Any Wobblies (IWW) out there on DU?

[deutsey]

I'm considering joining. What's been your experience with the IWW?

www.iww.org

[ret5hd]

1. i am sorry about the lack of response to this...

i was hoping to see any information also.

i have considered joining in the past...their ideals closely coincide with mine. as a longtime member of an industrial union, i wholly support the idea of "one big union" and "an injury to one is an injury to all".

[deutsey]

3. I've been very impressed by the history of IWW I'm learning

through the history by Howard Zinn, music and stories by Utah Phillips and other sources.

[ulysses]

15. Utah was my introduction, too.

Consider me "Wobbly-friendly".

[RichardRay]

2. Member in the 70's

They supported organizing efforts by and for active duty servicemen and women. I was involved in that work while in the US Navy and as part of the Chicago Area Military Project (CAMP). The Wob headquarters was just down the street from the CAMP offices, it was quite something to go in there and talk with old guys who were actually part of the history I'd read about.

As far as a current force in the labor movement I don't think they've got a lot of influence. Nobody really understands anarcho-syndicalism and certainly doesn't get the place of internationalism in the labor movement. Maybe other more vibrant elements have taken over the name, but in that case it's not the IWW anymore and I wouldn't trust the new blood without a LOT of investigation.

Yours for the OBU,

[Aries]

4. Glad you asked!

I've been a member since 1995 and am a delegate. I joined the IWW in response to the lack of rank-and-file democracy in my SEIU local, to give me a vision to work toward in that union--there a lot of "dual-card" members who do that. The difference in the IWW is that each member gets a voice and a vote, unlike the mainstream business unions which have adopted a corporate model. Wobblies believe that capitalism cannot be reformed.

As an organizing model, I think the IWW has a lot going for it. By reading about its history, you can get an idea of the suppressed history of the U.S., which has actually had outbreaks of democracy at various times in the not-so-distant past, particularly related to the labor movement. Then the employing class gets its revenge in times like the Red scares, the Cold War, etc. and NOW of course.

The IWW is small these days, but there are workplaces where it represents workers and functions as their union. A lot of other members belong to local, non-job-based branches where they focus their radical organizing efforts. In most demonstrations and rebellions against the powers that be, you will mostly likely find some Wobblies.

"The long memory is the most radical idea in America."
--Utah Phillips, IWW member

[deutsey]

5. Thanks

These replies give a lot to think over before making my decision.

:hi:

[chiburb]

6. Does this float your boat?

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 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.

Source: http://www.iww.org/stand.shtml

[deutsey]

8. I read that before, thanks

I was hoping to get some firsthand experience from actual members so I could see how this rhetoric is actually lived.

Frankly, I'm torn between believing capitalism can be reformed and believing it's too corrupt. I lean more toward reform, but the older I get (I'm almost forty, and am from the working class, the first in my family to get a college degree), the more I question whether that's possible.

One problem I have with the rhetoric you quote is that I don't believe there will ever be some utopian state that one day will be established, either by groups like the IWW or by free-marketeers. I see it as an ongoing struggle to keep things leaning toward social justice. Groups like the IWW have played an instrumental role in helping to keep the balance of power leaning in that direction (although I'm not sure how far the IWW's effectiveness has continued since the early part of the 20th century).

[Aries]

9. IWW Influence

You may already know this, but a lot of Wobblies went into the CIO industrial unions in the 1930's to counteract the conservatism of the AFL. That influence is not so evident anymore, unfortunately. One union that still shows its IWW-influenced roots is the United Electrical Workers, or UE.

[deutsey]

10. Thanks! This book on UE's site looks very good

http://www.ranknfile-ue.org/untold.html

I may have to order a copy. :-)

[htuttle]

11. I'm not in the IWW, but I'm a practicing anarcho-syndicalist

...meaning that I derive my living from a worker's cooperative (for 12 years, as of this Fall).

I've always been a follower of the IWW's 'new society in the shell of the old' strategy. That's kind of how I feel about worker cooperatives -- there's no reason to wait until 'The Revolution' to take control of your livelihood. Just Do It, as Nike would say...:)

Don't let anyone tell you that the workers would be unable to run their businesses. I hear the most ridiculous 'criticisms' of worker-operated enterprises, like 'How do you prevent everyone from voting themselves a raise?' and so on. All I'd say to that sort of criticism is that we do a damn better job of it than a traditional corporate hierarchy does! (As if THEY never vote themselves a raise...at least we deserve it when we do it! :) )

Corporate Capitalism doesn't need to be reformed, so much as 'knocked over'...Then again, it appears that most modern CEOs are taking care of that task quite nicely.

[deutsey]

13. Very helpful, thanks

I'm very intrigued by your ability to "derive a living from a worker's cooperative." If you could elaborate, I'd enjoy learning more!

Also, I agree with the "new society in the shell of the old society strategy." That really is the only way real change happens. Be the change you want to see, as Gandhi said.

[htuttle]

14. I dropped you a PM with some details

I referred to my actual workplace, and provided some links, etc...

[htuttle]

16. One more resource I forgot

There are some good books and videos about how cooperatives actually operate, and what they mean to the people involved in them, available from UC Davis:
http://cooperatives.ucdavis.edu/publications/worker.html

I'd especially recommend the 'Made in the USA' video, because I'm in it. :)

[Beacho]

7. Gramps was a member

He was a mill worker in the 'teens' and twenties up in Aberdeen, Washington. You have to remember that this was when unions were illegal and the IWW was the only game in town. I remember him telling me stories about having to ride logging trains with a Winchester to stop the company goons from hijacking the load. He and his fellow workers werfe fighting for that 'eveel' commie agenda, such as workplace safety, the 40 hour work week, overtime pay, health insurance, the right of workers to free association, etc, etc.

It must be in the genes, cuz mom was pretty radical(and still is)as well. Surprised we haven't been culled from the herd.

[Lindsay]

12. My Grandpa was a union man, too,

and I kinda think he was one of those who went from the IWW to the CIO, but I never got the complete story before he passed away. My dad was also a union man, who in the mid-'50s worked with the NAACP to get blacks into the unions.

So I guess I'm a natural-born union-favoring radical, so this topic is of much interest to me. Thanks for the discussion.