Industrial Worker

Magazine of the Industrial Workers of the World

The Industrial Worker, "the voice of revolutionary industrial unionism", is the magazine of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW, a.k.a., "Wobblies"). It is now released quarterly. The publication was printed and edited by union labor, and frequently distributed at radical bookstores, demonstrations, strikes, and labor rallies.^{[citation needed]} It covers industrial conditions, strikes, workplace organizing experiences, and features on labor history. It used to be released as a newspaper.^{[citation needed]}

The newspaper was first printed in journal format in Joliet, Illinois, in January 1906, incorporating The Voice of Labor (the newspaper from the former American Labor Union which had joined the IWW), and International Metal Worker. It was edited by A. S. Edwards, and early contributors included Eugene V. Debs, Jack London, Daniel DeLeon, Bill Haywood, and James H. Walsh. It also included poetry by Covington Hall.^{[citation needed]} When the group led by ousted President Charles O. Sherman retained physical control over the paper, after the union's 1906 convention, and continued publication under that name for a few months (before giving up the ghost), the IWW then issued the Industrial Union Bulletin for several years. A.S. Edwards was elected editor of the Bulletin in 1906.^[1]

The second series of the Industrial Worker started in 1909 in Spokane, Washington. This series has continues, with one interruption – during 1913–1916. In the early years, it was printed weekly and mainly circulated west of the Mississippi. While the IWW's "Official Eastern Organ" was Solidarity, published in New Castle, Pennsylvania, and later, Cleveland, which continued until it merged with the Industrial Worker in Chicago in the 1930s.

The Spokane paper was the birthplace of the comic strip character Mr. Block, later commemorated in a Joe Hill song. The Industrial Worker usually ran four pages, with an annual eight page May Day issue, reflecting on gains of the labor movement in the previous year. Circulation fell off due to the repression of the IWW during and after the First World War, reflecting a decline in the influence of radical unionism more generally.^{[citation needed]}

Presently, the IW editor is decided every two years, via an IWW referendum. Recent editors have included Jon Bekken, Peter Moore, Diane Krauthamer, and Roberta McNair. Currently, the publication is edited by a committee.

Issues of the Industrial Worker are often available on microfilm at university libraries and other research oriented facilities.

References

^ Paul Frederick Brissenden, The I.W.W. A Study of American Syndicalism, Columbia University, 1919, p. 176 ^{[ISBN missing]}

External links

Official website
A detailed study of the Industrial Worker from 1909–1930, including images from The Labor Press Project
IWW Newspapers 1906–1946 (maps) Maps of newspapers affiliated with the IWW, with information about language, founding period, and duration.

Industrial Workers of the World

History

1900s	First Convention of the IWW 1907 Skowhegan textile strike Pressed Steel Car strike of 1909
1910s	1912 Lawrence textile strike 1912 New York City waiters' strike Grabow riot Wheatland hop riot 1912–1913 Little Falls textile strike 1913 El Paso smelters' strike 1913 Paterson silk strike Paterson pageant Hopedale strike 1913 Ipswich Mills strike 1913 Studebaker strike Bayonne refinery strikes of 1915–1916 Everett massacre 1916–1917 northern Minnesota lumber strike Bisbee Deportation Green Corn Rebellion Tulsa Outrage Seattle General Strike Centralia massacre Bisbee Riot
1920s & 1930s	Anaconda Road massacre 1922 New England Textile Strike 1923 San Pedro maritime strike 1927–1928 Colorado Coal Strike 1933 Yakima Valley strike Stockton cannery strike of 1937
After 1940	1964 Mount Isa Mines strike Redwood Summer 2011 Wisconsin protests 2018–2019 Education strikes Lyft and Uber strikes 2021 Frito-Lay strike

People

Philosophy

Sections

Australasian Meat Industry Employees Union Burgerville Workers Union Education Workers Industrial Union Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee Marine Transport Workers Industrial Union Starbucks Workers Union United Campaign Workers
Extinct	Agricultural Workers Organization Lumber Workers Industrial Union Metal and Machinery Workers Industrial Union