The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)

The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)

The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) formed from the American Federation of Labor’s (AFL) exclusion of immigrant factory-labor force, migrant timber and agricultural workers, women, blacks, and the chinese. The IWW goal was similar to the mission of the AFL as the IWW was trying to promote worker unity in order to combat big business and its employers. The IWW’s most well known leader was William “Big Bill” Haywood. Haywood grew up working in western mines and rose to popularity when he was kidnapped in 1906 and sent to Idaho. There, he was accused of murdering a former anti-union governor but was later found not guilty. Haywood would later be dubbed “the most dangerous man in America”. Haywood would go on to participate in many important labor battles like the Colorado Labor Wars, the Lawrence Textile Strike, and other textile strikes in Massachusetts and New Jersey.


Haywood was a strong believer in industrial unionism or the idea of having all workers under one union regardless of skill. As a result, he and other radical leaders created a manifesto detailing the goals and motives they had in mind. This manifesto was sent around the country and unionists who agreed with the ideas in the manifesto were invited to a convention in Brand’s Hall of Chicago. This convention took place at 10 a.m. on June 27, 1905 and was the beginning of the IWW union. The convention included socialists, anarchists, miners, industrial workers, and rebel workers. Haywood began the convention with a speech talking about giving the economic power of the country to the hands of the working class. Some of the other speakers included Eugene Debs, leader of the socialist party of America, and Mary Harris “Mother” Jones, an organizer for the United Mine Workers of America.

The IWW had many goals like letting workers control their wages and shorter working hours. They did not have a proper place to meet and discuss these issues, so they resorted to impromptu outdoor meetings. Yet, the city officials of Los Angeles, Spoken, Denver, and many more cities did not like the IWW meeting on the street and responded with laws that prohibited the IWW from having these outdoor meetings. Instead of backing down, the IWW insisted that it had a right to freedom of speech and continued to hold these meetings. Many IWW unionists were jailed, but eventually they wore down the city officials allowing for their freedom of speech rights to be recognized. However, even in voicing their opinion, their goals of controlling their wages and shorter working hours were not addressed.

By 1912, the IWW had grown to nearly 100,000 people and was posing a greater and greater threat to capitalists. This caused state legislatures to pass a series of anti-syndicate laws stating that possessing an IWW red membership card was a crime. Yet, when World War I started, the IWW started to run into even more trouble. Even though many of the IWW members evaded being drafted, the war created laws like the Espionage Act. This act allowed the government to fine and jail people for interfering with military recruitment. Haywood eventually got arrested due to the Espionage Act but later skipped bail and fled to Russia.

Overall, even though the IWW amassed a membership of more than 100,000, its efforts to give increase rights for laborers were ultimately stifled by the government. However, the IWW created the concept of industrial unionism which would eventually be adopted by organizations like the Congress of Industrial Organization (CIO).












Sources:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Haywood


https://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1050.html


https://spartacus-educational.com/USAiww.htm


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