Material from the years 1970-1979 of the Industrial Worker, the newspaper of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).
Articles and/or issues from the Industrial Worker, the newspaper of the revolutionary union, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).
Comments
The January 1970 issue of the Industrial Worker, the newspaper of the revolutionary union, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).
Contents include:
-Left Side column
-Wild cat in Ohio hanging on tight by Jeff
-"Murder", says Wob reporter by x323293
-General strike in Italy! by Mike Catalano
-Those pistol-happy punks of Pinkville by CAC (Carlos Cortez)
-Stars and crossbones by J.F. McDaniels
-Reader's Soapbox
-IWW Convention
-New Joe Hill songbook by E.A.
-Reflections of the moratorium by x326432
-Review by Fred Thompson of Sit-Down: The General Motors Strike of 1936-1937
-And the need for some today by Fred Thompson
-"What is a boss?" by x325505
-The new worker by Patrick Murfin
Taken from Internet Archive
Attachments
Industrial Worker (January 1970).pdf
(1.64 MB)
Comments
FYI The article ""Murder", says Wob reporter by x323293" is about the police assassination of Chicago Black Panthers Fred Hampton and Mark Clark
Kdog wrote: FYI The article ""Murder", says Wob reporter by x323293" is about the police assassination of Chicago Black Panthers Fred Hampton and Mark Clark
Yeah, I'm keeping track of stuff like that to transcribe later. Unfortunately, summarizing each article is just too time consuming.
The February 1970 issue of the Industrial Worker, the newspaper of the revolutionary union, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).
Contents include:
-Left Side column
-Mass strikes rock Italy
-San Francisco "custodians" want more porkchops
-Editorial: A woman's place is everywhere by CAC (Carlos Cortez)
-Reader's Soapbox
-Ammon Hennacy dies on picket line
-Women's liberation notes: unsaleable skills by K, Detroit, 1968
-Revolt among the scholars yet
-Killer's paradise by x324599
-Review by Fred Thompson of Big Bill Haywood and the radical labor movement
-Chicago Wobblies leaflet on rising transit fares
-Italy: behind the bombings (from L'Adunata Dei Refrattari)
Taken from Internet Archive
Attachments
Industrial Worker (February 1970).pdf
(2.08 MB)
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The March 1970 issue of the Industrial Worker, the newspaper of the revolutionary union, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).
Contents include:
-Left Side column
-Brazilian genocide a secret
-Prez puts down anti-pollution
-Remember San Diego?
-Sentence Tijerina
-Editorial: Ecology makes organization no. #1 by CAC (Carlos Cortez)
-Readers soapbox
-More on Italy
-From Palermo by Palermo Anarchist Group
-The price of paradise by Gordon L. Herman
-Radical choices by J.F. McDaniels
-Near blow by Eugene Nelson
-Reviews of Medium Cool, Midnight Cowboy & Z by CC Redcloud (Carlos Cortez)
-More than sugar cane by Lionel Battari
-What is fascism? by Patrick Murfin
Taken from Internet Archive
Attachments
Industrial Worker (March 1970).pdf
(11.45 MB)
Comments
The April 1970 issue of the Industrial Worker, the newspaper of the revolutionary union, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).
Contents include:
-Thompson spreads the word of the IWW in the east by Fred Thompson
-Left Side column
-Berkeley food workers organize
-New location for General Headquarters
-"World industrial unionism!" by Din Crowley
-Pollution: accident or design? by Gary Cox
-Dog track strike, right-to-work style by Ruth Sheridan, Phoenix Branch IWW
-They want to end rank & file contract veto
-As the hen sees it! by W. Pfeffer
-Review by CC Redcloud (Carlos Cortez) of American Indian Medicine, The Plum Plum Pickers and Revelation XXIII: A portable compendium of terrestrial inspiration.
-The menace of obedience
-Support the IBP strike! Don't buy scab beef at A&P!
Taken from Sabine Press
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Industrial Worker (April 1970).pdf
(20.19 MB)
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The May 1970 issue of the Industrial Worker, the newspaper of the revolutionary union, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).
