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. (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 |
1887 |
Log
of the Flying Fish – Harry Collingwood |
Solidarity union – shipbuilding |
Negative depiction – character complains at length about how unions
impede production. |
Tertiary |
1890 |
News From Nowhere – William Morris |
Solidarity union |
Positive depiction – worker organizing leads to utopia |
Secondary |
1923 |
Nordenholt’s
Million – J.J. Connington |
Solidarity union |
Mixed depiction – unions raise some objection to techno-fascism, but
are crushed. |
Tertiary |
1938 |
The Toys Go On Strike – Enid Byton |
Solidarity union (Toys) |
Positive depiction – Union stands up to mistreatment of workers. |
Primary |
1940 |
Robbie - Isaac Asimov
[Short Story] |
Business union |
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 |
1941 |
A Gnome There Was – Henry Kuttner |
Solidarity union (mining) |
Positive depiction – Union organizer shows gnomes that monarchy
exploits them. |
Primary |
1942 |
Breakdown – Jack Williamson |
Business union (Engineers and spacemen) |
Negative depiction – Union power is stifling and overreaching |
Primary |
1946 |
Slaves of the Lamp – Leo Zagat |
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 |
Negative depiction - Antagonistic to progress. |
Primary |
1951 |
The Traders (Foundation) - Isaac Asimov
[Short Story] |
Guild union |
Negative depiction - Nepotistic and anti-intellectual. |
Secondary |
1951 |
Day Of The Moron - H. Beam Piper
[Short Story] |
Business union |
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 |
Negative depiction - Corrupt union leadership. |
Tertiary |
1953 |
Null ABC – H. Beam Piper |
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 |
1955 |
Meeting
of the Board – Alan E. Nourse |
Business union |
Negative depiction – Overly powerful unions act irrationally towards
management prompting a crisis. |
Primary |
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 |
Negative depiction – Union described as “yellow-bellied obscenity.” |
Tertiary |
1960 |
The Apprentice - James White
[Short Story] |
Business union |
Positive depiction - Employee has job protection |
Secondary |
1962 |
Last Year’s Grave Undug – Chan Davis |
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 |
Business union |
Positive depiction – Alien organises labour
collective. |
Primary |
1964 |
Martian Time-Slip – Philip K. Dick
[Novel] |
Business union |
Negative depiction – Corrupt union leadership. |
Secondary |
1964 |
Sacheverell – Avram Davidson |
Business union |
Positive depiction |
Tertiary |
1966 |
A Relic Of Empire – Larry Niven
[Short Story] |
General statement about unions. |
Positive depiction – Described as ‘necessary.’ |
Tertiary |
1971 |
Holdholtzer’s Box – David R. Bunch |
Business union (manufacturing) |
Positive depiction – Employer praises union
shop because “happy workers make better workers.” |
Tertiary |
1974 |
The Monster of Peladon – Dr. Who |
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 |
Negative depiction – Antagonistic towards progress, interested
primarily in “gravy train.” |
Tertiary |
1978 |
1985 – Anthony Burgess |
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 |
1992 |
We Are Not Amused – Laura Resnick |
Business union |
Positive depiction – Helped advance rights of women |
Primary |
1994 |
By Any Means Necessary - Babylon 5
[Television] |
Business union |
Mixed depiction - Striking workers are violent, but achieve fairer
wages. |
Primary |
1996 |
Night Sky Mine - Melissa Scott
[Novel] |
Business union |
Positive depiction - Ensures equitable wages. |
Secondary |
1996 |
Bar Association - Deep Space Nine
[Television] |
Solidarity union |
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 |
Positive depiction - Organizing prosperous economy. |
Secondary |
2000 |
Candle - John Barnes
[Novel] |
Guild union |
Positive depiction - Union provides health, dental and
legal coverage. |
Secondary |
2000 |
Company Man - Robert Jackson Bennett
[Novel] |
Solidarity union |
Positive depiction - Union works to combat inequality. |
Secondary |
2000 |
Cosmonaut Keep - Ken MacLeod
[Novel] |
Solidarity union |
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 |
SimGen Sequence (AKA
“Sims”) – F. Paul Wilson |
Solidarity union (manual labour) |
Positive depiction – fights for the rights
of non-human sentients. |
Primary |
2000 |
Perdido Street Station - China Mieville
[Novel] |
Business union |
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 |
Business union (Railway workers) |
Positive depiction |
Primary |
2005 |
Old Man’s War – John Scalzi
[Novel] |
Business union |
Negative depiction – Striking workers on the news portrayed as
violent. |
Tertiary |
2006 |
Small Minded Giants - Oisín McGann |
Business union |
Positive depiction |
Secondary |
2007 |
Safehold – David Weber |
Business union |
Positive depiction |
Tertiary |
2007 |
Dirty Hands - Battlestar Galactica
[Television] |
Solidarity union |
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 |
Negative depiction - antagonism towards entrepreneur protagonist. |
Secondary |
2010 |
For The Win - Cory Doctorow
[Novel] |
Solidarity union |
Positive depiction - ensuring workers’ rights. |
Primary |
2010 |
Damage Time - Colin Harvey
[Novel] |
Guild Union |
Negative depiction - Union excludes vulnerable population. |
Secondary |
2010 |
The Great Bay – Dale Pendell
[Novel] |
Business Union (Electrical workers) |
Mixed depiction |
Tertiary |
2011 |
The Expanse Caliban’s War (2012) Nemesis Games (2015) Babylon’s Ashes (2016) Persepolis Rising (2017) Tiamat’s Wrath (2019) Leviathan Falls (2021) |
Multiple Business Unions |
