International Woodworkers of America (IWA) was an

industrial union Industrial unionism is a trade union organizing method through which all workers in the same industry are organized into the same union, regardless of skill or trade, thus giving workers in one industry, or in all industries, more leverage in ...

of lumbermen, sawmill workers, timber transportation workers and others formed in 1937.

History

The IWA was formed when members of the Sawmill and Timber Workers’ Union division of the

United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America The United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, often simply the United Brotherhood of Carpenters (UBC), was formed in 1881 by Peter J. McGuire and Gustav Luebkert. It has become one of the largest trade unions in the United State ...

voted to disaffiliate their local unions and form their own union. The IWA subsequently affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO). The IWA quickly moved into

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, where it absorbed a number of smaller unions which had formed in the 1930s, and the

Lumber Workers Industrial Union The Lumber Workers' Industrial Union (LWIU) was a labor union in the United States and Canada which existed between 1917 and 1924. It organised workers in the timber industry and was affiliated with the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). H ...

, one of the industrial unions 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 ...

. Harold Pritchett was elected president. A successful

strike Strike may refer to: People * Strike (surname) Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm *Airstrike, military strike by air forces on either a suspected ...

and organizing drive in 1946 established the IWA as western Canada's largest union, a position that it has generally held since then. The union entered Newfoundland in 1956, but was expelled in 1959 after the

Newfoundland Loggers' Strike The Newfoundland Loggers' Strike was a labor strike in 1958. The strike, led by the International Woodworkers of America (IWA), concerned loggers who campaigned for improved labor and living conditions in logging camps. The strike was unsuccessful ...

. The IWA was staunchly Democratic, and avoided

left-wing politics Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soc ...

throughout its history. Most of its members lived and worked in the American and Canadian West. Its membership reached as high as 115,000 in the early 1970s. In the 1980s, raids, mergers and

anti-union Union busting is a range of activities undertaken to disrupt or prevent the formation of trade unions or their attempts to grow their membership in a workplace. Union busting tactics can refer to both legal and illegal activities, and can range ...

actions by employers decimated the IWA's membership. The burgeoning

environmental movement The environmental movement (sometimes referred to as the ecology movement), also including conservation and green politics, is a diverse philosophical, social, and political movement for addressing environmental issues. Environmentalists a ...

also restricted access to

public lands In all modern states, a portion of land is held by central or local governments. This is called public land, state land, or Crown land (Australia, and Canada). The system of tenure of public land, and the terminology used, varies between countrie ...

, where most

old-growth An old-growth forestalso termed primary forest, virgin forest, late seral forest, primeval forest, or first-growth forestis a forest that has attained great age without significant disturbance, and thereby exhibits unique ecological feature ...

timber existed. As the timber industry lost access to public land, timber companies shed thousands of jobs as well. In 1987, the Canadian branch of the IWA separated from union, retaining the IWA initials but with the new name Industrial, Wood and Allied Workers of Canada (IWA Canada). By 1994, the remainder of the U.S.-based IWA had just over 20,000 members. The IWA leadership felt the union was no longer viable on its own, and the IWA merged with the

International Association of Machinists The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) is an AFL–CIO/ CLC trade union representing approx. 646,933 workers as of 2006 in more than 200 industries with most of its membership in the United States and Canada. Or ...

(IAM) on May 1, 1994. Today, the IWA is the Woodworking Department of the IAM. IWA Canada remained an independent Canadian union until 2004, when it merged with the

United Steelworkers The United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union, commonly known as the United Steelworkers (USW), is a general trade union with members across North America. Headquar ...

Presidents

:1937: Harold Pritchett :1940: O. M. Orton :1941: Worth Lowery :1943: Claude Ballard :1944: J. E. Fadling :1951: Al Hartung :1967: Ronald F. Roley :1970s: Keith W. Johnson :1980s: Bill Hubbell

References

*Christie, Robert. ''Empire in Wood: A History of the Carpenters' Union.'' Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1956. *Deibler, Frederick Shipp. ''The Amalgamated Wood Workers' International Union of America.'' Madison, Wisc.: University of Wisconsin, 1912. *Lembcke, Jerry and Tattam, William M. ''One Union in Wood: A Political History of the International Woodworkers of America.'' Madeira Park, British Columbia: Harbour Publishing, 1983.

External links

Woodworking Department of the IAMUnited Steelworkers Canadian Wood Division

Timber Worker (1936-1942)
and th
International Woodworker(1942-1987)
from

the Labor Press Project The Labor Press Project: Pacific Northwest Labor and Radical Newspapers is a multimedia website housing thousands of digitized articles and editions from the late 19th century to the present. Newspapers and newsletters from unions, early sociali ...

History

Presidents

See also

References

External links

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