Contents include:
-Let's make every day May Day by CAC (Carlos Cortez)
-Readers Soapbox
-Left Side column
-Capitalist dredge sucks at Northern California Ecology & is slowed by mass action by Pito Perez
-Review by Fred Thompson of Joe Hill, Sydney's Burning & Bread And Roses Too: Studies of the Wobblies.
-Chicago FW beats rap
-Brass strike is Fresno
-International Labor Day, May 1 by Din Crowley
-Workers Unite! by x324234
-Polluted air, polluted thinking by Peter Suto
-Student solidarity in Ann Arbor by L.S.
-Plumber bummer by Saucy Myra
-Hero of the stamp machine by Dorice McDaniels
-More Doin's in Diego by Lionel Bottari
-Arizona bracero won't wait for manana by Ruth Sheridan
-They didn't surpress the Wobblies by One of Them (Fred Thompson)
Taken from Internet Archives
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Industrial Worker (May 1970).pdf
(6.69 MB)
Comments
The July 1970 issue of the Industrial Worker, the newspaper of the revolutionary union, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).
Contents include:
-Left Side column
-The system is vulnerable by Fred Thompson
-Chicago branch replies to transit fare hike
-We live in one world! by FT (Fred Thompson)
-The burial of Tio Nacho by Alfredo NuberoJa
-Wild cats make bell's ears ring
-Good earth, better people by J.F. McDaniels
-Reader's Soapbox
-"Let's enjoy this next depression!"
-San Diego Wobs forge ahead by Daryl B. Van Fleet
-Damocles in the Mid-East
-People get healthcare by Patrick Murfin
-Seattle by J.W. Fain, x325044
Taken from Internet Archive
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Industrial Worker (July 1970).pdf
(11.67 MB)
Comments
The August 1970 issue of the Industrial Worker, the newspaper of the revolutionary union, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).
Contents include:
-Left Side column
-Disabled miners close down mines
-Chicago Seed organizes under IU 450
-Reader's soapbox
-Why the student revolution? by Larry Cornett
-A well deserved congratulations (from whom?) by Joseph Mangano
-Buckminster's computer
-Stover-Lamm defense
-Conferences
-The Strategy-Action Conference: Milwaukee by Gary Gresher
-Crisis in mass transportation spikes growth of free transit agitation by Patrick Murfin
-Union odds n ends
-From down under by Pat Mackie
-FDA protecton racket
-Law, justice & compensation for the American worker by Leo Carella
-Add to IWW reading list
-Frank Little, rebel by Din Crowley
-Review of A History of Criminal Syndicalism Legislation in the United States
-An anarchist in Cuba by Ronald Kevin Romano, x325160
-Musings of a Wobbly by Enness Ellae
-Business unionism in agriculture by FT (Fred Thompson)
-How Canadian labor resolutes
Taken from Internet Archive
Attachments
Industrial Worker (August 1970).pdf
(24.19 MB)
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Articles from the September 1970 issue of the Industrial Worker, the newspaper of the revolutionary union, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).
Contents include:
-Editorial: The sun is red
-Welcome to the thirtieth General Convention!
-From the Milwaukee Liberation Front
-A slave crowns the lady
-Concerns of the movement by Fred Thompson
-Union odds n ends
-Review by Bill Knapp of The Buffalo
-Review by Patrick Murfin of American syndicalism: the IWW
-Teamsters as union scabs
-New opportunities for IU 620
-Migratory workers by J.W. Fain, x325044
Attachments
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An obituary for Walfrid Jokinen, a longtime IWW member associated with the Finnish-speaking part of the union in Northern Minnesota. Originally appeared in the Industrial Worker (September 1970).
