Hugo Book Club Blog: Organized labour in science fiction

Organized labour in science fiction Additional suggestions are welcome. This list is to supplement our blog posts on labour in SF: part one, part two, part three Terminology: “Business union” is defined as an organization that is legally certified by the government to negotiate on behalf of a group of workers. “Solidarity union” is defined as a group of workers organizing themselves on a grassroots basis to seek concessions from an employer. “Guild union” is defined as a group of workers whose labour negotiating ability stems from their near-monopoly on a particular set of skills. “Primary depiction” is defined as union activity being the focus of the story. These are stories in which organizing workers or workers asserting their rights is crucial to the events depicted. “Secondary depiction” is defined as union activity being important to the story, but not the primary focus. This is often an important plot point. “Tertiary depiction” is defined as anything that is not substantive. This can range from a one-sentence reference, to a piece of world-building that is not crucial to the plot. (Note: This list excludes inherently criminal organizations such as the Assassin's Guild from Discworld, the Guild of Thieves from Robert Silberberg and Randall Garrett's A Little Intelligence or the Traitor's Guild from James Blish's A Style in Treason.)
Year	Title / Author	Union Model	Qualitative Depiction	Extent of depiction
1890	News From Nowhere – William Morris [Novel]	Solidarity union (Manufacturing)	Positive depiction – worker organizing leads to utopia	Secondary
1938	The Toys Go On Strike – Enid Byton [Children’s Book]	Solidarity union (Toys)	Positive depiction – Union stands up to mistreatment of workers.	Primary
1940	Robbie - Isaac Asimov [Short Story]	Business union (Manufacturing)	Negative depiction - Antagonistic to progress.	Secondary
1940	The Roads Must Roll - Robert A. Heinlein [Short Story]	Business union (Transportation)	Negative depiction - strike must be quashed violently.	Primary
1942	Breakdown – Jack Williamson [Short Story]	Business union (Engineers and spacemen)	Negative depiction – Union power is stifling and overreaching	Primary
1946	Slaves of the Lamp – Leo Zagat [Novel]	Business union (Psychoneers union)
1949	The Green Forest – A.E. Van Vogt	Business union (Spacement’s Union)	Negative depiction	Secondary
1951	The Man In The White Suit - Ealing Studios [Movie]	Business union (Textiles)	Negative depiction - Antagonistic to progress.	Primary
1951	The Traders (Foundation) - Isaac Asimov [Short Story]	Guild union (Atomic engineers)	Negative depiction - Nepotistic and anti-intellectual.	Secondary
1951	Day Of The Moron - H. Beam Piper [Short Story]	Business union (Atomic engineers)	Negative depiction - Protects unqualified workers. Bureaucratic and obstructionist.	Primary
1952	The Space Merchants - Frederick Pohl & Cyril Kornbluth [Novel]	Business union (Agricultural)	Negative depiction - Labour union exploits worker.	Secondary
1952	The Demolished Man - Alfred Bester [Novel]	Business union (Unspecified)	Negative depiction - Corrupt union leadership.	Tertiary
1953	Null ABC – H. Beam Piper [Novella]	Solidarity union (Reading)	Mixed depiction – Works to protect rights of skilled workers, but may be unnecessary.	Secondary
1953	Starman Jones – Robert A. Heinlein [Novel]	Guild union (Transportation)	Negative depiction – Union is anti-meritocratic.	Secondary
1957	Strikebreaker - Isaac Asimov [Short Story]	Solidarity union (Waste processing)	Negative depiction - Strike threatens survival of colony.	Primary
1957	The Lineman – Walter Miller Jr. [Short Story]	Business union (Lavaworkers)	Negative depiction – Union described as “yellow-bellied obscenity.”	Tertiary
1960	The Apprentice - James White [Short Story]	Business union (Department store)	Positive depiction - Employee has job protection	Secondary
1962	Last Year’s Grave Undug – Chan Davis [Short Story]	Business unions (multiple)	Mixed depiction – Union is implied to have helped reduce inequality. But also corrupt former union president is brutal leader in post-apocalyptic.	Secondary
1963	Omicron [Movie]	Business union (Factory workers)	Positive depiction – Alien organises labour collective.	Primary
1964	Martian Time-Slip – Philip K. Dick [Novel]	Business union (Plumbing)	Negative depiction – Corrupt union leadership.	Secondary
1966	A Relic Of Empire – Larry Niven [Short Story]	General statement about unions.	Positive depiction – Described as ‘necessary.’	Tertiary
1974	The Monster of Peladon – Dr. Who [Television Episode]	Business union (Resource extraction)	Mixed depiction – Workers have valid concerns, but are pawns in larger political game.	Secondary
1978	Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy - Douglas Adams [Radio/Novel/Television]	Guild Union (Philosophers)	Negative depiction – Antagonistic towards progress, interested primarily in “gravy train.”	Tertiary