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 |
Negative depiction - Union rules prevent adequate health care for
major character. |
Secondary |
2012 |
High Stakes – Naomi Kritzer |
Solidarity Union (IWW) |
Positive depiction – Union helps fight debt slavery. |
Primary |
2012 |
Existence - David Brin
[Novel] |
Business Union |
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 |
Positive depiction - Union provides information to employees. |
Tertiary |
2013 |
The Day The Crayons Quit – Drew Daywalt & Oliver Jeffers |
Solidarity Union |
Positive depiction – Union helps improve the working conditions of
labourers. |
Primary |
2014 |
Climbing the Date Palm – Shira Glassman
[Short Story] |
Business Union |
Positive depiction – Union fights against wage theft. |
Primary |
2014 |
Ancillary Sword – Ann Leckie
[Novel] |
Solidarity Union |
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 |
Positive depiction - ensuring fair wages. |
Primary |
2015 |
Bangarang – Killjoys |
Business union |
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 |
Positive depiction - Ensures gains of automation are shared more
equitably. |
Secondary |
2016 |
Checkerboard Planet – Eleanor Arnason |
Business union (Natural resource extraction) |
Positive depiction – Labour organizer protagonist striving for better
working conditions. |
Primary |
2016 |
[Novel] |
Business union |
Positive depiction - Ensures workers’ safety and rights. |
Secondary |
2017 |
New
York 2140 – Kim Stanley Robinson |
Multiple unions |
Positive depiction – through co-ordinated action striking workers help
reform democracy |
Secondary |
2017 |
Another Girl, Another Planet - Lou Antonelli
[Novel] |
Business union |
Positive depiction - Ensures safety standards in construction. |
Secondary |
2017 |
Hunger Makes the Wolf / Blood Binds The Pack -
Alex Wells
[Novel/Series] |
Business union |
Positive depiction – Unionization drive is response to corporate
exploitation. |
Primary |
2017 |
The Death and Life of Schneider Wrack - Nate Crowley |
Solidarity union |
Positive depiction – Union fights against exploitation of labour |
Primary |
2017 |
Quirks – Marie Vibbert
[Short Story] |
Business union |
Mixed depiction – Union uses memory uploads to share skills. |
Primary |
2018 |
Sorry To Bother You - Boots Riley
[Movie] |
Business union |
Positive depiction - Balances power of capital. |
Primary |
2018 |
Unfulfilled/Bike Parade - South Park
[Television] |
Solidarity union |
Positive depiction - Union fights for safety standards and
fair pay. |
Primary |
2019 |
The Future Of Another Timeline - Annalee Newitz
[Novel] |
Multiple unions |
Positive depiction – Unions are depicted as allies in the struggle for
women’s rights.
|
Secondary |
2019 |
Closed Shop – Kevin J. Phyland
[Short Story] |
Solidarity union |
Positive depiction - Union fights for fair wages and public good. |
Primary |
2020 |
[Movie] |
Solidarity union |
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 |
Positive depiction – Union secures better pay. |
Tertiary |
2020 |
Hardspace: Shipbreaker –Blackbird Interactive
And expansion pack |
Business union |
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 |
Solidarity union |
Positive depiction – Sentient robots assert their right to work-life
balance. |
Primary |
2021 |
The Horizon – Gautam Bhatia |
Business union (Agricultural workers) |
Positive depiction – union is central to revolution seeking to address
inequity and inequality in society. |
Primary |
2021 |
Song
of Slag – Louis
Evans |
Solidarity union (Foundry workers) |
Positive depiction – union fights for fair compensation. |
Primary |
2021 |
The
Association of Twelve Thousand Flowers - Ursula Whitcher |
Solidarity union (Jade miners) |
Positive depiction – Union counterbalances power of capital. |
Primary |
2022 |
Unionized In The Butt And Now
Everyone Is Safer, Happier And Better Paid – Chuck Tingle |
Business union (Spaghetti Mug Manufacturing) |
Positive depiction – Union fights for health and safety of workers as
well as reasonable break times. |
Primary |
2022 |
Ogres –
Adrian Tchaikovsky |
Solidarity union (Manufacturing) |
Positive depiction – Union fights against exploitation and racism. |
Secondary |
2022 |
We Built This City –
Marie Vibbert |
Solidarity union (window washing) |
Positive depiction – Fight for safer work environment |
Primary |
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.
ReplyDeletehttp://clearingthestatic.blogspot.com/2016/10/special-war-of-worlds-marathon-radio.html
That's a great find! Thank you! I will add this!
DeletePerdido 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.
ReplyDelete(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.)
Thank you for the feedback. I will edit the list accordingly in the morning.
DeleteAnother 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.
ReplyDeletehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Monster_of_Peladon
Oh! That is a fantastic suggestion, Ian!
DeleteThank you. I will re-watch that episode, and get it into the list later this week.
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".
ReplyDeleteThe 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.)
ReplyDeleteAh! Thank you! That's a great addition to the list!
DeleteAlan E. Nourse, "Meeting of the Board" (1955): Future in which unions rule over management until one VP fights back (mixed depiction? - union leadership corrupt, but workers OK if naive). Text available on Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org/files/22867/22867-h/22867-h.htm)
ReplyDeleteOh. Good find. Just read it, and have to say that I'd count that as negative. The union is depicted as being so irrational and destructive!
Delete