Fellow Worker Walfrid Jokinen died of a heart attack in San Francisco during a visit there August 8. He was the son of a staunch IWW family, and studied and taught at the Work People's College. In the Thirties, Walfrid attempted to revive interest in the Union on the Mesaba Iron Range. Later he became a sociology professor, continuing his association with the Industrialisti at the same time. He was a popular speaker at Finnish picnics, and his master's thesis dealt with Finnish IWW activities in Minnesota, including the story of Tyovaen Opisto, or the Work People's College, a residential labor school which our Finnish Fellow Workers maintained in Duluth until 1940.
Transcribed by Juan Conatz
Comments
Hey, this is great, thanks for uploading! Just a short editing note, but you don't need to format the intro with bold text. Best thing is to leave the intro in just regular text. Thanks again!
The October 1970 issue of the Industrial Worker, the newspaper of the revolutionary union, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).
Contents include:
-Left Side column
-A sure way to stop the war! by x325818
-Lockout at Wobbly-organized Prestige Theater
-Editorial: That near-east Qzx by CAC (Carlos Cortez)
-Readers Soapbox
-30th IWW General Convention!
-Resolutions passed by the thirtieth General Convention of the IWW
-The General Defense Committee by Patrick Murfin
-Wage equalization and the system by H.J.P.
-What about the Joe Hill Memorial Fund?
-John King 1870-1970
-Sioux City opens hall
-On the Bay
Attachments
Industrial Worker (October 1970).pdf
(3.24 MB)
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An article by Patrick Murfin describing the reestablishment of the IWW’s General Defense Committee. Originally appeared in the Industrial Worker, Volume 67, Number 10, W.N. 1291 (October 1970)
From its inception the IWW recognized the necessity of an active and vigorous system for raising defense funds and for distributing those funds fairly to victims of class-war repression. The manifesto call to the first IWW Convention in 1905 included the provision that: “A central defense fund, to which all members contribute equally, should be established and maintained” as one of the duties of the new organization. So it was that the General Defense Committee was eventually set-up as a semi-autonomous organization with its own membership cards, dues, and officers to raise money for the many Wobblies persecuted and others who felt the lash of capitalist repression.
In one of its most significant actions, the 30th General Convention of the IWW reactivated the General Defense Committee by ordering that GDC credentials be issued to all IWW delegates. The act recognized that IWW members are once again on the front lines of labor and radical-activity, and as such will be subjected to the wave of repression that is sweeping the country under the direction of Attorney General Mitchell and FBI Chief Hoover. Arrests of Wobblies in San Diego, the Stover-Lamb case and the upcoming trials of Patrick Murfin and Alfredo Matias in Chicago pointed to the need to rescue the GDC from its activity during the lean years of the ’50s and early ’60s.
The GDC is not empowered to award bail funds because in most instances these can be raised locally and because it takes some time for the IWW General Executive Board, which is acting as the executive board of the GDC, to act. But it does support defense expenses, as it did just recently by paying Chicago’s People’s Law Office $200 for the defense of Murfin and Matias. The GDC is also empowered to buy tobacco and other small items for class-war prisoners.
Membership in the GDC, unlike IWW membership, is not restricted to wage workers, but extends to all interested in contributing to this important cause. This allows people who are interested in the work of the IWW but ineligible or unwilling to take out membership a way to become involved.
Transcribed by Juan Conatz
Comments
The November 1970 issue of the Industrial Worker, the newspaper of the revolutionary union, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).
Contents include:
-Editorial: Only workers can stop the mess! by Carlos Cortez
-Readers Soapbox
-Left Side column
-BRAC-Northwest strike, Anchorage overtones by x324273
-Wobblies settle cinema dispute in Chicago
-What the HELL is a square? by HME 270597
-Obituaries: Frank Camp, Giovanni Deriu
-Red and black November by Din Crowley
-A compliment of consideration for the IWW old-timers by Din Crowley
-Rats guard cheese
-On Women's Liberation by H.J.P.
-World capitalism by FT (Fred Thompson)
-Union odds n ends
-Repression in South Africa
-And now a Joe Hill opera
-Russia 1970: a students by x326874
-Have diploma, will work
-Seattle by J.W.Fain, x325044
-Review by Shelby Shapiro (x324691) of The Rich and the Super-Rich
-Review by Fred Thompson of Eugene V. Debs Speaks, Pie in the sky, and Deportations Delirium of 1920.