1978	1985 – Anthony Burgess [Novel]	Business Union (General)	Negative depiction – Unions depicted as oppressive and anti-freedom.	Primary
1979	The Kilohertz War – Alien Worlds [Radio]	Business Union (Technicians)	Negative depiction – complaints about union striking.	Tertiary
1986	Watchmen – Alan Moore [Comic book]	Business Union (Police)	Mixed depiction – 1973 police strike causes violence, but may be justified.	Tertiary
1987	Robocop - Paul Verhoeven [Movie]	Business Union (Police)	Negative depiction - Heroic characters cross picket line. Quote: "Police officers don't strike."	Primary
1988	They Live – John Carpenter [Movie]	Business Union (Construction)	Mixed depiction – Union is “closed shop” but hires itinerant protagonist anyway.	Tertiary
1989	Orbital Decay - Allen Steele [Stories / Novel]	Business Union (Construction)	Positive depiction - Union helps ensure safer workplace.	Primary
1992	Heavy Time - CJ Cherryh [Novel]	Business union (Mining)	Negative depiction - employer-dominated union.	Primary
1994	By Any Means Necessary - Babylon 5 [Television]	Business union (Dockworkers)	Mixed depiction - Striking workers are violent, but achieve fairer wages.	Primary
1996	Night Sky Mine - Melissa Scott [Novel]	Business union (Mining)	Positive depiction - Ensures equitable wages.	Secondary
1996	Bar Association - Deep Space Nine [Television]	Solidarity union (Service industry)	Mixed depiction - Achieves fairer wages, but must be disbanded because it’s “no longer needed.”	Primary
1999	Against The Tide Of Years – S.M. Stirling [Novel]	Business union (Dockworkers)	Positive depiction – Protagonist provides help to union trying to support fair wages.	Tertiary
2000	1632 - Eric Flint [Novel / Series]	Business union (Mine workers)	Positive depiction - Organizing prosperous economy.	Secondary
2000	Candle - John Barnes [Novel]	Guild union (Combat)	Positive depiction - Union provides health, dental and legal coverage.	Secondary
2000	Company Man - Robert Jackson Bennett [Novel]	Solidarity union (General)	Positive depiction - Union works to combat inequality.	Secondary
2000	Cosmonaut Keep - Ken MacLeod [Novel]	Solidarity union (Online workers)	Positive depiction - Balances power of capital.	Secondary
2000	Midnight Robber – Nalo Hopkinson [Novel]	Solidarity union (Transporation / pedicab drivers)	Positive depiction – fights for fair compensation	Secondary
2000	Perdido Street Station - China Mieville [Novel]	Business union (Dock workers)	Positive depiction - Unions provide counterbalance to strength of capital.	Secondary
2001	Bendless Love – Futurama [TV Episode]	Business union (Manufacturing)	Negative depiction – protagonist is a scab worker. Union is mob-connected and corrupt.	Primary
2004	Iron Council – China Mieville [Novel]	Business union (Railway workers)	Positive depiction	Primary
2005	Old Man’s War – John Scalzi [Novel]	Business union (Mining workers)	Negative depiction – Striking workers on the news portrayed as violent.	Tertiary
2006	Small Minded Giants - Oisín McGann [Novel]	Business union (Machinists)	Positive depiction	Secondary
2007	Safehold – David Weber [Novel series]	Business union (Foundries)	Positive depiction	Tertiary
2007	Dirty Hands - Battlestar Galactica [Television]	Solidarity union (Mining workers)	Negative depiction - Heroic governor bargains in bad faith by holding gun to the head of a worker.	Primary
2009	The Wind-Up Girl - Paolo Bacigalupi [Novel]	Guild Union (Animal handlers)	Negative depiction - antagonism towards entrepreneur protagonist.	Secondary
2010	For The Win - Cory Doctorow [Novel]	Solidarity union (Online workers)	Positive depiction - ensuring workers’ rights.	Primary
2010	Damage Time - Colin Harvey [Novel]	Guild Union (Sex trade workers)	Negative depiction - Union excludes vulnerable population.	Secondary
2010	The Great Bay – Dale Pendell [Novel]	Business Union (Electrical workers)	Mixed depiction	Tertiary
2011	The Expanse [Series of Novels] Leviathan Wakes (2011) Caliban’s War (2012) Abbadon’s Gate (2013) Cibola Burn (2014) Nemesis Games (2015) Babylon’s Ashes (2016) Persepolis Rising (2017) Tiamat’s Wrath (2019) Leviathan Falls (2021)	Multiple Business Unions (Resource extraction workers, transportation workers)	Positive depiction – Union integral in democratic governance. Help defend rights of oppressed workers. Provide legal counsel to workers in need.	Secondary
2011	Contagion [Movie]	Business Union (Nursing)	Negative depiction - Union rules prevent adequate health care for major character.	Secondary
2012	High Stakes – Naomi Kritzer [Short Story]	Solidarity Union (IWW)	Positive depiction – Union helps fight debt slavery.	Primary
2012	Existence - David Brin [Novel]	Business Union (Child care workers)	Positive depiction - Union is part of positive and functional workplace.	Tertiary
