The Industrial Workers of the World

The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW – also known as the ‘Wobblies’) is an organization of workers started in Chicago in the USA in 1905 as a radical alternative to the American Federation of Labor (AFL). Early labour unions in the USA tended to be based on individual economic activities that required skilled craftsworkers and were frequently dominated by people of a similar ethnic group. Some of the endemic racism and sexism that remains in the American labour movement dates from this early period. These early unions concentrated on the self-interest of their workers, which is understandable, meaning that unions did not attempt to reach out to create broader alliances of working peoples and focused on ensuring the best wage deal available through negotiation. It is much more difficult for employers to replace skilled workers rather than unskilled workers and these crafts-based unions could be quite conservative in protecting the interests of its members alone.

However, by the early part of the twentieth century, a sufficiently large number of radical, progressive and socialist thinkers in the USA made it possible to create an alternative form of labour movement. This movement, which was named the IWW, focused on inclusivity of working people from around the world, irrespective of race, gender or type of work. Since many of the workers involved had very precarious occupational positions, in which power lay almost entirely with the employers and also because of the radical political beliefs of a number of its leaders, the IWW considered all actual or potential labour conflicts to be a means of bringing about change in political structures, in addition to the specific workplace issues involved. This meant that the strikes and conflicts in which the IWW was involved were only rarely brought to completion by peaceful and amicable negotiations.

At its height, in 1923, the IWW could claim 100,000 members in good standing and the support from many thousands of workers and supporters in addition. It might be argued that it was the success of the Wobblies and other organisations which led the American state to take such harsh reprisals against them, including the purging of labour organizations of their leading left-leaning thinkers. Consequently, the IWW was further distanced from the mainstream of industrial relations in the USA and the labour movement as a whole has been very willing to conform to the pre-existing two party structure, even to the extent on some occasions of supporting class enemies in the Republican Party.

The IWW continues to operate with a headquarters in Cincinnati in the USA, where it maintains operations in support of workers around the world. Its website may be found here.