Engineers
>think-tank

SRTE's are hereby incorporated into Official Alarishi List

>Jan 2145: MHE sells its extramural assets and lays of its
workers. with a
>loan from the Bank of Real Earth, they purchase digging and
building
>equipment, and a large number of orbital-insertion boosters
from the navy
>surplus. work begins.
>
>Feb 2145: the MHE factory leaves New New New York, and becomes
an
>independent stellar object. the board files for sovereignty
status, and
>passes a minimal set of laws, severely restricting
unionisation.
>recruitment of a new workforce begins, targeting the
desperately poor
>population of the failed Vacuum Breatharian sov.

You're really reaching here.  "Vacuum Breatharian"?
You also know that any Alarishi can emigrate from any
sovereignity?  It's one of the (few) constitutional rights.  If
you don't have the cash to pay for your transportation, you can
always sell your indentures or make a deal for working passage
on a freighter or something.  Given our permanent labor
shortage, it's neither difficult nor onerous to do that.
Unhappy workers can simply leave.  And post their complaints to
labor websites, which will likely increase wages the company
will have to pay to new hires.

>Oct 2145: for the first time since the trade dispute, MHE
declares a
>profit. their fortunes continue to rise.
>
>Aug 2148: trouble at t'mill. the exploited worker population
becomes
>increasingly restless at their situation, but are frustrated by
the legal
>restrictions on them agitating for better conditions.
>
>Nov 2148: MHE gains Most Favoured Supplier status for plasma
pumps for the
>Gillette shipyards around Velikiy Alarish, just one of many
important
>supply relationships they have built up.
>
>Mar 2149: an open revolt by the workers leaves much of the
plant damaged.
>the management lays off the malcontents and embarks on a
programme of
>automation.
>
>2150-2152: a steady stream of workers leave MHE, their places
quickly
>filled by machines. rather than educating the exploited
workers, the board
>hires in foreign technicians on nine-month contracts to
supervise the
>machines.
>
>2154: MHE's mnufacturing becomes completely automated; only the
contract
>technicians and the eleven-strong board remain.
>
>2155-2160: MHE goes from strength to strength, building up
scores of major
>contracts and becoming firmly enmeshed in the web of
strategically
>important trade in the Empire.
>
>2161: a dispute within the board over the rationalisation of
the product
>line results in six of the directors leaving MHE to found a new
company,
>Cut Above Tableware, on Gosling, to continue production of the
range of
>cutlery abandoned by MHE.
>
>2162-2163: a further three directors leave, citing the
hostility and
>tension in the new management climate as reasons for their
departure.
>
>2165: Alec Maskill, the company's founder, dies of liver
cancer.
>
>2166: Faced with continual alienation from the contract
technicians, Harry
>Stringer, the remaining directory, becomes increasingly
depressed. He
>occupies his time with further automating the factory's
management
>systems.
>
>2167: The management of MHE is now entirely automated,
depending only on
>reports from the technicians, and directions from shareholders
transmitted
>via email.
>
>2168: Harry Stringer retires to Aruba, Earth, assumes local
citizenship
>and takes up oil painting (seascapes mostly, with some still
lifes). MHE
>is now solely under the direction of its computer, its resident
>technicians and its distant shareholders, none of whom are
citizens. in
>fact, there are no longer any citizens of MHE.

>2169: The management of Athena Munitions (formerly Cut Above
Tableware)
>file a petition with the Imperial Service, suggesting that the
now
>citizenless MHE should be taken under Crown control.

The permanent departure of the last citizen means the
sovereignity's charter becomes void and the real estate reverts
to Alarishi standard law; the technicians on site can now
unioinize, strike for citizenship and/or other benefits, et
cetera.  The Imperium inquires if the shareholders wish to
continue to lease the premises (for quite reasonable rates, the
Imperium isn't trying to skin anyone).

> This makes waves in
>the industrial community, which is uneasy about dealing with a
state-owned
>company.

About a third of all stock in the Empire is held by the
Imperium, which is not surprising given that the systems were
colonized as a private corporate venture.   No one worries about
dealing with Imperial companies--His Imperial Majesty has _very_
deep pockets.

> A report from the Service's surveyors reveals that the
company's
>computer system is so labyrinthine, it would cost more to bring
it under
>outside control than would be gained from doing so. The Service
rejects
>the petition.

The Imperium isn't interested in the computers (although the
Planet of the Geeks might take an interest), but habitable real
estate is valuable in and of itself.

>2170 onwards: MHE continues to exist, an essentially autonomous
corporate
>micro-state, entrenched in trade nets and administrated
automatically. The
>Empire's first zero-population sovereignty is established. It
soon gains
>an additional source of income from tourism.
>
>how about that, eh?

Still not convinced.  Nice try though.