-The straight dope by Fred Thompson
-Common sense by Din Crowley
Attachments
Industrial Worker (November 1970).pdf
(17.21 MB)
Comments
The December 1970 issue of the Industrial Worker, the newspaper of the revolutionary union, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).
Contents include:
-The nativity: in a grotto by Louis Cassels
-Reader's Soapbox
-Left Side column
-Obituaries: Evert Anderson, Dave Ingar
-The end of the European small farmer
-Harassment in Diego
-The situation in Quebec
-Economic revolution by Robert Edwards
-Resistance to repression: a summary for 1970 by Fred Thompson
-How to ward off a depression
-Add to IWW reading list
-Review by CC Redcloud (Carlos Cortez) of Flap
-On the road again: the hobo & the hippy by Patrick Murfin
-Abolition of the profit system? by Larry Cornett
-The cry of the hungry by Din Crowley
Attachments
Industrial Worker (December 1970).pdf
(21.22 MB)
Comments
Back on through the late 60s, mostly the 70s, I "liked" reading the obituaries. Not because I wished ill on anyone, but that gave a sense of the member. Up until, say, the time of Studs Terkel and Staughton Lynd, for example, most histories were of events, ideas and maybe, well, not maybe, those in leadership. Sadly, obituaries provided that local understanding of the human dimension, the living and breathing member.
Yeah, I keep an eye out for the obituaries as well, because you can learn about people and events that may not have received as much attention even within the IWW, much less outside of it.
Articles and/or issues from the Industrial Worker, the newspaper of the revolutionary union, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).
Comments
The January 1971 issue of the Industrial Worker, the newspaper of the revolutionary union, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).
Contents include:
-Left Side column
-Editorial: Get with it now & celebrate later! by CAC (Carlos Cortez)
-Reader's Soapbox
-The Seattle conspiracy trial by Robert D. Casey
-Harassment in Diego
-Dow Chemical exploits US farm workers by x325818
-Union Odds' n ends
-Review by Cliff Bennett of The Trade Union Movement in Nigeria
-Review by HME 70-11 of Milltown
-Review by C.C. Redcloud (Carlos Cortez) of In the Service of Their Country: War Resisters in Prison
-Adventures of an Indian Mestizo by Pedro Coria (Translated by Eugene Nelson)
-On the road again: the hobo & the hippy part II by Patrick Murfin
-Joe Hill Day: November 19th, Salt Lake City
Taken from Internet Archive
Attachments
Industrial Worker (January 1971).pdf
(18.21 MB)
Comments
The February 1971 issue of the Industrial Worker, the newspaper of the revolutionary union, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).
Contents include:
-Left Side column
-1971 dispute schedule
-Chicago teacher's strike
-Editorial: Don't be a criminal in the future by Carlos Cortez
-Reader's Soapbox
-Transcending the exisiting trade union structure! by Larry Cornett
-Stover-Lamm case
-Obituary: William Bela Munkacsy
-Caution, collaboration & collapse by Din Crowley
-ILGWU!
-Landrum-Griffin 10 year summary
-The Seattle conspiracy trial part two by Robert D. Casey
-Hip exploitation, incorporated
-Repression notes, USA
-The harsh facts! by Fred Thompson
-And in India
-Adventures of an Indian Mestizo part II by Pedro Coria (translated by Eugene Nelson)
-On the road again: the hobo & the hippy (Conclusion) by Patrick Murfin
Taken from Internet Archive
Attachments
Industrial Worker (February 1971).pdf
(17.78 MB)
Comments
Sorry to report:
TemporarilyUnavailableThe bucket files.libcom.org is temporarily unavailable: DMCA infraction - no response from customer. Trial account.2A8AFC420161ACBD:BMybNW/7FDacSSAIanFKaGKavcmdDN1YUWz5DvOHYmIgFZ+7A2R456gAUnYsmCQiVTLyCOiauKi/8MTc0ODYzOTg3MjkxMyAzOC4yNy4xMDYuMTE4IENvbklEOjkwMTY4NjU4NC9FbmdpbmVDb25JRDo4NjQ3Mjg3L0NvcmU6NDM=
Fozzie wrote: Hey syndicalist - I think it should be ok now if you try again?
