Industrial Workers of the World
|This article relies on references to primary sources or sources affiliated with the subject, rather on neutral material. (August 2014)|
|Industrial Workers of the World|
|Founded||June 27, 1905|
|Office location||Chicago, Illinois, USA|
History[change | change source]
The IWW was started in 1905 in Chicago, Illinois, USA at a big meeting of many unions. For its first few decades, the IWW had many thousands of members who led many of the most important fights against bosses. The United States government and other unions often worked together to enforce more conservative labor relations. Partly because this happened membership dropped and there were few members for many years after. Today the IWW has grown back to a few thousand workers and has members in most continents of the world.
Ideas[change | change source]
The IWW pushed many unique ideas when it started. It disliked the American Federation of Labor's way of splitting workers by what kind of work they did even if they worked on the same job. Instead, it believed that all workers should organize together in "one big union" in their industry and as workers altogether. The IWW also focused less on winning contracts and more on giving workers more power against bosses on any job they work at.
The IWW believes that workers themselves should have control over their work, as opposed to bosses. In that regard, they are anti-capitalist. The preamble of the IWW's constitution begins, "The working class and the employing class have nothing in common."
References[change | change source]
|Wikisource has original writing related to this article:|
- "IWW Chronology (1904 - 1911) | Industrial Workers of the World". IWW.org. http://www.iww.org/en/about/chronology/1. Retrieved 2012-12-16.
- "Minutes of the IWW Founding Convention | Industrial Workers of the World". IWW.org. http://www.iww.org/en/history/founding. Retrieved 2012-12-16.
- "Preamble to the IWW Constitution | Industrial Workers of the World". IWW.org. http://www.iww.org/culture/official/preamble.shtml. Retrieved 2012-12-16.