Tired: Libertarian cypherpunks Wired: Crypto-socialists "Whether they be fast-food workers, word processors, or micro-chip assemblers, today's non-union wage workers need the IWW's brand of no-compromise unionism even more than their predecessors." :) -Declan http://iww.org/tandv.html
THE WOBBLIES:
Tactics and Vision for a New Workers' Movement
An Introduction to the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)
ISN'T THE IWW JUST FOR FACTORY WORKERS?
Every worker is an "industrial" worker - whether they work in health care, tourism, education, or publishing. The relatively recent association between the word "industry" and heavy manufacturing is misleading, and was never intended to be by the founders of the IWW. If you earn your living by working with your hands or your mind, then you're welcome in the IWW. Only bosses (defined as those with direct power to hire and fire) are excluded from IWW membership.
The Wobblies (as members of the IWW are known) have historically focused on helping organize those workers that the American Federation of Labor (AFL) shunned. In the early 1900s that meant African-Americans, immigrants, women, and unskilled laborers. Today that means curbside recyclers, non-profit staffers, temp workers, sex-industry workers, co-op employees -- in short, any worker in any workplace regardless of size or structure.
CAN THE IWW HELP ME TO IMPROVE THE WAGES OR WORKING CONDITIONS AT MY CURRENT JOB?
That largely depends on you. The IWW is a "do-it-yourself" union, and does not provide an all-knowing leadership or hefty treasury to fight your battles for you. But if you're willing to organize at your job-site by talking with your co-workers about the issues that matter to them, then you can count on your fellow workers in the IWW to lend their full support to your struggle.
Individual workers can accomplish little by themselves, and are liable to be fired if they raise their voice in protest. But by joining together in a union such as the IWW, workers are far more powerful when confronting their boss about workplace injustices. Our union can provide tangible, community-based resources such as low-cost printing, speakers, legal advise, and how-to manuals, as well as bodies on a picket line. You won't get bureaucrats in suits and ties telling you how to run your strike, just friends lending a hand where they can.
THE IWW AND MAINSTREAM LABOR
For almost a century, the leadership of the AFL-CIO has worked hand in hand with the capitalists to squelch rank and file militancy. Their overriding concern has been "industrial harmony," not economic and social justice, and so they fail to question the most basic assumptions of capitalist production. While union bosses play golf with the titans of industry, real wages and safety conditions have continued to worsen these last thirty years or so.
Regular AFL trade unions split workers up into their respective skills, allowing one craft union to cross the picket line of another. The IWW believes in "industrial unionism," organizing all workers in a given industry into the same union (thus our name). At a construction site, for instance, the carpenters should be able to count on the unswerving support of the plumbers, laborers, electricians, and hod carriers in the event of a strike. This is much simpler when all these workers are in the same industrial union, rather than separate, even competing, trade unions.
Some Wobblies find themselves in jobs where they are represented by these more conservative trade unions. These "two- card" Wobs often bring their IWW principles to the union hall with them, agitating for rank and file democracy, more militant "direct action" tactics, and class solidarity. The IWW does not believe in signing away the right to strike ( the so-called "no strike" clause), nor does it condone the "dues check-off," in which management deducts union dues directly from the paycheck. While the IWW often does strike support for other unions when necessary, we also try to keep our sights on the bigger prize ahead.
DIDN'T THE IWW DIE OUT? ARE ITS IDEAS STILL RELEVANT?
The IWW was nearly crushed in the early 1920's by some of the fiercest repression ever unleashed by big business and the U.S. government. Because the IWW had strongholds in industries that were critical to the First World War effort, and because they refused to do their patriotic bit by signing no-strike pledges for the duration of the war, the Wobblies were branded "pro-German" and relentlessly persecuted.
The world economy has changed a lot since the days when the IWW controlled great sections of the logging, mining, and agricultural industries. Yet despite tremendous technological advances and the structural reorganization of capital, industrial unionism remains a fundamentally sound basis for workers' self- organization. Today, while mainstream labor tries desperately to hold its ground against the anti-worker policies of the ruling political parties, vast new sectors of the economy have opened up that the AFL-CIO would never dream of organizing.
