“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 the working people and the few, who make up the employing class, have all the good things of life.”
— Preamble to the Constitution of the Industrial Workers of the World
The Industrial Workers of the World isn’t your typical union. It unites all workers in all industries and trades.
Founded in 1905 as an alternative to the narrow craft union model of the American Federation of Labor (now the AFL-CIO), the IWW saw early success in organizing immigrant workers that were typically ignored and neglected by the AFL and other trade unions. At its founding, the IWW was the only union in North America to welcome all workers, regardless of race, gender, or country of origin, into the same organization with the same rights.
The IWW has existed continuously and actively for more than 118 years, and to this day continues its commitment to inclusiveness and dedication to workers of all industries.
“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 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 have interests in common with their employers.”
— Preamble to the Constitution of the Industrial Workers of the World
The power of the IWW comes from the solidarity between workers across industries and around the world. Recognizing that An Injury to One is An Injury to All, the IWW organizes and unites workers to act together, not just at a single jobsite or workplace but at all workplaces.
Unlike in other, bureaucratic trade unions, the IWW does not dictate what strategies to employ or what conditions to settle for. The actions of workers are determined by those workers. The demands made to a boss are the demands of those workers. Those demands and the actions taken by the workers to ensure the demands are met are supported by IWW members across all industries. The few standards that do exist are democratically set to ensure that all IWW branches and organs are welcoming and safe for all kinds of people, and that no IWW branch or campaign can compromise the power of the rest of the IWW or the working class as a whole.
“These conditions can be changed and the interest 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.”
— Preamble to the Constitution of the Industrial Workers of the World