(Disclaimer: this is not super professional, and comes partially from my memory of a book I read over a year ago. So don’t rely on 100% truthfulness.)
Today I’d like to share with all of you an interesting organization that I first read about last year in Howard Zinn’s “A People’s History of the United States” (APHUS from now on because I’m lazy), and then read about today on Wikipedia to write this article. The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW, or affectionately, “the Wobblies”) drew my attention in the long chapter covering worker’s rights in the industrial revolution because of their passionate dedication to protest and unionization. They were a beacon of hope in an over-all extremely depressing book (amazing book, but it’s hard to read about centuries of atrocities and greed all in one shot).
As brief background on them, from the first paragraph on the Wikipedia entry for IWW: “Founded in Chicago in 1905, [their peak years of operation were from 1910-1920]. Its ideology combines general unionism with industrial unionism, as it is a general union, subdivided between the various industries which employ its members. The philosophy and tactics of the IWW are described as “revolutionary industrial unionism”, with ties to socialist, syndicalist, and anarchist labor movements.” [1] Sounds pretty badass; amiright?? As to why they are called the Wobblies – because I can’t just not address such an amazing name – the exact origin is uncertain. The official IWW website puts forth 4 theories.[2]
While the Wobblies undeniably have a great name, that wasn’t what set them apart from other labor unions. The IWW promotes the concept of “One Big Union”, and contends that all workers should be united as a social class to supplant capitalism and wage labor with industrial democracy. [1] This fundamentally set the Wobblies apart from, and often opposed to, other labor unions (like their arch rival, the AFL) who wanted to divide unions by labor type, and didn’t necessarily aim to go so far as to supplant capitalism. While this communist/socialist stance certainly made them many enemies, their focus on uniting ALL workers, not just a subset, made them a safe haven for every worker, regardless of race, gender, or skill level (although most of their members were classified as “unskilled” laborers). This gave them incredible breadth at the height of their power in the 1910s and 1920s (boasting close to 115,000 members at its peak [1]). Their signature tactic was the “general strike”, where as many Wobblies as possible, regardless of trade, would organize and strike together to put pressure on industry leaders they were targeting for improved work conditions, or compensation. These strikes could occasionally entail sabotage as well. One such general strike I read about in APHUS saw IWW lumber workers go on strike to put the squeeze on their employer (and by proxy the US government, as the wood was needed in the World War I war effort), while IWW rail workers sabotaged train tracks to prevent the national guard from being brought in to end the strike at gun-point. The IWW lumber strike of 1917 led to the eight-hour day and vastly improved working conditions in the Pacific Northwest. Though mid-century historians credited the US Government and “forward thinking lumber magnates” for agreeing to such reforms, an IWW strike forced these concessions. [1]
The people behind these general strikes often dedicated great portions of their lives to the cause. Frequently penniless, these expert organizers would hop onto open boxcars of passing trains to ride them from strike, to strike, to sabotage, help organize action at their destination, inevitably get arrested, do their time in jail, and then hop back on another train to the next strike. These stories of selfless passion is what really captured my heart when reading about the Wobblies in APHUS.
Unfortunately, not everyone (especially at the time) was as enchanted by the Wobblies radicalism as I am. They drew the particular ire of the US federal government; their overtly anti-capitalist mission threatened the capitalist government, leading to many of their strikes being broken by national guard reserve forces. The court and law enforcement systems were weaponized against IWW leadership, bringing trumped up charges against them to put them in jail for good. While not a U.S. example, 12 Australians who were prominent members of the IWW were arrested for connection with arson charges, despite a complete lack of evidence. [1] The so-called “Sydney 12” were sent to jail anyway, completing sentences ranging from 5-15 years. [3]
While I think the Wobblies did many things right, history is never so black and white. The IWW had a “rule or ruin” policy, under which it attempted to wreck local unions which it could not control. [1] In some cases, making demands of employers not to employ members of other unions. This sort of combative policy, in addition to many members’ uncertainty about the more radical aspects of the union, became the downfall of the IWW.
The Wobblies began to decline in the early-mid 1920s due to increasing conflict with other unions and amongst IWW leadership (over radicalization), and was dealt a near killing blow by greater crackdowns by governments on radical socialist groups during the First Red Scare after World War I. The IWW was outlawed in Canada in 1918, and officially in the U.S. in 1949 with the Second Red Scare. [1] It began to resurge a little in the 1960s and 1970s, and still exists today, but at nowhere near the levels of membership and power it once had.
This group of radical thinkers inspired me to spend more time exercising my right to free speech, protesting for causes I believe in. I hope this little corner of history sparks some inspiration in all of you as well.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_Workers_of_the_World
[2] https://archive.iww.org/history/icons/wobbly/
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_Twelve
[4] “A People’s History of the United States” Zinn, Howard