White Envelopes

On Monday morning the new business manager walked into his office. He sat in his new chair and settled into his new desk. As he opened the bottom drawer, he found four white envelopes.
They all had a number written on them.
He opened the first white envelope. There was a letter inside from his predecessor: "These other three white envelopes will save you in hard times. In case of emergency, open these envelopes in sequential order."
The business manager shrugged, put the envelopes back, and totally forgot about them.
One year later, the employees went on a strike. The company was loosing money fast, they had to close down the factory.
After a long night of negotiating with the union, he remembered the white envelopes.
He opened the first one: "Blame me, your predecessor for everything!" said the letter inside.
Indeed, it worked. The crisis came to its end. His job was saved, and everybody was happy.
Some months later, another strike hit. He went directly to the drawer and opened the second white envelope: "Blame the government for everything!"
It worked. His job was saved once again.
Two months later the workers declared another strike. Again. The manager went to open the third white envelope. The letter inside said: "Prepare four new white envelopes."