1. From the beginning- union structure

 For those that don't know, our family is a union family.  We believe that unions fight for worker's rights and help to improve working conditions, wages, and benefits for employees.  We are dues paying, card carrying, proud members.  

Here is a bit of structure so that you can understand the story a bit better.  The labor union I'm talking about is an international union and has a structure a bit like our government.  "The International", as it is referred to, is like the federal government.  The different districts are like the state government in the fact that they are the mid level, though each district covers multiple states.  The locals are like the county or city level of government- roughly.  

I'm just going to call our local, the Local.  It is run by a Business Manager who oversees everything that goes on at the Local.  That person is helped out by the Executive Board which provides a checks and balances system.  The Business Manager is elected every 3 years along with the people who will serve on the E-Board.  

Under the Business Manager are the Business Agents.  These are the people that run out into the community to lobby at the state capital and who drive all over creation to run the union meetings for different companies.  They negotiate contracts between littler companies and their workers who are union members.  

There are also a few other positions under the Business manager such as organizers and dispatchers.  Organizers do just that, they organize workers together to join the union for all of the benefits and protection the union provides.  The dispatchers help connect union members up with jobs in the community.  One can come in and "sign the books".  When a company calls and needs workers, those who have signed the books and are qualified get sent out to work.  For simplicities sake, I'm going to lump the Organizers and the Dispatchers into my umbrella of "Business Agents" unless otherwise noted.  

Also working out of the Local's Hall are administrative assistants.  While these people could be any gender, it just so happens that the Local's AAs are all females- they are often referred to as "The Office Ladies."  They do a ton of work making sure the Business Agents and Business Manager are organized, getting paid, etc.  As with any organization, the Office Ladies are often unsung heroes and are an incredible support to the Hall.  It couldn't run without them. 

In essence, every single person who works out of the Local is a champion for workers rights.  The face of this are the Business Agents.  The Business Agents spend the majority of their day making sure that the members get a fair wage, aren't being retaliated against by their employer, aren't being unfairly unpunished or even terminated.  They field phone calls early in the morning or late at night.  They miss time with their families and even work on the weekends because that is when their members or potential members aren't at work and can call if they have an issue.  The Business Agents are also at-will employees meaning they can be let go at anytime, for any reason or lack thereof.  Yep, you read that right.  The same people who spend their time protecting other people's jobs, lack the very protections they provide to others.  

And that, my friends, is where our story starts.