A short history of the 'wobblies' -- the Industrial Workers of the

Daily Record, The (Baltimore), Jan 24, 2007 by Ben Mook

In 1905, a collection of prominent radical labor rights activists -- including future socialist presidential candidate Eugene V. Debs, ACLU co-founder Elizabeth Gurley Flynn and famed labor activist Mary Harris "Mother" Jones -- formed the Industrial Workers of the World.

Known by its acronym IWW, and later by the nickname "wobblies," the union's membership listed counted a number of anarchists, socialists and communists. According to a history of the IWW written in 2005 by IWW former General Secretary-Treasurer Harry Siitonen the union's other founders included: "Big Bill" Haywood, Daniel De Leon, Thomas J. Hagerty, Lucy Parsons, William Trautmann, Vincent Saint John, and Ralph Chaplin.

In the first few years of the union, notable strikes included ones at American Locomotive and at the Pressed Steel Car Company in McKees Rock, Pa. According to the IWW chronology on the union's Web site, the early years also saw the first mentions of radical activities like sabotage that later helped to splinter the group.

Mari B. Tonn, an associate professor in the communication department at University of Maryland, College Park wrote her doctoral thesis on one of the founders of the wobblies - Mary Harris Jones, better known as Mother Jones. Tonn said the union has always had a history of radicalism and leftist ideology.

"They were the most radical wing of the organized labor movement," she said. "They were a powerful organization also in the sense they were more provocative in the things they were asking for."

Tonn said one founder who did not initially shy away from radical approaches was another controversial figure in wobblies history, co- founder Elizabeth Gurley Flynn.

Flynn, who was also a founding member of the American Civil Liberties Union. Flynn wrote an essay condoning the use of sabotage as an effective tool in the labor struggle. Tonn said such controversies tended to drive away members and leaders like Mother Jones who was at odds with some of the tactics used.

"The wobblies were controversial even to those who were sympathetic to their cause," Tonn said. The union eventually fractured over differences in approaches coupled with strong government crackdowns on "seditious" activities. A number of IWW members and founders faced jail or deportation during the heaviest crackdowns as the U.S. contemplated entering World War I.

After that, Siitonen said the organization's membership rebounded some and hit its peak in 1923. Then 100,000-strong, Siitonen said, the IWW shed 90,000 members over the next seven years due to ideological splits. Today, the union membership stands around 2,000 according to current General Secretary-General Mark Damron.

In 2004, IWW launched the Starbucks Workers Union targeted at organizing coffee servers, or baristas. By 2006, the union claimed public announcements of union membership at Starbucks locations in New York City, Chicago, and most recently, in Rockville.