Set in Detroit in the late thirties and early forties, Waiting for the News tells of a man driven by an almost religious fanaticism about trade unionism. Jake Gottlieb, a laundry driver with grand designs, spins seditious dreams of a strike against all laundry companies, beginning with his own. The world he take son is tough and nasty. Hired fists are always ready to smash the heads of stubborn troublemakers, fists that are no less brutal because they happen to be Jewish. Knowing instinctively that his maniacal devotion to principal would inevitably loose the beasts inside him, Jake makes his young sons swear to avenge him if the time comes. In facing up to their grim oath, they must face the question of personal loyalty and responsibility that cannot be evaded.