History of the Industrial Workers of the World
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The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) is a union of wage workers which was formed in Chicago in 1905. The IWW experienced a number of divisions and splits during its early history.
1907 photo of (left to right) Charles Moyer, Bill Haywood, and George Pettibone while imprisoned in Idaho, accused by WFM member and police informant Harry Orchard of conspiracy to commit murder. (Orchard found guilty, all others acquitted and/or released)
Daniel DeLeon
Industrial Workers of the World
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The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), whose members are nicknamed "Wobblies", is an international labor union founded in Chicago in 1905. The nickname's origin is uncertain. Its ideology combines general unionism with industrial unionism, as it is a general union, subdivided between the various industries which employ its members. The philosophy and tactics of the IWW are described as "revolutionary industrial unionism", with ties to socialist, syndicalist, and anarchist labor movements.
Big Bill Haywood and office workers in the IWW General Office, Chicago, summer 1917
The first IWW charter in Canada, Vancouver Industrial Mixed Union no.322, May 5, 1906
A Wobbly membership card, or "red card"
1914 IWW demonstration in New York City