Industrial Labor In The 1900's
How did the IWW differ from the AFL and other workers’ unions?
The IWW was a much different union then seen in previous years. IWW believed that most trade unions during it’s promoted same industry worker competition. To be specific, this ultimately would lead worker competition especially seen in terms of wages. In the 1900’s there where multiple different unions; each of which was usually divided by race, gender, or skill. The IWW (Industrial workers of the world) sought a very different type of union apart from trade or craft. For the first time a union truly wanted to organize all the workers from any given union into one big union, regardless of race, gender, or skill. This was a bold idea considering race and gender discrimination was …show more content…
still sweeping throughout the country at this time. The IWW even welcomed rejected members of the AFL. IWW differed in the fact that it was democratic and controlled by rank and file. WWI also unlike other unions was more peaceful and did not believe in initiating violence but would not hesitate to protect its union when under attack from the press. IWW was defiantly not a union that would back down. The IWW was a “class struggle” based union and believed the working class and the employer class had nothing in common. It persuaded its members to not sign contracts with their employers since this usually prevented workers from striking. Since they did not believe employers had their best interest in mind, IWW practiced something called “direct action.” This meant that essentially the worker became the boss of their boss. The worker became totally in control of their work environment. They would tell their bosses when and where they will be working and also for what amount of hours and what amount of money. The IWW was also more inspirational then other unions and gained a large following even of people who were not members. Finally, unlike the AFL the IWW rejected the idea of capitalism. The IWW saw and was motivated by the tactics of anarcho-syndicalism. This meant they believed the greatest amount of power could be gained from bringing the economic system to a stop until they could take it over for the greater good, ultimately benefiting all. Finally, because of this ideology and backed by a vast following, a union now threatened the capitalist class. This was something the AFL and other unions hadn’t been able to do and didn’t want to do.
How did capitalists and government officials respond to IWW organizing?
As stated in my last answer, the IWW was of the first to finally pose a direct threat to capitalism.
This scared capitalist because capitalist growth was booming during the 1900’s and saw enormous profits. The IWW was fairly small but very powerful as far as unions went. Capitalist and government officials were not happy and did not respond kindly to the IWW. Their gatherings inspired many people and as a result IWW was under consistent attack. Officials responded by trying to pass laws that would stop the IWW from speaking, turned to violence when those laws failed, and framed and arrested hundreds of innocent members. In Spokane there was an ordnance passed which prohibited IWW street meetings, and when an organizer insisted on speaking he was arrested. This infuriated the Wobblies so they marched straight up to the town center and spoke and each one got arrested after speaking. Six hundred Wobblies ended up in jail that day. Untimely the IWW won back its right to speak. A similar event took place in Fresno, again resulting in multiple arrests taking place. This time the however, the arrested members would sing and organize speeches from their jail cells. It seemed that every time the government would try and stop speeches the IWW would always prevail. As a result, the government soon turned very sour towards this group and extreme aggression soon followed. In Washington in 1916, a local sheriff gathered armed vigilantes once word spread of a town meeting. These vigilantes opened fire on the group of Wobblies resulting in seven deaths and many more being seriously injured. The next year WWI broke out and vigilantes captured Frank Little a IWW organizer. They did not just kill Little, but they brutally tortured him and left his lifeless body hanging from a railroad trestle. Meanwhile over in Utah Joe hill (a IWW organizer) was the next target. Hill was accused of a robbery and the murder of a grocer in Salt Lake City. Even though there wasn’t direct evidence
that Hill had in fact committed the crime, he was found guilty. Hill was sent to prison, and ultimately executed by a firing squad. Then when IWW got news of wage cuts at a Mill they took action. Mill workers could no longer afford feed their families, to make matters worse it was mid winter. Soon thousands of workers got up and began a strike. In response IWW organized mass, meetings, parades, and set up soup kitchens for the striking workers. The local mayor was less then pleased with these actions and called for militia backup. The governor responded by sending out, out of sate police who attacked parades causing day long riots. By the end of the night a striker was shot and killed supposedly by a policeman. The authorities however, framed and arrested IWW organizer Joseph Ettor. As seen in previous patterns extreme violence again soon broke out.
