The ''Industrial Worker'', "the voice of revolutionary industrial unionism", is the magazine of the

Industrial Workers of the World The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), members of which are commonly termed "Wobblies", is an international labor union that was founded in Chicago in 1905. The origin of the nickname "Wobblies" is uncertain. IWW ideology combines general ...

(IWW). It is currently released quarterly. The publication is printed and edited by union labor, and is frequently distributed at radical bookstores, demonstrations, strikes and labor rallies. It covers industrial conditions, strikes, workplace organizing experiences, and features on

labor history Labor history or labour history is a sub-discipline of social history which specialises on the history of the working classes and the labor movement. Labor historians may concern themselves with issues of gender, race, ethnicity, and other fac ...

. It used to be released as a newspaper. Pyramid of Capitalist System

The newspaper was first printed in journal format in

Joliet, Illinois Joliet ( ) is a city in Will and Kendall counties in the U.S. state of Illinois, southwest of Chicago. It is the county seat of Will County. At the 2020 census, the city was the third-largest in Illinois, with a population of 150,362. His ...

, beginning in January 1906, incorporating ''The Voice of Labor'', the newspaper from the former

American Labor Union The American Labor Union (ALU) was a radical labor organization launched as the Western Labor Union (WLU) in 1898. The organization was established by the Western Federation of Miners (WFM) in an effort to build a federation of trade unions in th ...

which had joined the IWW, and ''International Metal Worker''. It was edited by A. S. Edwards, and early contributors include Eugene V. Debs,

Jack London John Griffith Chaney (January 12, 1876 – November 22, 1916), better known as Jack London, was an American novelist, journalist and activist. A pioneer of commercial fiction and American magazines, he was one of the first American authors to ...

Daniel DeLeon Daniel De Leon (; December 14, 1852 – May 11, 1914), alternatively spelt Daniel de León, was a Curaçaoan-American socialist newspaper editor, politician, Marxist theoretician (Marxism), theoretician, and trade union organizer. He is regar ...

Bill Haywood William Dudley "Big Bill" Haywood (February 4, 1869 – May 18, 1928) was an American labor organizer and founding member and leader of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) and a member of the executive committee of the Socialist Party of A ...

, and James H. Walsh, along with poetry by Covington Hall. When the group led by ousted President

Charles O. Sherman Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was " ...

retained physical control over the paper after the union's 1906 Convention, and continued publication under that name for a few months (before giving up the ghost), the IWW instead issued the ''

Industrial Union Bulletin The ''Industrial Union Bulletin'' was a newspaper published by the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), a labor union. During a 1906 split of the IWW into two groups, each claiming legitimacy as the real IWW, one group headed by former Preside ...

'' for several years. A.S. Edwards was elected editor of the ''Bulletin'' in 1906. Paul Frederick Brissenden, ''The I.W.W. A Study of American Syndicalism'', Columbia University, 1919, page 176 The second series of the ''Industrial Worker'' commenced in 1909 in

Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the ...

, and has continued to this day, with only one major interruption, during the period of 1913–1916. In the early years, it was printed weekly and mainly circulated west of the

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

, while the IWW's "Official Eastern Organ" was ''

Solidarity ''Solidarity'' is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. It is based on class collaboration.''Merriam Webster'', http://www.merriam-webster.com/dicti ...

'' published in New Castle, Pennsylvania, and later,

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the United States, U.S. U.S. state, state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along ...

, which continued until it merged with the ''Industrial Worker'' in Chicago in the 1930s. The Spokane paper was the birthplace of the

comic strip A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics ter ...

character Mr. Block, later commemorated in a Joe Hill song. The ''Industrial Worker'' usually ran four pages, with an annual eight page

May Day May Day is a European festival of ancient origins marking the beginning of summer, usually celebrated on 1 May, around halfway between the spring equinox and summer solstice. Festivities may also be held the night before, known as May Eve. Tr ...

issue reflecting on gains of the labor movement in the previous year. Circulation fell off due to the repression of the IWW during and after the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, reflecting a decline in the influence of radical unionism more generally. The position of IW editor is decided every two years via IWW referendum. Recent editors have included Jon Bekken, Peter Moore, Diane Krauthamer, and Roberta McNair. Currently, the publication is edited by a committee. IWW members and working class folks are encouraged to submit articles for publication. Issues of the ''Industrial Worker'' are often available on

microfilm Microforms are scaled-down reproductions of documents, typically either films or paper, made for the purposes of transmission, storage, reading, and printing. Microform images are commonly reduced to about 4% or of the original document size. ...

at university libraries and other research oriented facilities, and they contain a wealth of information on world view of the

wobblies The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), members of which are commonly termed "Wobblies", is an international labor union that was founded in Chicago in 1905. The origin of the nickname "Wobblies" is uncertain. IWW ideology combines general ...

over the past century.

References

External links

*
A detailed study of the ''Industrial Worker'' from 1909-1930, including images
from The Labor Press Project
IWW Newspapers 1906-1946 (maps)
Maps of newspapers affiliated with the IWW, with information about language, founding period, and duration. {{Authority control Industrial Workers of the World publications National newspapers published in the United States Magazines established in 1906 1906 establishments in Illinois

See also

References

External links