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Definition: Industrial Workers of the World from The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide

Labour movement founded in Chicago, USA in 1905, and in Australia in 1907, the members of which were popularly known as the Wobblies. The IWW was dedicated to the overthrow of capitalism and the creation of a single union for workers, but divided on tactics.


Industrial Workers of the World

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
(IWW), revolutionary industrial union organized in Chicago in 1905 by delegates from the Western Federation of Mines, which formed the nucleus of the IWW, and 42 other labor organizations. It became the chief organization in the United States representing the doctrines of syndicalism . Leaders included Eugene V. Debs , William D. Haywood , and Daniel De Leon . Its members were called, among other nicknames, the Wobblies. The aim of the IWW was to unite in one body all skilled and unskilled workers for the purpose of overthrowing capitalism and rebuilding society on a socialistic basis. Its methods were direct action , propaganda, the boycott, and the strike; it was opposed to sabotage, to arbitration or collective bargaining, and to political affiliation and intervention. The organization spread to Canada and Australia and in a very small way to Europe, but its main activities were confined to the United States. It was especially strong in the lumber camps of the Northwest, among…
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Full text Article Industrial Workers of the World

From The Great American History Fact-Finder
Labor organization formed to unionize unskilled workers in the mining, lumbering, and textile industries during the early 1900s. Members of the union, called Wobblies, used boycotts and strikes in their effort to improve working conditions and gain higher wages. Formed in opposition to the American…
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Full text Article Industrial Workers of the World

From The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Business, Labor, and Economic History
Founded in Chicago in 1905, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), or Wobblies, counted its membership only in the tens of thousands even at its peak. However, from 1906 until the early 1930s, its combination of revolutionary unionism, tactical experimentation, racial inclusiveness, and cultural…
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Full text Article INDUSTRIAL WORKERS OF THE WORLD

From The Reader's Companion to American History
The Industrial Workers of the World ( iww , or Wobblies), a radical labor organization, was formed in June 1905 by a diverse lot of socialists and militant unionists, including William Haywood of the Western Federation of Miners, Eugene V. Debs, and Daniel De Leon. From the beginning, it was split…
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Full text Article Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)

From Encyclopedia of North American Immigration
Also known as: International Workers of the World; Wobblies Founded in 1905, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) was the most important of the radical labor organizations that operated in the United States and Canada. Many unskilled immigrants initially joined, then left as they became better…
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Radical labour organization founded in Chicago in 1905. The founders, who opposed the moderate policies of the AFL ( see AFL-CIO ), included William Haywood of the Western Federation of Miners, Daniel De Leon of the Socialist Labor Party, and Eugene V. Debs . In 1908 the IWW split, and a militant…
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Full text Article Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)

From Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History
The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) was a radical labor union founded in 1905 by the leaders of 43 labor organizations. The IWW pursued short-term goals via strikes and acts of sabotage with a long-term agenda of overthrowing capitalism and rebuilding society based on socialist principles. One…
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The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) was a U.S. workers’ movement that had a significant impact on organized labor during the first two decades of the 20th century. IWW members were commonly known as Wobblies (one story holds that this moniker came from the wobble saw used by lumberjacks). …
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(IWW), revolutionary industrial union organized in Chicago in 1905 by delegates from the Western Federation of Mines, which formed the nucleus of the IWW, and 42 other labor organizations. It became the chief organization in the United States representing the doctrines of syndicalism . Leaders…
| 449 words
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Full text Article Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)

From Chambers Dictionary of World History
US radical labour organization movement, whose members were known as Wobblies. An offshoot of the Western Federation of Miners, it was founded in 1905 by a group which opposed the craft unionism of the AFL and proposed instead a union of both skilled and unskilled workers. The movement was soon…
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Fellow Delegates and Comrades: As the preliminaries in organizing the convention have been disposed of, we will get down to the real work before this body …. In taking a survey of the industrial field of today, we are at once impressed with the total inadequacy of working-class organization, with…
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