Industrial Workers of the World

Examples of Industrial Workers of the World in the following topics:

• The Wobblies

  • The Industrial Workers of the World promoted industrial unionism with the goal of abolishing the wage system through general strikes.
  • The Industrial Workers of the World, also known as the IWW, or the Wobblies, is an international union .
  • They are known for the Wobbly Shop model of workplace democracy , in which workers elect their managers and other forms of grassroots democracy ( self-management ) are implemented.
  • The Wobblies' motto was " an injury to one is an injury to all ", which improved upon the 19th century Knights of Labor 's creed, "an injury to one is the concern of all. " In particular, the IWW was organized because of the belief among many unionists, socialists, anarchists and radicals that the AFL not only had failed to effectively organize the U.S. working class, as only about 5% of all workers belonged to unions in 1905, but also that it was organizing according to narrow craft principles which divided groups of workers.
  • The IWW emphasized rank-and-file organization, as opposed to empowering leaders who would bargain with employers on behalf of workers.

• Industrialization and the Graying of the Globe

  • Industrialization has contributed to the growth of the older age population due to the technological advances that have come with it.
  • The United Kingdom began an Industrial Revolution in the mid-eighteenth century due to the availability of land, labor, and investment capital.
  • Most Western countries industrialized by the nineteenth century but the Industrial Revolution is still occurring around the world.
  • All over the world, people are living longer than ever before.
  • However, while the trend of a growing older population appears the world over, people in industrialized nations are older than people in non-industrialized nations.

• Industrial Work

  • Industrial labor includes factory workers, but it may also include service workers, such as cleaners and cooks.
  • The term "blue collar" refers to the type of clothing often worn by industrial workers.
  • Industrial and manual workers often wear durable canvas or cotton clothing that may be soiled during the course of their work.
  • This clip from CNN shows the development of a new type of blue-collar worker in South Carolina.
  • Discuss the impact of the Industrial Revolution on workers and the shift from small scale to large scale workforces

• The Second Industrial Revolution

  • Though a number of its characteristic events can be traced to earlier innovations in manufacturing, such as the invention of the Bessemer process in 1856, the Second Industrial Revolution is generally dated between 1870 and 1914 up to the start of World War I.
  • This synergy led to the laying of 75,000 miles of track in the United States in the 1880s, the largest amount anywhere in world history.
  • In some cases, the advancement of such mechanization substituted for low-skilled workers altogether.
  • Both the number of unskilled and skilled workers increased, as their wage rates grew.
  • The Second Industrial Revolution continued into the twentieth century with early factory electrification and the production line, and ended at the start of the World War I.

• A New Direction for Unions

  • The New Deal and the economic growth during World War II greatly empowered American labor unions, which resulted in the dramatic increase of union membership.
  • One of the flagship legislative proposals of the First New Deal (1933-34/5) was the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA, June 1933).
  • After the defeat at the 1935 convention, Lewis gathered AFL's pro-industrial unionism  leaders and organized the Committee for Industrial Organization (CIO) to "encourage and promote organization of workers in the mass production industries."
  • The CIO transitioned into a rival federation of unions under the new name of the Congress of Industrial Organizations. 
  • The AFL's long history of the exclusion of immigrant workers, women workers, and workers of color gradually made the AFL out of touch with the realities of the American industrial labor.

• The Industrial Revolution

  • The Industrial Revolution, which reached the United States by the 1800s, strongly influenced social and economic conditions.
  • The Industrial Revolution was a global phenomenon marked by the transition to new manufacturing processes in the period from about 1760 to 1840.
  • The Industrial Revolution marked a major turning point in history.
  • In the two centuries following the 1800s, the world's average per capita income increased more than tenfold, while the world's population increased more than sixfold.
  • Wage workers formed their own society in industrial cities and mill villages, though lack of money and long working hours effectively prevented the working class from consuming the fruits of their labor, educating their children, or advancing up the economic ladder.

• Industrial Cities

  • Upton Sinclair's The Jungle chronicles the dangerous living conditions endured by immigrant factory workers in the early-1900s, a period of rapid urbanization in the U.S.
  • The growth of modern industry from the late 18th century onward led to massive urbanization and the rise of new, great cities, first in Europe, and then in other regions, as new opportunities brought huge numbers of migrants from rural communities into urban areas.
  • In 1800, only 3% of the world's population lived in cities.
  • Since the industrial era, that figure, as of the beginning of the 21st century, has risen to nearly 50%.
  • Living conditions during the Industrial Revolution varied from the splendor of the homes of the wealthy to the squalor of the workers.

• Education and the Professions

  • The U.S. had its highest economic growth in the last two decades of the Second Industrial Revolution.
  • The demand for skilled workers increased relative to the labor needs of the First Industrial Revolution.
  • The number of unskilled and skilled workers increased, as their wage rates grew.
  • At the end of the century, workers experienced the Second Industrial Revolution, which involved mass production, scientific management, and the rapid development of managerial skills.
  • These colleges laid the foundation of the world's pre-eminent educational infrastructure that supported the world's foremost technology-based economy.

• Industrial Conflict

  • Industrial sociology examines the effects of industrial organization on workers, and the conflicts that can result.
  • An example of a labor union is the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organization (AFL-CIO), whose constituent unions represent most American workers.
  • An example of a craft union was the American Federation of Labor before it merged with the Congress of Industrial Organization.
  • Industrial sociology examines the effects of labor markets, work organization, employment relations, managerial approaches, and other factors of inequality in society, and "the ways in which workers challenge, resist, and make their own contributions to the patterning of work and shaping of work institutions" (Watson, 2008).
  • Industrial unionism is a labor union organizing method through which all workers in the same industry are organized into the same union—regardless of skill or trade—thus giving workers in one industry, or in all industries, more leverage in bargaining and in strike situations.

• Introduction to Industrial and Organizational Psychology

  • Industrial and organizational psychology is the scientific study of employees, workplaces, and organizations.
  • In another research pursuit, Scott tried to make the marketplace and workplace more efficient through the rationalization of consumer and worker activities, especially by appealing to the self-interest of shoppers and laborers.
  • Industrial psychology began to gain prominence when Elton Mayo arrived in the United States in 1924.
  • Unlike Scott, Mayo was fascinated by the emotions and pathologies of workers rather than their efficiency.
  • This movement centered around the more complicated theories of motivation, the emotional world of the worker, job satisfaction, and interviews with workers.