Labor-Chief

Thanie noticed something was wrong when she heard a tinny screeching sound, but it was her reflexes that caused her to turn and see the cams grinding in the upper machine deck. With a *crunch*, the lower cam gave way, and the lines shuddered to a halt right before another, louder *crack* echoed through the manufactory.
"Look out!" Thanie instinctively leapt at her partner on the conveyor line, pushing her to the side before a cascade of parts scattered to the floor. The manufactory erupted in yells as the floor operators evacuated; Thanie dragged the other conveyor operator into the hardened safety casemate as major sections of the machine deck crumbled and rained down around them. Though it felt like an eternity, Thanie counted off the seconds in her heard; the collapse of the section only took ten or twelve seconds. She covered her mouth with her sleeve; the dust was rising, irritating her eyes. 
"Thanie! Sylvia! You safe?" She heard the rapid buzzing of a friction-light lamp, and saw the dim red light appear through the dust. The familiar face of Labor-Chief Rikord appeared through the dust, his safety helm dented but none the worse for wear.
Thanie shook her head. "Sylvia got hit on the helmet with something, she's out but I don't think she's hurt too bad." Rikord grabbed her other arm; together they quick-stepped out of the casemate and covered the thirty feet to the evacuation doors. Most of the floor workers were already at the evacuation point; they cheered when they saw Thanie and Rikord bringing Sylvia out, and cleared a section of grass for her to be laid down.
Rikord sighed before unclutching his friction-light; the red glow faded. "Everyone accounted for! Alright, good. We're all safe and I think we'll be okay. I'm going to raise hell with the UTC over this. Serei and I both knew the section power joint was corroded and we needed to stop the line, but they wanted to keep running all three shifts." He spat. "I'm lucky, myself. Would have been on my head if anyone was seriously injured." Sylvia was starting to come to, and the Labor-Chief knelt down. "Hey. Sylvia. How are you feeling?"
The injured operator made a low grunt, before turning her head. From the other side of the manufactory, an older woman was sprinting over. Serei stopped a short distance away, noticing the hostile gazes from all of the floor assembly. She raised her hands. "Believe me when I say I'm as upset as you are about this."
One of the other operators gave a mocking laugh. "Probably more upset about the line stoppage."
The Labor-Chief cut in sharply. "You're out of line, Victor. We've been trying to get the shift stopped for over a week, she's not your enemy on this one."
"Are you the enemy, then? It's your job to keep us safe, innit?" Another worker was giving Rikord a hard glare. "Seems like it was on you to order a strike if you knew things were unsafe."
"If I called strike every single time something stupid happened, no work would get done. If you disagree, feel free to elect another Labor-Chief and let me just worry about the loading and assembly linkages, like I used to before I got dragged into this role." Rikord closed his left hand. "Or we can settle this around the corner the old Travailier way, your call. But there was a reason I ordered everyone in the section to be wearing safety helms this week."

Appointment

A Labor-Chief is an elected representative of all of the Travailiers of a manufactory. No qualifications or requirements are necessary to be elected as such (other than being employed in that manufactory), they simply have to win a vote.

Duties

The Travailiers organization is famously flat, serving more as an association of peers than an ordinary hierarchical command. Within the context of the Travailiers of a manufactory, Labor-Chiefs are a necessary exemption to this policy. The Labor-Chief of a manufactory is the worker empowered to represent all workers on the manufactory floor in negotiations - wages, safety conditions, shift times and schedules, and so forth. Through mutual agreement, it was determined that it would be more efficient to discuss such topics in the aggregate, as opposed to the Shift Supervisor, Principal negotiating with each and every employee, or the greater Travailiers organization.

Responsibilities

Labor-Chiefs represent the workers of a manufactory in all discussions with shift supervisors and the owning Consortium as a whole. The vast majority of manufactories are staffed with Travailiers labor, and the Labor-Chief at each is entrusted to make sure they are appropriately compensated, have a safe working environment, have work shifts distributed equitably, and otherwise are capable of thriving without exploitation. 
A Labor-Chief is the first contact for any Travailier that requires assistance at work; helping resolve minor personnel matters, negotiating pay bands, leave, and other relatively mundane matters. Equally important is their chair at the negotiating table, advocating for more shifts, better pay for each shift, and getting as many hands on the manufactory line as necessary for safe productivity. The nature of the role requires a mildly adversarial position to that of the Consortium and Shift Supervisors; though all in the end are invested in the manufactory's success, the Labor-Chief ensures that the success is spread amongst the line assembly workers and operators.

Benefits

No particular benefits are given to the Labor-Chief for their duties in the role. It is a volunteer elected role, with no additional compensation from either the manufactory or the Travailiers. The soft benefit of the role is the respect and backing of the workers under their guidance, lending itself to future advancement in other realms (such as Travailier backed political positions, or small businesses).

Grounds for Removal/Dismissal

Labor-Chiefs can be recalled in an election, but this is exceedingly rare; most simply serve their three year term and are replaced in the next election (as few choose to deal with the relatively thankless task for more than a single term).

Type

Professional

Alternative Naming

Chief

Source of Authority

Travailier Union Voters

Length of Term

3yr

Related Organizations

• Travailiers