From 1921 to 1941, the IWW had an official school, dubbed Work People’s College (WPC), in Duluth, Minn. During the course of its 20 years of existence, hundreds of workers attended the school and learned how to be effective and militant organizers. In 2012, the tradition of WPC was revived, and this year the IWW held its second consecutive WPC at Mesaba Co-op Park in Hibbing, Minn.

From July 12 through July 16, over 100 rank-and-file Wobblies from across the United States and Canada converged at one of Minnesota’s 10,000 lakes for the 2013 IWW Work People’s College. Here they partook in a tradition that runs deep in the IWW, the building of militant, working-class organizers prepared to bring about real change in the world.

The WPC has been resurrected from its slumber in order to strengthen IWW branches by equipping a new, diverse generation of leaders with the tools they need to fight and win the next battles in the class struggle. Though not enough time has yet passed to be able to fully realize the effect of the 2013 WPC on the class struggle, I believe that time will show its merit. Despite this, just the high spirits of many Wobblies upon returning to their branches following WPC is promising unto itself. In the words of one of this year’s participants: “It’s amazing how less tolerant you are of your boss’s mouth, your first day back to work after attending the WPC.”

But how exactly does WPC promote and achieve these goals?

First, WPC is set up as a five-day intensive training program that any organizer, experienced or not, can learn much from. From 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. each day, the attendees were in workshops. These great workshops covered a variety of topics including Dismantling Patriarchy & Capitalism; Membership Development; Strike/Strike Solidarity; Branch Administration; Labor Law 102; Media; Power/ Privilege on the Committee; and so on. These workshops are continually being developed and refined and new workshops are bound to appear.

WPC 2013 also featured some guest speakers from struggles around the world, including representatives of the Association pour une Solidarité Syndicale Étudiante (ASSÉ), a student union federation, which recently won a largescale fight against tuition hikes in Québec (if you’re interested in student syndicalism and are a student, make sure to check out the Montréal Student Movement Convention 2014, as well as the work of Ellen David Friedman, who spoke about workers’ struggles in China).

The other essential ingredient that WPC used to achieve its goals was a healthy degree of rest. The class struggle is hard work. Most of us have seen a fellow worker get burnt out; perhaps we have even experienced burnout ourselves. Instead of promoting the burnout of the most committed among us, WPC is wise enough to encourage a healthy approach to organizing wherein organizers work hard, but also make sure that they take an ample amount of rest time. The time spent simply socializing with fellow workers from all over the United States and Canada is a rejuvenating experience, allowing participants to re-enter the class struggle at full strength upon returning to their respective branches. The friendships built at WPC will, with all luck, last for a lifetime of struggle.

WPC ran parallel to the Junior Wobblies summer camp as well. The Junior Wobblies summer camp is a great way for parents to be able to attend WPC parallel to their children. The exploits of this year’s Junior Wobs included occupying a paper airplane factory, attracting the attention of a group of fascist strike breakers. When the fascists attempted to take the paper airplane factory from the workers, the Junior Wobblies constructed a formidable barricade and repelled the fascist force with a bitter water balloon fight. It goes without saying that the stalwart effort of the Junior Wobblies carried the day and saved the WPC!

In my humble opinion, WPC was a success, and it is only bound to get better. Needless to say, WPC is a great experience and I encourage any Wobbly to attend and add more tools to their tool belt. Try to get a spot at the 2014 WPC! There is limited space, though provisions are made to allow at least two dedicated people from each branch to attend as of now. In addition to the WPC in Minnesota, there is also a WPC in Europe planned for summer 2014! Like all things though, the operation of this great union function requires money. Please consider donating or joining the “Committee of 100” through their website, http://www.workpeoplescollege.org. As “Big Bill” Haywood used to end his letters: help the work along. And a great way to do so is to make sure that the WPC continues as a union tradition.

Transcribed by Juan Conatz