Thanks, all good now.
An obituary written by Margaret (Ballek) Munkacsy of William Bela Munkacsy, a Hungarian-American IWW member who passed away in November 1970. Originally appeared in the Industrial Worker (February 1971).
Again we lost a strong supporter of the IWW and its varied institutions – this time perhaps the last Hungarian Wobbly in South Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
William Bela Munkacsy joined the IWW in his younger days. The home of the Munkacsys has always been an open house to Wobbly organizers who did not want to give up hope that some day they might have an IWW closed shop at Bethlehem Steel.
Bela was a craftsman and an electrician, and when the Industrial Union movement did not develop to his liking in the mills, he became self-employed. This gave him more time to spread the cause of labor.
Bela was ailing for the past few years, but we never weakened in his Industrial Union principles. Funeral services were private. He was 74 years old. Since the Industrial Worker was his favorite reading I am sending $25 to its sustaining fund in his memory
Mrs. William Munkacsy
Transcribed by Juan Conatz
Comments
The March 1971 issue of the Industrial Worker, the newspaper of the revolutionary union, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).
Contents include:
-Left Side column
-'Hip' capitalists as square as any
-Rockin' chair collectors, why stand in line?
-Reader's Soapbox
-Women Wobblies by Jarama Jahn
-Bolshevism: old and new by J.Milne (reprinted from Fulcrum, the journal of the Socialist Party of Canada)
-Voices from inside
-Pinkertons menace Canadian campuses
-Without rank & file control, labor has no freedom, even in the United States by Peter Sute
-Tom Barker: did the IWW try to burn Sydney to spring him out of jail?
-Obituary: Joan London
-Surviving the future by Patrick Murfin
-Musings of a Wobbly by Enness Ellae
-Unemployment & culture by Fred Thompson
-Was Joe Hill guilty? by Fred Thompson
-Adventures of an Indian Mestizo Part III by Pedro Coria (Translated by Eugene Nelson)
-Repression notes, USA
-Bay Area supports Hip workers
Taken from Internet Archive
Attachments
Industrial Worker (March 1971).pdf
(8.77 MB)
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The April 1971 issue of the Industrial Worker, the newspaper of the revolutionary union, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).
Contents include:
-NLRB rules in favor of Hip Products workers
-One century ago
-Swedish workers won't knuckle und'
-Editorial: More than words by CAC (Carlos Cortez)
-Reader's Soapbox
-Can free men have computers? by FT (Fred Thompson)
-Around the world
-Repression notes, USA
-Poor folks
-Adventures of an Indian Mestizo Part IV by Pedro Coria (Translated by Eugene Nelson)
-Surviving the future by Patrick Murfin
-Poland: December-January by BCR
-Strikes rock Sweden
-In Diego
Taken from Internet Archive
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Industrial Worker (April 1971).pdf
(11.52 MB)
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The June 1971 issue of the Industrial Worker, the newspaper of the revolutionary union, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).
Contents include:
-C.S. snake bares fangs again...
-Left Side column
-Export jobs? Just act union!
-Coal cargo kept at sea
-Wobblies visit railroad strikers
-Obituary: John Neufeld
-Editorials: To build peace; Who's the big bad wolf?; Power to the people?
Reader's Soapbox
-Letter from Japan by IWW Card Number X 326323
-Kerr revival
-Profit disease "guards health"
-New Jersey reaction
-More Wob history to come out now
-Review by Fred Thompson of Don't Blame the People: Bias in the New Media
-Repression notes
-Some workers have black skins
-Ed Jahn speaks on workers' control
-British socialist looks at syndicalism
-May Day demos
-Fascist Minutemen attach S.D. I.W.W.s
Taken from Internet Archive
Attachments
Industrial Worker (June 1971).pdf
(12.25 MB)
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An obituary written by Charles Velsek of John Neufeld, an IWW member of almost 50 years. Originally appeared in the Industrial Worker (June 1971).
