The name ‘Wobbly’ lends to quite a few pun opportunities. One of the more ingenious of these can be found within the pages of the Industrial Pioneer, a monthly IWW publication that ran from 1921-1926. The Industrial Pioneer introduced a humor section, and labeled it ‘Wobbles’ – I’m sure the masterminds behind that were very […]
by X389468 It’s no secret that the IWW has seen better days. At one time, our membership was in the hundreds of thousands and we appeared to be on the verge of becoming the voice of “unskilled” labor. Vicious government repression over several years put an end to that, and instead we were forced to […]
This poem was written by Ralph Chaplain and published in the Industrial Pioneer in 1923. As a side note, the term used at the time for an escaping prisoner is “wildcat”. ❖❖❖ A man has fled…! We clutch the bars and wait;The corridors are empty, tense, and still;A silver mist has dimmed the distant hill;The guards […]
As of November 28, 1918, the Sacramento local of the IWW is for the most part languishing in jail. However, in typical IWW fashion their spirits remain unbroken and they continue to be problems for the law and for everyone within earshot. The Sacramento IWW in particular decided to employ a technique called “building a […]
The following are all summaries of articles that appeared in the Sacramento Bee: October 24, 1913 – A verbal fight breaks out between a socialist speaker and some “IWW elements” that apparently needed the presence of two police officers. It’s probably for the best that the panicked citizens of Sacramento lived before Twitter existed. July […]
“The W. W. I.” was a poem written by John Banks and appeared in the Industrial Pioneer in 1921. It was inspired by the harsh repression that the IWW faced in this era and is just as sharp as the bosses’ hatred for the IWW. ⯁⯁⯁ By reading the popular press I have found(And mind you, […]
A hundred years ago, a different Sacramento IWW local languished in the cells of the Sacramento County Jail awaiting federal trial for conspiracy against the United States. They were the victims of the First Red Scare (1919-1920), a seldom discussed event in US history that provided the precedent for the Red Scare of the 1950’s. […]
Sacramento IWW 