The beginning of this video, is an audio narrative by Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, with images of her, as well as a quote of hers about women in the I.W.W. This Narrative is commonly used on recordings to introduce the song "The Rebel Girl" in which Joe Hill dedicated to Elezabeth Guley Flynn. The second part, is the song "The Rebel Girl" Writen by Joe Hill, and performed by Hazel Dickens. I have used images of women who were (or are) members of the IWW. Only two were "supporters" and not members of the I.W.W. (Emma Goldman and Charlotte Anita Whitney).

Here's some more from David Rovics, wobbly bard of the new workers movement.

Thanks to Brian L for sending me this.

Here's a classic radical song as song by David Rovics.

For those who are not in the know, David Rovics is an indie singer/songwriter and grassroots political protestor from the United States. His music is most accurately described as protest-folk and concerns topical subjects such as the 2003 Iraq war, anti-globalization and other social justice issues.

U. Utah Philips is the entire reason I a member of the North American anarcho-syndicalist union the Industrial Workers of the World. He is a great influence in my life and an inspiration.

Amy Goodman interviews Utah Phillips for Democracy Now! in 2004. Utah explains how he got the name "U. Utah", the history of war resistance, and the Wobblies.

Here's another interview, with Bruce, an IWW delegate to the curbside workers union.
Bruce describes duties as IWW delegate to curbside, and makes some brief comments on the labor movement in general.

Here is an interview with a member of the IWW from the San Fransisco branch, taken at the SanFran Anarchist Bookfair.

You ain't been doin' nothin' 'till you been called a red!

This is an old anti-IWW cartoon from the 1920s.

Sorry that this is a day late. I have a super busy day yesterday, with work and school dominating my time.

Baristas at the Mall of America Starbucks joined the Starbucks Workers Union in July 2008. Starbucks fired Barista Erik Forman in an effort to quash the union drive. Through a campaign of direct action, legal pressure, and media advocacy, we won Erik's job back. On August 31st, the IWW held a rally to celebrate the union victory. After the rally, union supporters accompanied Erik Forman to his first shift back at the Mall of America. I've met Fellow Worker Erik Forman, he's a super nice guy.

Things did not go as planned.

When workers at Starbucks Coffee in New York decided to unionize with the Industrial Workers of the World, baristas in other cities took notice. From Chicago, to the Twin Cities, and now, here in Canada, Baristas in a Quebec city Starbucks have joined with I.W.W. Starbucks Workers Union to fight for better conditions in there work place.

In this episode of Labor Beat, food service workers at Chicago's Logan Square location of Starbucks are interviewed about the high-volume conditions at their store and what they decided to do about it. Labor Beat is a public access TV show in Chicago.

To order DVDs of this or any past Labor Beat title, visit www.laborbeat.org.

Andrew Nellis is an anarcho-syndicalist activist from Ontario. He is one of the lead organizers for the Ottawa Panhandlers Union. Denis Rancourt was a professor of Physics at the University of Ottawa, known for his radical pedagogy. This is a very good interview for Denis Rancourt's radio show The Five O'clock Train. Listen and enjoy!

Andrew Nellis Interviewed by Denis Rancourt for The Five O'clock Train.

This 1979 award-winning film airs a provocative look at the forgotten American history of this most radical of unions, screening the unforgettable and still-fiery voices of Wobbly members--lumberjacks, migratory workers, and silk weavers--in their 70s, 80s, and 90s. Eerily echoing current times, THE WOBBLIES boldly investigates a nation torn by naked corporate greed and the red-hot rift between the industrial masters and the rabble-rousing workers in the field and factory. Replete with gorgeous archival footage, the film pays tribute to American workers who took the ideals of equality and free speech seriously enough to die for them. Directed by Stewart Bird and Deborah Shaffer, THE WOBBLIES is a rare and challenging invitation to rethink both past and present through the eyes of an organization largely omitted from memory.

The Grand Rapids Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) held a May Day press conference outside the East Grand Rapids branch of Starbucks. The Press Conference was part of an ongoing campaign to get Starbucks to recognize the union's legal right to organize their workers. The Grand Rapids chapter of the IWW is part of a legal case along with another union in New York that has been challenging Starbucks' anti-union practices.

The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) IU 460/640 marches on HWH Trading, a new shop where workers have joined the union. At HWH some workers work as much as 110-117 hours per week with no overtime pay.

Bruce "Utah" Phillips was a labor organizer, folk singer, storyteller, poet and the "Golden Voice of the Great Southwest". He is a great inspiration to my life. I saw Utah Phillips at the 2004 Winnipeg Folk Festival. I went to every workshop and show he played at. If it weren't for that Festival, I wouldn't have never seeked out the I.W.W. and, as such, would have never been introduced to anarchism.

Miner's Lullaby is one of my many favorite songs by Utah. I remember crying once while listening to this song, thinking about what it would be like if my wife was put into that kind of situation.

For two weeks in late-April and early-May four members of the Industrial Workers of the World traveled to Haiti to meet with labor leaders and document the plight of the Haitian working class.

The I.W.W. delegation met with members of The Confederation of Haitian Workers (CTH) to learn about their fight against "le plan neoliberal" and recruit help in the form of material aid and solidarity. Haiti's Tourniquet is the film that came out of that delegation.

Check out the International Solidarity Commission of the IWW for more on Haiti and other international campigns.

here are two videos from the recent contract negotiations between IWW curbside recycle workers at Ecology Center / Berkeley Curbside Recycling and there management. Without the pressure on the shop floor, our Fellow Workers would have not gotten anything.

In the end, faced with a possible strike, the EC backed down and agreed to the $1.00 raise across the board, along with the other improvements. This is still a long way away from what is really needed, and the EC continues with the same game that any employer plays - that "the money isn't there" - while refusing to document this. Nevertheless, IWW members should be proud that ours is not a union that accepts management's word for what is "affordable" and what isn't. While this raise (along with the 401k improvement) is not as much as the workers deserve, I do think it's probably more than lots of other unions contracts are winning nowadays. This is because we start from the position of the workers' needs, not those of the bosses.

This is a short video out of New York, taken at the Coney Island Mermaid Parade in 2007. The Mermaid Parade takes place every year by the sea in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City, usually in mid-to-late June.

This is the kind of things I would like all Wobs to get involved in. The IWW is historically a lively, singing union. Instead of tiered old protest marches or walking the picket that seem more like funeral processions then anything that could effectively challenge authority, wobs should bring some life back into the radical movement. Strikes become street party, joyous events where we are taking back a peice of our life and fighting back!

Enjoy!

I don't know how many folks are out there reading this, but if there is anyone out there reading, I'm asking for a little help.

I am looking for an English language version of Fury Over Spain, directed by an American anarchist named Luis Frank. I can liberate from the internet an Italian language version, but I would prefer to post an English version as well.

If anyone would have a digital copy of an English Fury Over Spain, please send me an email at: transconaslim@hotmail.com.

I am a paid up and proud member of the anarcho-syndicalist union the Industrial Workers of the World (also known as the Wobblies). Around the world, the IWW is working hard, organizing the unorganized and ignored, and within established, conservative unions in hopes of creating a broad, revolutionary workers movement.

One of the most inspiring campaigns put on by the IWW is the struggle to organize Barristas in starbucks stores across the U.S. With over 300 members nationwide, the IWW Starbucks Workers Union is a grassroots organization of and for baristas coming together for change.

One of the biggest strengths of the SWU is its use of the media and the internet to publicize their actions. Together We Win: The Fight to Organize Starbucks is a documentary by the SWU documenting the struggles and victories in the two year campaign in NYC.