Brotherhood of Spacers Able Spacer Certification Patch
The Brotherhood of Spacers is a cadre (guild) of professional spacers, established to help members with apprenticeship programs, negotiating fair wages and benefits, port-side lodging, job placement, etc.
Founded at Port Loren in 3 f.y.[1] the Brotherhood stands as the first cadre in the Frontier, and their success is a model for all cadres that have formed since. Their payment scheme serves as the standard for daily wages used throughout the Frontier.
They maintain a facility in almost every spaceport, and are usually the first improvements to be built in a new port. These facilities typically include quarters,[2] recreation areas, and an employment office.
Brotherhood-run employment offices are very efficient at possessing and filling out crew requests. Such arrangements can even be made well before the ship arrives at the port. The job placement program provides skilled spacers to any Brotherhood-approved ship in need of capable crewmen.[3]
Ships that use this program most frequently are privately-owned vessels and/or government agencies in need of short-notice crew additions. While mega-corporations such as Pan-Galactic have more than enough personnel to serve their own fleets, smaller enterprises lacking such resources are reliant on Brotherhood services. Ships or businesses found to be mistreating their crew, or reneging on their payments are blacklisted by the Brotherhood.
As far as the mega-corporations are concerned, the Brotherhood is merely an association of well-organized freelancers. Mega-corps prefer to use their own employees who are more loyal to the company and willing to work harder without demanding better pay or amenities. The Brotherhood in turn sees mega-corps as bloated, greedy, faceless conglomerates with no respect or care for their employees.
This difference of opinion has lead to clashes and organized resistance. For the most part, the Brotherhood wins out by staging strikes at ports and hindering corporate day-to-day operations. It is largely through the intervention of Star Law that has kept the conflict from escalating.
Notes and References[]
- ↑ Zebulon's Guide to Frontier Space pp.53
- ↑ Members'- only quarters allow for spacers to find lodging without competing with tourists for available beds.
- ↑ Essentially a "temp" agency.