John Neufeld, a member of the IWW, passed away in Chicago in April after ailing for several years. He was born in Canada and reared as a Mennonite. During his youth he became aware of social and ecnomic conditions that he seemed to think needed changing.
Neufeld was first a member of the One Big Union of Canada. In 1923 he came to the United States and also joined the IWW. He belonged to both unions for a while, but decided that as we would remain in the US he would be active in the IWW.
In 1926 he became secretary of the GRU [1] branch in Minneapolis and helped maintain a hall on the West Side until the Colorado coal-mine campaign began to bear fruit in 1927. By then he became a GOC [2] member of the GRU and went to Colorado to lend a hand. He remained there until the strike was settled.
During the Depression he was active in the Industrial Workers Unemployed Union of Chicago, and he remained active in that group until it dissolved. He held continuous membership in the IWW from 1923 until his passing. He will be missed.
C. Velsek
Transcribed by Juan Conatz
Transcriber’s Footnotes
[1] General Recruiting Union
[2] General Organizing Committee
Comments
The July 1971 issue of the Industrial Worker, the newspaper of the revolutionary union, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).
Contents include:
-'Free rides': Wob idea takes hold
-These young Wobs get around...
-Black workers refuse to scab
-Syndicalism trail in San Diego
-Parasites fear life too easy for workers
-Reader's Soapbox
-Resistance in army grows
-Dig Wob history: Fresno, San Pedro, North Woods, SPA by F.T. (Fred Thompson)
-What Indians really want
-The young labor unionist by James W. Cain
-Rebel miners
-Bargaining for retirees
-Strike benefits
-Review by Ottalie Markholt of The Black Worker
-ILGWU faces revolt
-Repression
-In Greece red flowers bloom by Alfredo Hitzikakis
-India: use what is
-Wages don't decide imports
Taken from Internet Archive
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Industrial Worker (July 1971).pdf
(3.95 MB)
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The September 1971 issue of the Industrial Worker, the newspaper of the revolutionary union, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).
Contents include:
-Harris plans on Navy vote
-Next stage in bargaining
-Clydeside resists liquidation
-Should reporters elect editors?
-Editorials: That interncine left; Eating during discloations
-Reader's Soapbox
-Her crime: not sorry
-Criminal syndicalism: a sordid history
-Britain adopts Taft-Hartley
-William A. Delaney III x326531
-Take the shame out of welfare
-James revisited
-Journey through the northwest
-Knowledge factories need union by Jum Bumpas
-Obituary: Louis Tarcal
-Jailed for silence
Taken from Internet Archive
Attachments
Industrial Worker (September 1971).pdf
(12.12 MB)
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The October 1971 issue of the Industrial Worker, the newspaper of the revolutionary union, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).
Contents include:
-Left Side column
-Wage freeze g*ps workers; boon for parasites only...
-San Diego C.S. case rouses world concern
-6 B-52s
-Editorial: Establishment demoralized
-Reader's Soapbox
-A rap with: David Harris
-Call to action
-Terrorism no, direct action, Yes!
-Oil worker views
-Hospital job lousy deal
-Union notes
-Repression notes
-Technological slavery by James W. Cain
-Fellow Workers around the world
-British labor views EEC
-Migrant workers
-UFWF, Florida obreros win
Taken from Internet Archive
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Industrial Worker (October 1971).pdf
(11.67 MB)
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The December 1971 issue of the Industrial Worker, the newspaper of the revolutionary union, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).
Contents include:
-Left Side column
-If we have'a freeze by FT (Fred Thompson)
-Fascism surfaces behind labor boss opposition by John Zergan, x325106
-Racist terror in Dixie
-Reader's Soapbox
-Obituary: John Desiderio
-Repression notes, USA
-Cedervall tour
-The dying Wobbly by Eugene Nelson
-Diversity on hill movie
Taken from Internet Archive
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Industrial Worker (December 1971).pdf
(11.77 MB)
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Articles and/or issues from the Industrial Worker, the newspaper of the revolutionary union, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).
