I belonged to a union for all of two years back in the 70s. It was the Postal Workers Union and they bailed me out of a manufactured write up that the old USPS management used to like to lay on all new employees to help keep them in line. I never questioned the value of my union dues again. I did leave the "service" after watching 3 fellow carriers drop dead of various causes around me; still probably one of the bigger mistakes in my life but so it goes. I think I first heard this song on an old Judy Collins record but it does sound more natural sung by Pete and Arlo. Arlo's dad and Pete's old buddy wrote this and it's up there with the songs of Joe Hill, Phil Ochs and Utah Phillips in the realm of classic union songs. There are more verses than those used here and they run the gamut from official to not and from raunchy to outrageous.
UNION MAID - PETE SEEGER AND ARLO GUTHRIE