Central Washington University

Where the Wobblies Came From and Where They Are

Tyler Evans
History 481
5/12/2023
Word Count: 3,189
 “Look…are you a citizen?” “No, I am an industrial worker of the world!”1 Words that

couldn’t ring more true when regarding the mindset and core values that the I.W.W., The

International Workers of the World, or at least the values brought together when forming the

labor and union organizing group. As appearances indicate, those as members of the I.W.W. held

strong core values to their belief with socialist influences which was often described as “radical”

by many of the differing politicians, bosses and even other workers unwilling to cooperate to the

tune of the “Wobblies”. It is important to acknowledge why this group existed in the first place,

something to consider when evaluating the I.W.W. is what brought the group together. What

indefinite cause did they have that rallied so many in the American public against their cause,

going so far as Eugene V. Debs, one of the founders of the I.W.W. being referred to as a “Traitor

to his country”, by President Woodrow Wilson?2 Was it the labor movement itself that was

doomed to fail by the 1920’s? Or is there potentially a greater narrative to look at that is the

reason why the 1910’s saw such aggressive movements made by the United States government

in putting these same people down who were fighting for change.

Regarding much of what is understood about the early development of the I.W.W. and its

initial group of “founding fathers'' is something that should squarely be put up to question in

terms of whether it was true radicalization or echoes of the industrialization that had come to

America in the late 19th century. One of the considerations for this would be the birth of

Communism and the Socialist ideals that the I.W.W. firmly has planted its own heels into

collectively. Karl Marx and his own teachings can be labeled as a product of the era he had come

1 Shaffer, Deborah. The Wobblies, Documentary. “Solidarity! All For One and One For All!”
(1989).

2 Morgan, H. Wayne. “The Utopia of Eugene V. Debs.” American Quarterly 11, no. 2 (1989):
120–35.
from; Assuming that the rampant industrialization that had dominated European life during his

own would eventually end with the working class seizing the means of production from the

bosses that had held such a large part of the worker’s profit. A major shift seen within this period

of American industrialization in the late 19th century is the further increased susceptibility that

many had to ideology during this time. As while globalization was at an all time high, global

feelings and tensions are equally as apparent. Many workers find themselves put at risk by the

industrial jobs that they now work in. With a growing volume of workers in accordance to the

growth of industry, the U.S. has suddenly gained a surplus of workers over a few decades of

unnatural growth, meaning that the same people at risk are the same who get paid the least in a

period of heavily capitalized labor. While the I.W.W. later had fought for ideas such as the 8

hour work week, or women’s suffrage, the ten or 12 hour work week along with the equal rights

act weren’t even concepts being discussed in government. While the idea of creating a commune

has been expanded upon and reshaped to a multitude of different uses by means of harmonizing a

group of people together, whether it be infamous political leaders like Joseph Stalin or the

humble bum trying to get by such as Joe Hill. The I.W.W. in seeking this purpose has tried to

cut across both ethnic and racial ties in terms of the working class.

In a quote from Deborah Schaffer about the State of industrial working conditions during the

early 19th century:

“It was a different time for labor in the United States, the textile mills were booming, The lumber

mills were booming and the cotton gins were booming. Workers were expected to be on 12 hour
shifts at these mills with no breaks or even lunch. Children were working in these places, there

was a need for a group like the I.W.W. for many workers”3

In Chicago 1905, the I.W.W. had its foundation set in stone by rising concerns and needs of the

working class during this time. Its leadership saw a sudden spur away from an already existing

major union in the United States, the A.F.L. or American Federation of Labor.4 Those founding

the I.W.W. in proclaiming the group as an alternative to this pre-established union did so in

attempting to cross any kind of ties in order to satisfy their organization’s purpose; To make a

union that was internationally connected, moving past the barrier of a country’s borders. It did

not matter in terms of ethnicity, creed or whatever background the worker had come from, man

or woman, an opportunity would be offered to those looking to try and improve their own life.

