Francis Martello

Portrait of Francis Martello painted in 2AF

Francis Martello is the leader of the United Workers Assembly and famed advocate for worker's rights. Martello leads one of the largest political institutions in Lakkos and has served as an elected official in the Lakkosian Parliament. With a career spanning almost four decades, Martello has been at the forefront of efforts to reform the standards of workplace safety and secure higher wages for blue collar workers.

## Early History

Francis Martello was born in Little Serenus in 51BF to an upper-middle class family of Serenusi heritage.  His father Paul Martello owned a barbershop while his mother Lucille Martello (née Straus) was a renowned poet and novelist. Francis attended a posh private school in Leviathan where he discovered a love for acting and theater. Upon his graduation, Martello returned to Lakkos hoping to open a theater and put on stage productions back in Little Serenus.

When Martello returned home after his five years away at school, he found the island greatly changed from what he remembered from his childhood. Classic cultural mainstays like theater, literature, and opera had fallen out of fashion in favor of television, radio and movies. Martello was unable to find any investors for his proposed theater project and soon gave up in exasperation. Martello began working as a journalist for GrossNews in order to pay his bills.

## Involvement with Workers Unions

Martello's writing skills allowed him to be successful as a journalist, though he hated being forced to write stories about vapid celebrities and greedy business barons. Seeking an outlet for his intellectualism and charisma, he began writing for an underground newspaper for workers called *The Granite Slate*. He had the opportunity to meet and interview many of the most important advocates for worker's rights and he chose to join a number of worker unions to better monitor their activities.

Unfortunately for Francis, GrossNews was greatly angered by his work for a news competitor and they gave him an ultimatum: stop writing for the worker's periodical or have his employment terminated. Martello tried to appeal directly to Larry Gross himself, but was ignored. Francis decided that he was done with writing for others as he yearned to write about the things that he was most passionate about. His articles detailing the mistreatment of workers within Lakkos catapulted him to fame and his charismatic presence became a fixture in working class society. Martello's own background of monetary bounty did not bother the workers, for they thought he might have the power to affect actual change in Lakkosian labor practices.

## Political Rise

Francis Martello, disgusted with the pro-business policies of the members of parliament, was convinced by his friends in the Mining Collective to run for public office. During the parliamentary elections of 25BF, Martello ran for PM against a three term incumbent. Francis' opponent was a wealthy business owner and had voted against expanding worker safety protections. Martello aimed to portray him as nothing more than a petty noble masquerading as a politician and ran with the backing of a new political party that he had started: the United Workers Assembly. After seeing record turnout for an election in the slums, Martello managed to eke out a victory.

With a seat in parliament secured, Martello began his crusade against the greedy business owners of Lakkos. Following an accident at a brewery, Francis wrote and passed legislation that would see a complete overall of brewery safety procedures. PM Martello was involved in fining GrossCorp over the lack of safety measures that led to the GrossTower Attacks, an opportunity he relished given his tumultuous history with the company. PM Martello also helped impeach Antoni Bruno after the disasterous Bush War. It seemed as though every major political development in Lakkos either directly involved Francis or had him at the periphery influencing events.

Martello also continued to seek support from other interest groups throughout the Republic. Francis joined the Lakkosian-Serenusi Civil Rights League in the hopes of finding support amongst his own creed. Martello was a deeply religious man and had donated money often to the Heralds of THE PIT. He also was rumored to be a friend of Deacon Doug Pitman, though the two have never been seen together in public. All seemed to be going well for Martello as his growing political omnipotence felt all but inevitable.

## Accusations of Corruption

Francis Martello had worked his entire political career in order to eventually run for Consul, and in the year 5BF he finally had his chance. Martello had only announced his campaign two days before a massive story rocked the political world. GrossNews claimed that Francis had accepted hundreds of Złoty worth of gifts from a known war criminal from Mayynophobia. Martello's reputation was ruined and his campaign was all but over, now his only recourse was to attempt to recoup as much of the money he had spent as possible.

This scandal saw Martello lose his reelection for PM as well as be ousted from leadership of the United Workers Assembly, leading him to a swift exit from political life. After this embarrassment, Francis was seen often at the Royale Casino playing cards and throwing dice, almost always while nursing a neat bourbon. After a year of self-pity and inactivity, Martello finally decided to reforge his political life anew. He leaned on all his current contacts, and started rubbing shoulders with the wealthy elite of Lakkos. Although Francis had spent the better part of two decades fighting against them, many business owners were happy to see one of their greatest enemies soften his stance. He also met with many important figures from Not Venice in a bid to curry favor with the merchant republic.

## Political Reemergence

Martello burst back into the political scene in 0AF where he won a landslide vote to become a PM representing the district in which he grew up: Little Serenus. Martello still campaigned for worker's rights, but also discussed forging a powerful economy and resilient workforce. Some of the more radical left members of the working class saw him as an ideological traitor, his more moderate policies fit well with the political climate of the time. After being reelected to parliament, Francis was also made party leader of the UWA again.

Though there were still whispered rumors of Martello bribing officials at GrossNews, there were no more stories about scandals in the papers and soon these rumors faded into the background. Francis found himself immediately facing a worthy political opponent, the wily populist Harold Shrub. Shrub's political career mirrored Martello's own and the rising nationalist sentiments of Shrub's Lakkos First party were always a nuisance to the UWA. Francis and Shrub had already formed a bitter rivalry, and the Peaceful Revolution ironically gave Martello more power than ever to criticize his hated nemesis while Shrub worked to assert his newfound political power as president.