How to use python to create Union as in C

The below example shows how to use python to create a union and use it.
from ctypes import *
class barley_amount(Union):
   _fields_ = [
   ("barley_long", c_long),
   ("barley_int", c_int),
   ("barley_char", c_char * 8),
 ]
value = raw_input("Enter the amount of barley to put into the beer vat:")
my_barley = barley_amount(int(value))
print "Barley amount as a long: %ld" % my_barley.barley_long
print "Barley amount as an int: %d" % my_barley.barley_long
print "Barley amount as a char: %s" % my_barley.barley_char  

(ref: gray hat python)