The Revolutionary I. W. W.
What kind of an organization is the Industrial Workers of the World? Why is it organized? Where is it organized? How is it organized?
These are questions that are being asked all over the country today by workers, students and men and women from all walks of life.
Thousands of columns of newspaper publicity have been given to the Industrial Workers of the World as a result of its activity. Countless magazine articles have been devoted to it and its alleged principles. Still the reading public has at best but a hazy conception of what the organization really is or what it stands for.
These questions the writer will try to deal with in his own way. First of all, however, it is necessary to show a few of the things "which we are not."
The I. W. W. is not a political organization in the sense that political organizations are today understood. It is not an anti-political sect. It is not a reform body. Its membership is not made up of anarchists, as some writers have stated. Its ranks are not exclusively composed of socialists, as others have asserted. True some of its members may have accepted the anarchist philosophy. Others may have accepted the socialist faith. However, to the organization of the Industrial Workers of the World they are known only as workers, as members of the working class.
What "One Big Union" Means
The Industrial Workers of the World is a labor union that aspires to be the future society. It is a labor organization that holds that craft, district, or other forms of division are harmful to the workers. It teaches that an industrial system of organization must replace the antiquated forms.
Every man, woman or child who works in a given industry must be organized into the one big industrial union of his or her industry. The "ONE BIG UNION" slogan of the I.W.W. does not mean mass unionism. It does not mean that the railroad worker, the plumber, the teamster and the baker will be all in the same local union. That form of organization has been proven a failure. It has been shown to be unsound. Mass organization, irrespective of industrial needs, is too unwieldy to produce results.
The "one big union" slogan of the I. W. W. means CLASS organization according to industry. It has been proven practical by the capitalists themselves. All the great trusts and monopolies are organized according to industry. The steel trust, for example, not only own the mills wherein steel rails and other products are made, but also the mines from which the iron ore is taken. It owns the railroads leading from the mines to the lakes. It owns the steamship lines that haul the ore. It owns the blast furnaces that smelt the ore. In short, the steel trust is an industrial organization, covering every branch of the industry. The I. W. W. proposes to follow the boss' plan and scope of organization for the benefit of the worker.
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