Wobblies are 100! Industrial Workers of the World celebrate centennial. By Nathaniel Miller, Straight Goods - Canada
The IWW was founded in Chicago in June 1905 at a convention of two hundred socialists, anarchists, and radical trade unionists from all over the United States (mainly the Western Federation of Miners) who were opposed to the policies of the American Federation of Labour.
Its first leaders included Big Bill Haywood, Daniel De Leon, Eugene V. Debs, Thomas J Haggerty, Lucy Parsons, Mary Harris Jones commonly known as 'Mother Jones', William Trautmann, Vincent Saint John, Ralph Chaplin, and many others. The IWW was differentiated by its promotion of industrial unionism (often confused with syndicalism), the acceptance of all skilled and unskilled workers and of immigrant workers. Many of its early members were first- and second-generation immigrants, some rising to prominence in the leadership like Carlo Tresca, Joe Hill and Mary Jones.