Industrial Workers of the World: great idea needs more power, or useless club for middle class commie wankers who listen to bad music?
― sucka (sucka), Saturday, 15 November 2003 00:57 (twenty-two years ago)
In the vast web of international organizations designed to moderate the essential ravenous opportunism of inter-state relations (no bad thing in itself necessarily), a labor one would be nice.
Anybody know where its nickname comes from?
― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Saturday, 15 November 2003 01:27 (twenty-two years ago)
The copy of Industrial worker I saw today said "wobbly" was coined by a chinese cook, and they took it to show that they meant internationalism while other unions were banning chinese people. "Middle class" because post 60's revolution politics often means an excuse for cool t-shirts shockah.
― sucka (sucka), Saturday, 15 November 2003 02:06 (twenty-two years ago)
the IWW actually came about in 1906, just so you all know. they were the first real effort in north america at creating 'One Big Union' of workers in general. Up until that point, unions (with the exception of the Knights of Labour) were effectively guilds, bent on preserving craftsmanship and often quite hostile to industrial, or factory workers, who were seen as stealing jobs. eg. a cobblers' trade union would be bitterly opposed to people working in factories that mass produced shoes. at the same time, immigrant workers were seen as 'stealing' jobs that were 'rightfully' the claim of anglos.
the IWW was really the first broad, encompassing movement that saw industrial and immigrant workers as the exploited, rather than just job stealers. it's still a fairly novel concept; the broad based class analysis the IWW pursued and organized along has really left the radar screens of many modern unions, not to mention broader society.
the IWW was also syndicalist, meaning effectively that they were completely decentralized, operating largely along lines of personal contact and individual organizing. we're talking about a couple of railway workers talking marx, the one signing a red card the other pulls out of his pocket.
the 'chinese restaurant' theory is the best documented, but it's stil highly anecdotal. The full explanation is that a chinese restaurant was run in Vancouver BC's gastown district by a man who was highly sympathetic to the IWW cause. members could often eat for free, or stay over a night. The restauranteur would ask 'are you IWW?' at the door, but has difficulty with english, and pronounced the acronym 'I wobble wobble'. The union took the nickname 'wobblie' as a term of affection.
the influence of the IWW really died down in the 20's, and hasn't picked up again. any modern organization using the name (squeegee kids here in vancouver recently organized under the IWW banner) is probably using the name in a nostalgic sense. the nature of a syndicalist organization is that anyone can, really, use the name.
that's a really piss-poor take on a major chunk of labour history.
if anyone's really interested in this stuff, i could go in depth on any points. it's late.
― derrick (derrick), Saturday, 15 November 2003 08:25 (twenty-two years ago)
Joe Hill came over from Sweden's shore, lookin' for some work to do, the Statue of Liberty waved him by, as Joe came a-sailin' through (Joe Hill), as Joe came a-sailin' through.
― jaymc (jaymc), Saturday, 15 November 2003 08:35 (twenty-two years ago)
Listen now, I'm drunk, but I was in a play about Joe Hill once! I played President Woodrow Wilson! I had pince-nez and everything!
― jaymc (jaymc), Saturday, 15 November 2003 08:37 (twenty-two years ago)
Damn yous guys is cool. Pince-nez man, that's hot. Sorry I didn't mean to trash talk before. I really just wonder why it's revived, who and why should anybody care. I don't think they list membership anywhere, but all I ever hear of are kids doing it and I don't think it's legally considered a "real" union that businesses have to tolerate. Historically speaking, classic but practical these days, among any type of corporate business, I doubt. A lot of "real" unions would certainly shun it.
― sucka (sucka), Saturday, 15 November 2003 10:52 (twenty-two years ago)
While I was in high school, there was an article about the IWW in the Wall Street Journal (you know, the center column on the front page that always has a picture and a token interesting feature) and a friend and I decided to drive to their headquarters in Chicago. They were very nice, and listened to my grievances about my waitressing job at the coffee shop in the shopping mall where I worked (about 40 miles north of the city). They told me it was illegal for the coffee shop to charge the waitresses for broken plates and to refuse to pay overtime for sidework, explaining that when I broke the dish it was because I was doing the restaurant's work, so the restaurant should pay not me. This was a revolutionary concept to me. They even offered to drive up to my suburb and do a protest at the restaurant if I wanted. I thought they were really cool.
― felicity (felicity), Sunday, 16 November 2003 00:03 (twenty-two years ago)
eight years pass...