Union Dues
by John Sayles
Nominations: National Book Finalist 1978, National Book Critics Circle Finalist 1977
Date Read: December 21, 2021
Union Dues is essentially about work – the dignity of a job, the plight of the worker, the decline of the unions in the 70s. At the heart of this is Hunter McNatt, a coal miner from West Virginia. He’s a widower with two sons. His eldest son, Darwin, has already left home, having returned from Vietnam and realizing he has nothing in common with his father, he takes off for somewhere in Massachusetts. His other son, Hobie, has run away to Boston to find his brother but his ultimate reasons aren’t quite clear.
Somewhere in the mix is the “revolution” that Hobie is ensnared in, a disjointed attempt to free the American worker and return the means of production to their hands. All Hobie really knows is it’s a place to stay and regular meals. The female pickings aren’t bad either.
As McNatt searches for his boy, we are eavesdroppers on the coal miners union organizing, the Boston police and their well-captured accents, and Boston bar talk reliving the glory days before McNatt made a presence in Boston. He also takes up with Helen, the sister of his co-worker who is also widowed.
McNatt learns that jobs in Boston are scarce and workers often have to pay a bribe to get to the head of the list, particularly if there’s a union involved. While McNatt refuses, it’s not long before he capitulates out of desperation.
What was interesting to me here is the Third Way group who want to liberate the working class hold this as an ideal but it’s almost like they are foisting it on workers that don’t know what it’s about and are more interested in putting food on the table than this group’s radical politics. And that’s what makes this novel still relevant today. The majority of people want the dignity of a job, earning enough to pay their bills and put food on the table. It was true in the 70s and is still true today.
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