Even the term “Wobbly” is a byproduct of the I.W.W.’s own foundations, a term used to refer to

members of the union, the origins of which are traced back to a newly joined immigrant worker

struggling to say “I.W.W.” because of a heavy accent and the term “Wobbly” sticking after as a

term of endearment.5 This was something in direct opposition to the A.F.L’s policy of only

maintaining skilled workers within their union, something that would later spark debate and

conflict between the groups as the I.W.W. would attempt to rally their own influence in hundreds

of different towns and cities with the explosive growth seen within the earlier years of

recruitment. The group itself had over “900 different unions” ranging all the way from where

their group was founded in Chicago, to South Africa by 1910.6

3 Cole, Peter, David Struthers, and Kenyon Zimmer, eds. Wobblies of the World: A Global
History of the IWW. Pluto Press, 2017. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt1vz4973.
4 Pendrell, Ernest, 1981. A Time of Challenge, Documentary. “AFL-CIO”
5 Pendrell, Ernest, 1981. A Time of Challenge, Documentary. “AFL-CIO”
6 Cole, Peter, David Struthers, and Kenyon Zimmer, eds. Wobblies of the World: A Global
History of the IWW. Pluto Press, 2017. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt1vz4973.
 The group’s size in terms of their means of rallying against unfair wages and working

conditions was one of their points of early success seen throughout much of their chapters in the

United States, part of this early success lends itself to how well the organization was able to

connect to workers but is also most likely part of the reason they had become a target of the

government later under the 1917 Espionage act. The I.W.W. as a group up to this point had been

relying on “collective bargaining” a strategy in which the I.W.W. would attempt to barter with

the owner of a mill or business in order to allow more union presence, and ultimately more room

for worker’s rights. In terms of the I.W.W., an “attack on one is an attack on all”, which is

something that visually becomes apparent with this method as a call by the I.W.W. would

typically mean a call of hundreds suddenly funneling into the town or area of whatever business

owner was the target of their ire. One of the other frequent events that would occur due to the

mass migrations of “Wobblies” would be their skirmishes with the A.F.L., who would notably

support the other side of whatever group or person that the I.W.W. had come to represent.7

Unfortunately the I.W.W. in many circumstances would often struggle to actually hold

their gains in a given town. While many of their protests would see some kind of response,

maintaining a presence or establishing lasting influence in the same town would be something

harder to do regarding the tactics applied with the “direct action” approach that I.W.W.

philosophy held. Some of their first major strikes that had garnered attention, such as Yakima,

are key to showing the relatively small gains made within Yakima; Being that of re-allowed

public organization following several different speeches given on the mainstreet of town. While

relatively little was lost to this particular effort, the size of the group notably smaller as this

7 Tomlins, Christopher L. “AFL Unions: Their Performance in Historical Perspective.” The

Journal of American History 65, no. 5 (1991): 1034–42.
helped them gain some notoriety later.8 Unfortunately as it should be noted, many I.W.W.

members died because of the sorts of tactics fueled by the group. Even in the last instance two

men from the I.W.W. fell ill and died shortly after their time in jail due to the poor conditions

they had been left in. Before even WW1 had come along and put a drastically higher amount of

pressure on the I.W.W., some of the cracks within the organization had begun to show because

of this. In 1912, a schism between two of the founding heads came to disagreement over terms of

how the group should be run. One of these heads happened to be Eugene V. Debs, a member of

the socialist party and four time running candidate for the presidential office by this point in his

life; His opposition came from “Big Bill” or Bill Heywood, who many within the socialist party

had already put under harsh scrutiny in terms of whether he should be kept within the party

(Bekken, 2007).9 This primarily came from Bill’s own support of industry through his own

means, typically through violence. The split would come soon, as growing resentment between

his own method of running the I.W.W. began to be too loud for the other members to bear. Bill

began discrediting some of the socialist ideals of “Wobblies” such as Eugene directly; This was

only the first step of a few that Bill took towards an apolitical stance for the I.W.W., attempting

to move the group away from the same kind of politics that had begun to become more

synonymous with being radical. Which the Socialist Party didn’t take to, Thus Bill being taken

off of the Socialist party for an extended period before eventually being recalled, still a notable

member of the labor movement with support. The “Wobblies'' attempted to take a dive into

apolitical means completely, which saw the reuse of “direct action” tactics and Eugene leaving

with a large portion of the I.W.W.’s membership; while statistics are hard to keep track of in