Comments
The April 1976 issue of the Industrial Worker, the newspaper of the revolutionary union, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).
Contents include:
-More murder in the mines
-Scabbing on the Post
-Left Side column by C.A.C. (Carlos Cortez)
-Union odds n ends
-Swedish shipyard layoffs by Benny Roslund
-Twin City Taxi Strike by Greg McDaniels
-Figures don't like; bosses do! by Craig Ledford
-Is your job killing you?
-News from Portugal: new wave of repression by Dan Levitan
-How workers run Lisbon Hotel
-Agrarian communes
-New songs to fan the flames of discontent
-The boss is the spy by R.B. Sheetz
-Posse Comitatus
-Locked out of the locker room by The Old Southpaw
-Teamster contract up
-Review by Tony Pestalozzi : 'Emma' on NY stage
-Good repute
-Pacifist publications
-Music hath charms for soothing savage bosses
-Cheap bosses blow up workers
-Women face peril on job
Taken from Internet Archive
Attachments
Industrial Worker (April 1976).pdf
(8.29 MB)
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Articles from the October 1976 issue of the Industrial Worker, the newspaper of the revolutionary union, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).
Comments
A brief history of the South African Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) by John Philips. Originally appeared in the Industrial Worker (October 1976)
This pioneering article sheds light on the early impact of the IWW in South Africa, and on early black strikes and the Industrial and Commercial Workers Union (ICU). While not altogether accurate (for example, the ICU claimed to have white members, and David Ivon Jones was not part of 1920s night school where workers wrote “Workers of the world unite! You have nothing to lose but your chains, and a world to win !”, and the IWW influence continued well after 1920), it is a commendable account.
“Sifuna Zonke ! they cried. – “We want the works!”. In that society most infamous for its racism and most implacable in its hatred of “reds”, the IWW once tried to organize revolutionary industrial unions of class-conscious workers from every race, tribe; and religion.
South Africa in the early 20th Century was another of those rapidly industrializing nations where the rising alienation and militancy of wage workers gave rise to bitter and bloody class struggle. Given the peculiar structure of South African society and the nature of the introduction of industrialization there, it is perhaps not surprising that most white workers put theirs efforts into craft unionism – and political action which ensure, through “job reservation”, that their black fellow workers, would never compete in skilled trades.
Here was a land so reactionary that the Labour Party demanded “equal pay for equal work”, not daring to question unequal work. Yet by 1911 Fellow Worker Archie Crawford, editor of Johannesburg’s Voice of Labour, toured the United States, speaking under IWW local auspices about (among other topics) “Industrial Development in South Africa”. By the time of the Palmer Raids, his organization was being destroyed by the South African Government.
Inspired by a successful strike of white municipal employees, Johannesburg’s “bucket boys” demanded raises of six pence (some say one shilling). They stopped taking shit until they got what they were after. The Government gave them what for.
“Native police” were used as scabs. When it became apparent that these were only sufficient to keep public facilities open, 152 “night soil workers” were sentenced under the “Masters and Servants Act”. Under the provisions of this act (which is still in force) workers have fewer legal rights than the slaves of many human societies.
All 152 workers were sent back to work under an armed guard of spear-carrying Zulus and gun-toting white bullies. Those who tried to escape were shot down and those who refused to obey orders were lashed until they obeyed.
Meanwhile, African miners went on strike. With no organized union or central committee among the workers, it was a relatively simple affair for the police to isolate the various compounds and inform each group separately that the others were scabbing. It was quite another matter, however, to convince the workers to actually scab, even when white miners were still going to work.
Although the Government refused to make public the methods it finally used to break the strike; it is known that police breaking into the Village Deep Mine Compound murdered eight Africans. Bayonets are alleged to have been the most potent arguments driving Africans back underground.
