Posts

5000 Years of Class Struggle

One of the IWW’s most famous slogans is “We Never Forget.” But sometimes, we do forget. Or, more accurately, we are made to forget. Erasing information and history has long been a tool of the ruling classes. It’s part of their war on the workers’ minds; they try to erase all evidence that human society … Continue reading 5000 Years of Class Struggle

Labor News for September 2019

The law firm Simpson, Thacher, and Bartlett has represented just about every major company in the US at one time or another including Facebook, GM, and Google. Now one of their recently retired partners, Jamie Gamble, has had a brainstorm. Mr. Gamble has come to the conclusion that corporate executives are "legally obligated to act … Continue reading Labor News for September 2019

Think it Over

The following was written by Tim Acott a member of the Portland, Oregon IWW. Solidarity Working people have only one real option in today’s economy. We have to resist, with all our might, the big-business program of further and deeper poverty for working people. For the first time in modern history, profits are going up … Continue reading Think it Over

Worker Management is the Only Ethically Justified Management

By Maria Garcia The only way to ensure the economy works for the majority of the people is to allow the people to manage the economy democratically. We in the IWW believe this is what unions are for: Gaining democratic control of the economy by gaining democratic control of the individual workplaces that make up … Continue reading Worker Management is the Only Ethically Justified Management

Let’s Roll: An RPG Guide to Organizing Characters

In a roleplaying game, we get to choose the kind of character we want to be, like a fighter, a mage, or a bard. We decide our character’s defining traits. And we get to work with other players to decide on the makeup of our party--­­characters who are good at lockpicking, healing, stealth, combat. We … Continue reading Let’s Roll: An RPG Guide to Organizing Characters

Game Industry Campaign Postmortem

This is the story of my first attempt at organizing in the game industry. Ultimately, it was a failed attempt. No direct action was taken and we never went public. But things were tried that worked and didn’t work, and I’d like to pass those lessons along. This story starts in the spring of 2018 … Continue reading Game Industry Campaign Postmortem

An Interview with Heather Mayer

By Hannah Hopkins Heather Mayer is an instructor of History at Portland Community College and a scholar of American social justice movements. She received a PhD from Simon Fraser University. Her book Beyond the Rebel Girl: Women and the Industrial Workers of the World in the Pacific Northwest, 1905-1924, published by Oregon State University Press … Continue reading An Interview with Heather Mayer

Notes from the Field

By James Smith The United Auto Workers have been trying for years to crack the notoriously anti-union South by organizing at a Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee. In 2014, after a ridiculously strong and blatantly illegal anti-union campaign which saw the participation of federal and local politicians, the UAW narrowly lost a union election. Afterward, … Continue reading Notes from the Field