8 Jon, Bekken. “The Industrial Workers of the World at 100.” Perspectives on Work 10, no. 2
(2007): 39–41. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23272130.
9 Jon, Bekken. “The Industrial Workers of the World at 100.” Perspectives on Work 10, no. 2
(2007): 39–41. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23272130.
terms of I.W.W. membership because of how quickly people would join and then leave the

group, there are varying sources that allow extra insight with some of the major headcounts that

are given. With this massive flux in membership in view, an internal report given in 1913 helps

indicate how much the I.W.W. is struggling in maintaining its own ranks by the inorganic means

in which it attempts rallying and protests. Membership during this time did most likely not

exceed 1,600, something that was a far cry from the 10,000 they claimed in membership.10

One of the core tenets of the I.W.W. weakening should be admitted in the clear

association of the group with their openly socialist standing in the U.S.. Influenced or not by

industrialization and growing labor concerns associated with it, the I.W.W. found itself in hot

water following the 1910’s as war would eventually come to the U.S., making an already uphill

battle for the I.W.W. seemingly impossible, a war that President Woodrow Wilson “kept us out

of” had gone headfirst into after his reelection in 1916.11

Despite wartime in the U.S. being backed by flagrant propaganda, demonizing the enemy

and glorifying the “diligent worker”, “Big Hill” still saw his means to make the industrial labor

movement present despite the otherwise silence seen by many labor groups during the war

period. The I.W.W. was the only major union within the United States to cry out against the war,

actively inciting further mass protests during this time to bloodier results.12

One of the most infamous of these skirmishes to leave a mark on the I.W.W. came from

the “Everett Massacre”, another “Bloody Sunday” in which a group of several hundred

10 Hoxie, R.F. “The Truth about the I.W.W.” Journal of Political Economy, Nov., 1913, Vol. 21,
No. 9 (Nov., 1913), pp. 785- 797 Published by: The University of Chicago Press.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/1819758
11 Flynn, E. (n.d.). Memories of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) - niu.edu.
https://www.niu.edu/~rfeurer/labor/PDF%20Files/Memories%20of%20the%20Rebel
%20Girl.pdf
12 Flynn, E. (n.d.). Memories of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) - niu.edu.
https://www.niu.edu/~rfeurer/labor/PDF%20Files/Memories%20of%20the%20Rebel
%20Girl.pdf
“Wobblies” or I.W.W. members coming to support a group of family owned businesses in

Everett. When news of this ran out, a local sheriff along with several groups of dockworkers and

hired “goons” were ready to meet the I.W.W. when they arrived by ferry. Supposedly the sheriff

asked “Where their leader was” and didn’t get a response. A shot soon rang out that led to a full

shootout in which two sheriff deputies had died, their “injuries not caused by I.W.W. gunfire”,

while 12 of the Wobblies had been killed, 20 more injured and several more being held in jail

after, which sparked heated counterattack from the I.W.W. 's own legal group, getting many of

them free. However, large incidents such as this, along with the already growing fear of the “Red

Scare”, caused by the Bolshevik Revolution only a year after the “Everett Massacre” furthered

growing backlash by the public eventually ended with President Wilson creating the Sedition

Act, which was used in large effect against I.W.W. members and others opposed to the war.13

The “Everett Massacre” itself can be considered a microcosm of how much resistance

was experienced by the group in terms of what kind of backlash would be experienced when the

group would attempt to organize by using means of “Direct Action” during wartime. Corrupt

sheriffs and paid off “goons” would even go as far as seeing support of the A.F.L., issues as such

began to grow more and more frequent during the war period because of some of these growing

sentiments held against the I.W.W.. the same group of people attempting to literally fight back

against those who they saw as greedy and corrupt coming back to directly have them pay. Much

of the Initial I.W.W. 's identity had been formed by 1916, a major point to consider in pursuing

where the group had come from, and how inevitably the prolonged negative attacks would

critically have them question their own identity. This was a turning point for the I.W.W. and the

general socialist public of the U.S. as a whole. As the war that had violently caused the upsurge

13 Johnson, Michael R. “The I.W.W. and Wilsonian Democracy.” Science & Society 28, no. 3
(1964): 257–74. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40401037.
in fear that caused the first “Red Scare” would only grow with time in the public consciousness.

Some of these lingering fears and hate were present even during the war as the Espionage act, an

intentional play by Woodrow Wilson to lower the anti-war movement, and to subsequently arrest

and deport progressives and others who spoke out against it.

