Meet THE WOBBLIES

'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.” ... By organizing industrially we are forming the structure of the new society within the shell of the old.'

"WORK, NOT WAGES"

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The Industrial Workers of the World (I.W.W.), also known as The Wobblies, was (is?) an international labor union founded in 1905 by a group of radicals: anarchists, communists, socialists, and other nice people (including Eugene Debs). While looking towards an anarcho-syndicalist horizon, the IWW aimed not only to smooth over the roughest edges of the conditions faced by workers, but ultimately to bring about workplace democracy and self-management throughout society. Rather than limiting its focus to organizing workers of a specific trade or within a particular company, the IWW hoped to build and coordinate working-class solidarity spanning across all industries, skill levels, and international boundaries as "One Big Union".

Let's watch, and then come together to discuss, the recently re-released 1979 documentary "THE WOBBLIES". Some other optional materials are also included below, but as always, feel free to join even if you don't have a chance to watch/read any of it!

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VIDEO :

• "The Wobblies", 1979 documentary film by Stewart Bird and Deborah Shaffer (90 minutes; alternative uploads found here and here; check out the 1.5-minute trailer for the 2022 re-release first to get a taste)
• "'I Will Not Obey' - Utah on Anarchism"; I.W.W. singer Utah Phillips recounts being turned on to anarchism by Catholic Worker movement member Ammon Hennacy (5 minutes)
• "I.W.W. Songs" (from iww.org.uk)

TEXT :

• Preamble to the Constitution of the Industrial Workers of the World (very brief)