100th anniversary of the Wobblies
This year is the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), otherwise known as the Wobblies, in the United States. The IWW was founded in Chicago in 1905 at a convention of 200 socialists, anarchists and radical trade unionists from all over the US, who were opposed to the policies of the mainstream American Federation of Labour (AFL). The first IWW leaders included Bill Haywood, Daniel De Leon, Eugene Debs, Mary Harris Jones (commonly known as “Mother Jones”), Vincent Saint John and many others. The IWW was differentiated by its promotion of industrial...