Who got the blame for all this? You guessed it :the One Big Industrial Union, which was credited with introducing the subversive notion of strikes to a heretofore “contented” African population.
The Government charged five Africans and three Europeans with having fomented the strike. Thanks to the extensive legal knowledge of Fellow Worker SP Bunting the prosecution were soon made to look like fools. The IWWW had not been urging these workers to strike; they had been urging workers NOT to strike until they had a tighter organization and a strike fund that could support them.
Like many expatriate employers, the IWW had failed to understand African society. Many African unions have no membership rolls and few dues-paying members. But if the workers decide to strike, woe to the employer who thinks that the union doesn’t represent his workers, or that lack of a strike fund will drive his slaves back to work! The extended family could help its members stay out on strike indefinitely.
The case became so embarrassing for the Government that the Attorney-General refused to prosecute. Luke Messina, a Government infiltrator, confessed to having signed a false affidavit. Although the case never went before a jury, the financial impact was more than the union could bear, even though it shared costs with the African National Congress (ANC).
David Jones left to start a night school for Africans where they learned to write on their slates: “Workers of the world unite! You have nothing to lose but your chains, and a world to win!” But the IWW had died. Africans soon organized a union of their own.
The Industrial and Commercial Workers Union of Africa (ICU) was founded In 1919 by Clemens Kadilie [sic.]. It organized workers of all industries into one big union. Its constitution was based on that of the IWW, but with one important difference: No whites were to be allowed to join!
John Philips, XS30043
Originally appeared in the Industrial Worker (October 1976)
Originally posted: September 11, 2012 at South African Anarchist & Syndicalist History Archive
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Articles and/or issues from the Industrial Worker, the newspaper of the revolutionary union, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).
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The December 1978 issue of the Industrial Worker, the newspaper of the revolutionary union, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).
Contents include:
-Canadian postal strikes crushed
-New York press strike over
-Boycott Campbells!
-Women in unions
-Left Side column by C.C. Redcloud (Carlos Cortez)
-Editorial: The new corporativism by Mike Hargis
-Cellar bookstore job branch demands recognition
-The Virden campaign: a balance sheet by Mike Hargis
-Around the union
-Organizers confer
-Wobbly jailed
-A guide to collective bargaining
-ABCs of union busting: inside an anti-union seminar by Nancy Steifel
-The jokers (a morality tale) by Walt Drannan
-What is equal work? by Fred Thompson
-Iran general strike over
Attachments
Industrial Worker (December 1978).pdf
(27.55 MB)
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Articles and/or issues from the Industrial Worker, the newspaper of the revolutionary union, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).
Comments
The September 1979 issue of the Industrial Worker, the newspaper of the revolutionary union, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).
Contents include:
-AFL-CIO: will it change?
-IWW strikes U.Cellar
-Left Side column by C.C. Redcloud (Carlos Cortez)
-Joe Hill forever
-Federal goons by Michael J. Hargis
-Wordprocessors shop to take union vote by Eric J. Glatz
-Miller arrested
-Frank Gould's murder confirmed
-From worker's control to...? by Mike Hargis
-BART workers stay in!
-Forked tongue capitalism by Carlos Cortez
-Did you notice?
-Guidelines fatten fatso
-J.P. Stevens takes heat
-Tory economics
Taken from Internet Archive
Attachments
Industrial Worker (September 1979).pdf
(23.18 MB)
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The October 1979 issue of the Industrial Worker, the newspaper of the revolutionary union, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).
Contents include:
-Carter enjoins Rock Island strike
-Tentative pact at UCellar but management waffles
-Convention charts IWW course
-Joe Hill Drive picks up
-UMWA at crossroads
-Teachers hit bricks again by M.H.
-Transportation: a people's policy by Robin L. Oye
-UAW, GM settle without strike
-BART workers locked out
-Sound of a distant drum column: Trade union circus by Arthur Moyse
-Valencia general strike
-UFW wins in Cal, FLOC fights in Ohio
Attachments
Industrial Worker (October 1979).pdf
(7.49 MB)
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