I know union organizing, especially organizer-in-training work, is tough. Long and irregular hours, lots of travel, etc. were all factors I was prepared for since I’ve been applying and interviewing for positions with various unions over the past few months. I just did a first interview for an OIT position with a pretty big local, and while I was excited about the position the fact that they told me it would be as a contractor with no benefits until I became a full time organizer was a bit strange (this isn’t the norm for similar positions) but they assured me I was paid more to compensate for this fact. I got a call from the Organizing Director with a verbal offer a few days later with still no mention at all of compensation, so I asked and she acted a bit offended and told me it was around $60k but to check and make sure with the finance person who I’d be doing new hire paperwork with. I texted him right after the call, and when he responded with the new hire paperwork this past Monday the salary was listed as $50k with no benefits or allowances and me picking up the additional tax burden as an independent contractor ($42k after tax). I found out a full time organizer starts at $47k. For reference the same union’s international pays OITs $50k + awesome benefits + $570 car/$60 phone allowance monthly and doesn’t hire as them as contractors in the same city. Additionally, the contract had some pretty concerning clauses like them not being required to pay me any outstanding balance if I gave less than 30 days notice and no right to a recovery period after injuries sustained on the job. I don’t even know why I’m sharing this, I guess I’m just feeling really down after finding the reality of a job I was excited about and thought would treat me better. I can’t have healthcare if I’m gonna live and pay off my student loans on this at all. Am I just being naive and expecting too much here?