2012	“The Doctor Is Sin” – Episode of Venture Brothers [Television]	Business Unions (Machine Workers, Nuclear Engineering and Custodial Super Science Unions)	Mixed depiction – Union has legitimate grievances but are treated as joke.	Secondary
2013	Phosphorus – Veronica Schanoes [Short Story]	Solidarity Union & Business Union (Manufacturing, General Labourers)	Positive depiction – Union stands in opposition to unsafe work practices	Primary
2013	Burning Girls – Veronica Schanoes [Novella]	Solidarity Union (Garment Workers)	Positive depiction – Union stands in opposition to unsafe work practices.	Secondary
2013	Fortune’s Pawn - Rachel Back [Novel]	Business Union (Merchants)	Positive depiction - Union provides information to employees.	Tertiary
2013	The Day The Crayons Quit – Drew Daywalt & Oliver Jeffers [Children’s Book]	Solidarity Union (Crayons)	Positive depiction – Union helps improve the working conditions of labourers.	Primary
2014	Climbing the Date Palm – Shira Glassman [Short Story]	Business Union (Construction)	Positive depiction – Union fights against wage theft.	Primary
2014	Ancillary Sword – Ann Leckie [Novel]	Solidarity Union (Agricultural)	Positive depiction – Union fights against indentured servitude in tea production operation.	Tertiary
2014	War & Mir Vol. 2: Darkold – Minister Faust [Novel]		Positive depiction	Secondary
2015	Windswept - Adam Rakunas [Novel]	Business union (Manufacturing)	Positive depiction - ensuring fair wages.	Primary
2015	Bangarang – Killjoys (Reappears throughout series) [TV Episode]	Business union (Resource extraction)	Mixed depiction – Union interferes with protagonists, but also helps vulnerable workers.	Tertiary
2015	All The Childhood You Can Afford - Daniel Suarez [Short Story]	Business union (Manufacturing)	Positive depiction - Ensures gains of automation are shared more equitably.	Secondary
2016	Checkerboard Planet – Eleanor Arnason [Short Story]	Business union (Natural resource extraction)	Positive depiction – Labour organizer protagonist striving for better working conditions.	Primary
2016	Company Town - Madeline Ashby [Novel]	Business union (Sex trade workers)	Positive depiction - Ensures workers’ safety and rights.	Secondary
2017	Another Girl, Another Planet - Lou Antonelli [Novel]	Business union (Duct workers)	Positive depiction - Ensures safety standards in construction.	Secondary
2017	Hunger Makes the Wolf / Blood Binds The Pack - Alex Wells [Novel/Series]	Business union (Mining workers)	Positive depiction – Unionization drive is response to corporate exploitation.	Primary
2017	The Death and Life of Schneider Wrack - Nate Crowley [Novel]	Solidarity union (Undead labourers)	Positive depiction – Union fights against exploitation of labour	Primary
2017	Quirks – Marie Vibbert [Short Story]	Business union (Carpenters)	Mixed depiction – Union uses memory uploads to share skills.	Primary
2018	Sorry To Bother You - Boots Riley [Movie]	Business union (Telemarketing)	Positive depiction - Balances power of capital.	Primary
2018	Unfulfilled/Bike Parade - South Park [Television]	Solidarity union (Warehouse workers)	Positive depiction - Union fights for safety standards and fair pay.	Primary
2019	The Future Of Another Timeline - Annalee Newitz [Novel]	Multiple unions Industrial Workers Of The World, United Steelworkers and The Carpenters’ Union	Positive depiction – Unions are depicted as allies in the struggle for women’s rights. Steelworkers achieve fairer overtime compensation for workers.	Secondary
2019	Closed Shop – Kevin J. Phyland [Short Story]	Solidarity union (Artificial Inteligence)	Positive depiction - Union fights for fair wages and public good.	Primary
2020	Lapsis [Movie]	Solidarity union (Gig workers)	Positive depiction - Organizing in adverse conditions.	Primary
2020	The Factory Witches of Lowell – C.S. Malerich [Novella]	Business union (mill workers)	Positive depiction – Union fights for better working conditions.	Primary
2020	The Salvage Crew – Yudhanjaya Wijeratne [Novella]	Business union (Mining)	Positive depiction – Union secures better pay.	Tertiary
2020 &2021	Hardspace: Shipbreaker –Blackbird Interactive And expansion pack [Video Game]	Business union (salvage)	Positive depiction – Union protects vulnerable workers.	Primary
2021	Machinehood – S.B. Divya [Novel]	Business union (construction)	Mixed depiction – Union funds antagonistic/violent protesters. Union also helps push back against erosion of human rights.	Secondary
2021	Heritage - Superman & Lois [Television]	Business union (manufacturing)	Positive depiction – Fights for worker wages and safety at villain Morgan Edge’s factory.	Tertiary
2021	Orumai’s Choice – Gautam Bhatia [Short Story]	Solidarity union (General labour)	Positive depiction – Sentient robots assert their right to work-life balance.	Primary
2021	The Horizon – Gautam Bhatia [Novel]	Business union (Agricultural workers)	Positive depiction – union is central to revolution seeking to address inequity and inequality in society.	Primary

