(still catching up on a backlog of stories, so I'm quite behind) What I didn't understand about this story was the union/political aspect. I didn't see what it added, and I certainly don't understand why it was important enough to name the story after.
Other than that, I think the characterization fell a bit flat, especially on the wife - I didn't get the sense that she was trying to come to terms with the situation and failing, but rather it felt like she's just not trying at all (compare this story to the PP story The Ashen Thing for a much better take on this scenario). Of course, the POV character is unreliable, but still, I think she ended up as a very two dimensional character.
However, I did appreciate that for all its flaws, this story does try to tackle interesting questions, and presents a novel approach.