The IWW was a much different union then seen in previous years. IWW believed that most trade unions during it’s promoted same industry worker competition. To be specific, this ultimately would lead worker competition especially seen in terms of wages. In the 1900’s there where multiple different unions; each of which was usually divided by race, gender, or skill. The IWW (Industrial workers of the world) sought a very different type of union apart from trade or craft. For the first time a union truly wanted to organize all the workers from any given union into one big union, regardless of race, gender, or skill. This was a bold idea considering race and gender discrimination was …show more content…
still sweeping throughout the country at this time. The IWW even welcomed rejected members of the AFL. IWW differed in the fact that it was democratic and controlled by rank and file. WWI also unlike other unions was more peaceful and did not believe in initiating violence but would not hesitate to protect its union when under attack from the press. IWW was defiantly not a union that would back down. The IWW was a “class struggle” based union and believed the working class and the employer class had nothing in common. It persuaded its members to not sign contracts with their employers since this usually prevented workers from striking. Since they did not believe employers had their best interest in mind, IWW practiced something called “direct action.” This meant that essentially the worker became the boss of their boss. The worker became totally in control of their work environment. They would tell their bosses when and where they will be working and also for what amount of hours and what amount of money. The IWW was also more inspirational then other unions and gained a large following even of people who were not members. Finally, unlike the AFL the IWW rejected the idea of capitalism. The IWW saw and was motivated by the tactics of anarcho-syndicalism. This meant they believed the greatest amount of power could be gained from bringing the economic system to a stop until they could take it over for the greater good, ultimately benefiting all. Finally, because of this ideology and backed by a vast following, a union now threatened the capitalist class. This was something the AFL and other unions hadn’t been able to do and didn’t want to do.
How did capitalists and government officials respond to IWW organizing?
As stated in my last answer, the IWW was of the first to finally pose a direct threat to capitalism.
This scared capitalist because capitalist growth was booming during the 1900’s and saw enormous profits. The IWW was fairly small but very powerful as far as unions went. Capitalist and government officials were not happy and did not respond kindly to the IWW. Their gatherings inspired many people and as a result IWW was under consistent attack. Officials responded by trying to pass laws that would stop the IWW from speaking, turned to violence when those laws failed, and framed and arrested hundreds of innocent members. In Spokane there was an ordnance passed which prohibited IWW street meetings, and when an organizer insisted on speaking he was arrested. This infuriated the Wobblies so they marched straight up to the town center and spoke and each one got arrested after speaking. Six hundred Wobblies ended up in jail that day. Untimely the IWW won back its right to speak. A similar event took place in Fresno, again resulting in multiple arrests taking place. This time the however, the arrested members would sing and organize speeches from their jail cells. It seemed that every time the government would try and stop speeches the IWW would always prevail. As a result, the government soon turned very sour towards this group and extreme aggression soon followed. In Washington in 1916, a local sheriff gathered armed vigilantes once word spread of a town meeting. These vigilantes opened fire on the group of Wobblies resulting in seven deaths and many more being seriously injured. The next year WWI broke out and vigilantes captured Frank Little a IWW organizer. They did not just kill Little, but they brutally tortured him and left his lifeless body hanging from a railroad trestle. Meanwhile over in Utah Joe hill (a IWW organizer) was the next target. Hill was accused of a robbery and the murder of a grocer in Salt Lake City. Even though there wasn’t direct evidence
that Hill had in fact committed the crime, he was found guilty. Hill was sent to prison, and ultimately executed by a firing squad. Then when IWW got news of wage cuts at a Mill they took action. Mill workers could no longer afford feed their families, to make matters worse it was mid winter. Soon thousands of workers got up and began a strike. In response IWW organized mass, meetings, parades, and set up soup kitchens for the striking workers. The local mayor was less then pleased with these actions and called for militia backup. The governor responded by sending out, out of sate police who attacked parades causing day long riots. By the end of the night a striker was shot and killed supposedly by a policeman. The authorities however, framed and arrested IWW organizer Joseph Ettor. As seen in previous patterns extreme violence again soon broke out.