Whether they be fast-food workers, word processors, or micro- chip assemblers, today's non-union wage workers need the IWW's brand of no-compromise unionism even more than their predecessors. Winning the eight-hour day was not enough. We must redefine the very meaning of work itself, and find ways to redistribute society's wealth for the benefit of all.
DOES THE IWW SUPPORT ANY POLITICAL PARTY?
The IWW is a labor union, not a political party. We believe that economic justice must be achieved through economic struggle, whether that be with our boss or our landlord. The institutions of government have always proven themselves to be the allies of Capital, so we do not wait for politicians to free us from wage- slavery. We believe our power lies in the workplace, not in "the vote" - since it is our labor on which bosses are dependent.
The IWW has successfully resisted attempts by various "left" parties to make the union a mere tool of their political ambitions. Our Constitution explicitly states "the IWW refuses all alliances, direct and indirect, with existing parties and anti-political sects." This policy has helped us avoid the sectarian feuding that can easily destroy a group.
True, our commitment to worker control and the abolition of capitalism has not won us any friends among the ruling elites, and our disavowal of all political party affiliation has not prevented us from being red-baited. We address the root causes of this society's problems, and that makes us "radical," but we have the common sense to leave our electoral political views outside the union hall where they belong.
WHAT IS DIRECT ACTION?
The labor movement has been most successful when it relied on the direct intervention of the workers to obtain their demands. Rather than allowing professional negotiators to speak for them, Wobblies have engaged in those tactics which they could control themselves -- strikes, slowdowns, monkey wrenching -- what we call sabotage.
Sabotage in this context does not mean arson and dynamite. It's more properly defined as "the conscious withdrawal of efficiency." Staying at your workstation but reducing your production by half will bring a boss to his knees quicker than a whole team of negotiators.
The IWW has never advocated violence. By fighting for justice with non-violent tactics, the IWW has often won the support of an initially mistrustful public.
WHAT IS A GENERAL STRIKE?
The General Strike has long been touted by militant unionists as the ultimate expression of workers' power, and it still plays an important role in the IWW's program for social change. Simply put, a General strike is a massive work stoppage on a local, regional, or national scale, and may involve people either staying home or occupying their workplaces and refusing to work.
A General Strike halts business as usual, and serves notice to those in power that those of us doing the work have the ultimate say in whether that work gets done or not. It debunks the myth that power flows downward, and proves instead that all real power still resides at the grassroots level, if we only choose to exercise it.
The general Strike is a common tactic in many countries of the world, yet most North American workers are unfamiliar with it. This is largely the result of the conservative trade unions' reluctance to flex their economic muscle and rock the boat. A great deal of education and organization must take place before North American workers are ready to wage a successful General Strike, and it's toward this end that the IWW dedicates itself.
THE IWW AND FEMINISM
Women have been active in the IWW since its inception. Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, one of the union's best know agitators, once said that "the IWW has been accused of pushing women to the front. This is not true. Rather, the women have not been kept in back, and so they have naturally moved to the front."
Much of the work that has traditionally been done by women was not recognized as such by the male-run business unions. The IWW supports the right of homemakers, sex-industry workers, and other women to organize for better conditions and wages just like other workers.
THE IWW AND MILITARISM
Wars between nations have never benefitted the working class, and they never will. The war profiteers, safe in their mansions and boardrooms, never consider the human cost of their military adventurism. Working people are mere cannon fodder for their corporate and imperialist ambitions.
Real working class solidarity does not recognize the artificial borders erected between nation-states, but instead unites against a common class enemy. Poor people, especially those of color, make up a disproportionate part of the armed forces, simply because few other economic options are available.
To put an end to war, working people must lay down their arms and refuse to fight for their masters. Unfortunately, many have been brainwashed into thinking that their interests are the same as those of the people in power, so this is easier said than done. Nevertheless, the IWW is committed to fighting patriotic propaganda by educating workers about where their real self-interest lies.
THE IWW AND THE ENVIRONMENT
Bhopal, Chernobyl, the Exxon Valdez oil spill... These are just a few examples of how dangerous it can be to put profit before people. Government regulation and public outcry can at best slow down the destruction of our planet, not reverse it.
