A Different Union - The IWW (an unofficial introduction)

If you think capitalism can be reformed, if you think bosses are ok, if you think that most unions act in the interests of their members, then you may be offended by the following words.

I’m a member of the IWW (Industrial Workers of The World). Australia got its first IWW branch in 1907. Traditionally, the IWW has organised many workers other unions have ignored - the low paid, the low-skilled and immigrants.

Members of the IWW believe that ordinary people and bosses have nothing in common and that capitalism must be replaced by direct democratic control of the workplace by workers and the community. The future we look forward to is one without politicians, bureaucrats or bosses, a future where we work to produce what we think we need, a future where the 40-hour week is a memory.

Unlike many other unions, the IWW thinks that ordinary people can run their affairs quite well. Any branch of the IWW makes its own decisions on what action it will take in the workplace. This means that union bosses cannot make sweet deals with capitalist bosses, leaving the workers high and dry.

Members of the IWW are not just numbers to be sold to Labor Party factions, nor do their dues pay the salaries of union officials who live in luxury. There is only one paid officer of the IWW, who is paid no more than the average member of the union. Union dues are low in comparison to other unions and encourages unemployed workers to be part of the IWW, because bosses like nothing better than to pit the unemployed against the employed.

Criticisms of other unions come from experience. Many IWW members are members of other unions. The IWW does not produce glossy leaflets which give members discounts at various businesses - such activities are a wast of time and money. The IWW is about fundamental change, not tinkering away at the edges. Unlike other unions, the IWW does not give membership to people who have the power to hire and fire. This means that ordinary workers do not have to fear upsetting the union hierarchy if they don’t like their manager.

Another important aspect of the IWW is that it does not believe in the artificial separation of unions. Such separation only allows the bosses and government to split workers, when action needs to be taken.

By organising people in terms of an industry (eg. the Education Industrial Union covers not only teachers but school groundsmen and school office employees), the IWW removes much of the snobbery that exists between unions and focuses attention on the issue of how to improve conditions and democracy in the workplace.

By combining industrial unions into One Big Union, IWW members know that they can expect help and support their fellow workers. Many unions spend too much time trying to get members of other unions to join their union, so that they can increase their power, while not doing anything for the average worker.

In the IWW members organise themselves, recognising that by organising in this way, people will lay the basis for a different society. Allowing union officials to do deals for us, is not in our short term or long term interest. Privatisation, competitive tendering, contracting with lowest labour costs are all decimating decades of hard won improved wages and conditions.

We must reject the part-time and casual work force being implemented by the bosses and demand full-time pay and a reduced work week. This campaign would be part of achieving the longer term goal of a world without capitalism. The IWW wants a world where technology is employed for the benefit of all, not for the few. With this in mind, the IWW looks to organise workers around the world, so that bosses cannot look to take their business elsewhere, where workers can be more easily exploited.

The IWW welcomes people of all ages, who want real change, who want a better world and are willing to work to achieve this. The IWW has contacts in every state and territory of Australia. If you’ve read this far, I’d like you to write to the following address to join up or get more information:

P.O. Box 152, Birdwood, SA 5234

Or, if you have internet access, you can check out our webpage