Under the Espionage Act, it became a federal offense to obstruct military recruitment, encourage

disloyalty, or promote insubordination within the armed forces. The act was broadly worded,

giving the government wide latitude to interpret and enforce it. This allowed authorities to crack

down on various forms of dissent, including those from the labor movement. The government

used the Espionage Act to target and suppress the IWW. The act was employed to justify raids

on IWW offices, the arrest and prosecution of union leaders, and the disruption of their activities.

The authorities accused the IWW of obstructing the war effort, promoting anti-war sentiments,

and encouraging strikes that were deemed detrimental to national security. Thousands of IWW

members were arrested and charged under the Espionage Act. The government employed

aggressive tactics to dismantle the organization, using the act as a legal tool to curtail their

activities. Some IWW leaders, such as Eugene V. Debs, a prominent socialist and unionist, were

sentenced to prison under the act for speaking out against the war. The Espionage Act created a

climate of fear and intimidation, which had a chilling effect on the labor movement and the

IWW. The union's membership declined, and its organizing efforts were severely hampered. The

government's crackdown, combined with the Red Scare and anti-radical sentiments of the time,

further marginalized the IWW and other left-wing groups. In summary, the Espionage Act of

1917 provided a legal basis for the government to suppress the labor movement, including the

IWW, during World War I. It was used to justify arrests, prosecutions, and the disruption of

union activities, ultimately weakening the IWW and stifling their efforts to organize workers.
 The early days of the 20th century revealed America’s own need to progress past a point

of an increasingly outdated way of viewing their own commerce, wealth and general means of

obtaining as such. Groups like the I.W.W. eventually came out of the woodworks to effectively

try and answer an issue that had been plaguing the lives of everyday citizens for the majority of

many of their lives. Time was changing and many of the underprivileged and those who outright

found themselves without rights were given a group and a home that would accept them without

issue. While the I.W.W. did struggle in many of its earlier years, many finding new kinds of pain

when trying to make their own change, they preserved their legacy for others to remember, and

in truth there is a reason they are still around, their message still reaches people. While they may

not be the same rambunctious group of ruffians once made out to be, they still attempt to make

political change, and more importantly attempt to work towards their goal of an international

union of workers unhindered by borders today.

 Bibliography

Primary Sources:

Jon, Bekken. “The Industrial Workers of the World at 100.” Perspectives on Work 10, no. 2
(2007): 39–41. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23272130.

Flynn, E. (n.d.). Memories of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) - niu.edu.
https://www.niu.edu/~rfeurer/labor/PDF%20Files/Memories%20of%20the%20Rebel
%20Girl.pdf

International workers of the world. (n.d.). Lumber workers - you need organization! Lumber
Workers - You Need Organization! | Industrial Workers of the World.

Pinsolle, Dominique, and Jesse Cohn. “Sabotage, the IWW, and Repression: How the American
Reinterpretation of a French Concept Gave Rise to a New International Conception of
Sabotage.” In Wobblies of the World: A Global History of the IWW, edited by Peter Cole, David
Struthers, and Kenyon Zimmer, 44–58. Pluto Press, 2017. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt1vz4973.6.

Pendrell, Ernest, 1981. A Time of Challenge, Documentary. “AFL-CIO”

Johnson, Michael R. “The I.W.W. and Wilsonian Democracy.” Science & Society 28, no. 3
(1964): 257–74. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40401037.

Shaffer, Deborah. The Wobblies, Documentary. “Solidarity! All For One and One For All!”
(1989).

Tomlins, Christopher L. “AFL Unions: Their Performance in Historical Perspective.” The

Journal of American History 65, no. 5 (1991): 1034–42.

Secondary Sources:

Cole, Peter, David Struthers, and Kenyon Zimmer, eds. Wobblies of the World: A Global History
of the IWW. Pluto Press, 2017. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt1vz4973.

Crutchfield, J. D. (Ed.). (n.d.). The I. W. W. - What it is and what it is not. The I. W. W. - What It
Is And What It Is Not | Industrial Workers of the World.
Hoxie, R.F. “The Truth about the I.W.W.” Journal of Political Economy, Nov., 1913, Vol. 21,
No. 9 (Nov., 1913), pp. 785- 797 Published by: The University of Chicago Press.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/1819758

Morgan, H. Wayne. “The Utopia of Eugene V. Debs.” American Quarterly 11, no. 2 (1989):
120–35.