Workers and their families suffer the worst effects of pollution. The workplace continues to be a very dangerous environment, and working class communities are often the site for toxic dumps, incinerators, and the like.
Workers' control of all industry is the only practical strategy for assuring the practice of sustainable and environmentally sound forms of production. For if the workers in all polluting industries were to withdraw their labor, the poison factories could be shut down in a matter of weeks. The workers themselves must decide whether or not what they produce is socially useful.
JOIN THE I.W.W.
NO BUREAUCRATS - Aside from the modestly paid General Secretary/Treasurer, the I.W.W. has no paid officers. The General Executive Board is elected annually by the entire membership, and its job is to oversee the running of union affairs, not to set policy. All officers may be recalled at any time by referendum.
REAL DEMOCRACY - All policy decisions are made by the members themselves by referendum. All branches maintain full autonomy on matters within their jurisdiction. Job branches (I.W.W. groups composed of workers at a single job-site) set their own demands and strategies in negotiations, free of meddling internaitonals or sellout business agents.
LOW DUES - Our dues are structured on a sliding scale basis. Unemployed and low-income workers pay $5 a month; those making between $800 and $1,700 per month pay $9; members making more than $1,700 per month pay $12 monthly dues; and workers in extremely poor financial situations may pay only $3 per month. Initiation fees equal one month's dues; so a very low-income worker can join for as little as $6.
TO JOIN - Fill out the questions below and send a copy of this form with your check or money order (in U.S. funds) to I.W.W., 103 W. Michigan Ave., Ypsilanti, MI 48197, USA.
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___ I affirm that I am a common worker without direct power to hire and fire.
___ I agree to abide by the constitution and regulations of this organization.
___ I will study its principles and make myself acquainted with its purposes.
Name ____________________________________________________________
Occupation ______________________________________________________
Industry ________________________________________________________
Address _________________________________________________________
City ____________________________________________________________
State/Province __________________________________________________
Zip _____________________________________________________________
Phone ___________________________________________________________
Email ___________________________________________________________
Total amount enclosed $__________________________________________
Initiation $_____________________________________________________
Dues $ __________________________________________________________
When you join the I.W.W., you'll receive a free subscription to our newspaper, the Industrial Worker, in addition to your membership card, constitution, button, and the One Big Union pamphlet which describes the structure and function of the I.W.W. in detail. You'll also start to get a monthly publication for members only called the General Organization Bulletin, which contains Board motions, financial reports, and members' discussion of various internal matters such as upcoming referenda. And if you have access to email, you'll be invited to join a growing network of Wobblies engaging in on-line communications.
IWW PREAMBLE
The working class and the employing class have nothing in common. There can be no peace so long as hunger and want are found among millions of working people; and the few, who make up the employing class, have all the good things in life.
Between these two classes a struggle must go on until the workers of the world organize as a class, take possession of the machinery of production, abolish the wage system, and live in harmony with the earth.
We find that the centering of the management of industries into fewer and fewer hands makes the trade unions unable to cope with the ever growing power of the employing class. The trade unions foster a state of affairs which allows one set of workers to be pitted against another set of workers in the same industry, thereby helping to defeat one another in wage wars. Moreover, the trade unions aid the employing class to mislead the workers into the belief that the working class has interests in common with its employers.
These conditions can be changed and the interests of the working class upheld only by an organization formed in such a way that all its members in any one industry, or in all industries if necessary, cease work whenever a strike or lockout is on in any department thereof, thus making an injury to one an injury to all.
Instead of the conservative motto, "A fair day's wage for a fair day's work," we must inscribe on our banner the revolutionary watchword, "Abolition of the wage system."
It is the historic mission of the working class to do away with capitalism. The army of production must be organized, not only for the everyday struggle with capitalists, but also to carry on production when capitalism shall have been overthrown. By organizing industrially we are forming the structure of the new society within the shell of the old.
CONTACT THE IWW GENERAL HEADQUARTERS AT 103 W. Michigan Ave. Ypsilanti, MI 48197, USA ph: 313-483-3548 fax: 313-483-4050 email: iww@igc.apc.org