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9 comments:

Rev. Felix the Black Cat22 March 2019 at 19:45
I remembered one mention, towards the beginning of "The Kilohertz War," which starts ~24 minutes into part 4 of this War of the Worlds marathon special. Definitely negative, grousing about the technicians' union striking again.
http://clearingthestatic.blogspot.com/2016/10/special-war-of-worlds-marathon-radio.html
Hob22 March 2019 at 23:08
Perdido Street Station: There's a typo in the title. Also, the description seems odd to me: "Mixed depiction - Crushing of strike provides background for story." Mixed how? Because the workers don't ultimately prevail? I mean... if that's your standard, then the actual non-fictional history of the world is also a negative depiction of labor, because these struggles do not always prevail, and virtually never do when the government is willing to use violence on behalf of management. Miéville is entirely on the workers' side, and he makes a point of showing that the strike is very effective - that's why the government is so afraid of it.

(The only other "mixed" aspect I can think of is that there's a brief mention of a different union refusing to support the strike, possibly for racial reasons. But again, that is how things sometimes happen in the world, and Miéville does not depict it as an insurmountable obstacle; many of those people do eventually come around.)
ian6 April 2021 at 15:50
Another one is the Doctor Who story "The Monster of Peladon", which is set on a planet rich in important mineral where the guys who mine the mineral go on strike looking for better wages and conditions. When first broadcast (in 1974) it would have had interesting resonances for the British audience, as the country's coal miners had effectively brought down the government with a strike at the beginning of the year. I have not seen this story myself; from the synopsis the portrayal of the miners union sounds ambiguous but broadly favorable.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Monster_of_Peladon
ian6 April 2021 at 15:59
If you're looking for examples from the world of children's fantasy, there is an intriguing short piece by Enid Blyton called "The Toys Go On Strike", in which a group of children's toys are so irked by their treatment that they go on strike. The strike is favourably depicted - the children have been behaving badly and the toys achieve their aims by striking (admittedly they do not form a union as such). What is funny about it though is that Blyton finds it hard to hide her raging conservatism - even though the logic of the story tacks one way, she still has to throw her reactionary views into the story. So when one of the toys is suggesting to the others that they go on strike, he says "It's not a very honourable course of action but I think we have no choice".
Kittysneezes.com/Rev. Syung Myung Me3 September 2021 at 19:07
The book "1985" by Anthony Burgess is half essay about "1984" and other dystopias (or as Burgess calls them "cacotopias"), but the other half is a novella where the main gist is that unions are terrible, and basically are just Uppity Workers trying to get, say, lunch-breaks-during-lunch-breaks and whatnot. (Not an actual example, but similarly ridiculous demands.)

Tuesday, 18 December 2018

Organized labour in science fiction

9 comments: