why the fuck is everyone wobblies now

[#FF0000]

for the past couple months it seems like hella people have been joining the iww. mostly people who i woudln't expect to join.

ffs i joined the iww too.

what the hell is going on guys

[Creative Destruction]

it's not the worst thing you could do. :laugh: i did some work for their newspaper last year.

[#FF0000]

it's not the worst thing you could do.

definitely not. i know someone who was split between joining the FRSO and the ISO

Still though I'm seeing people who are suddenly members and it's odd to me since I don't imagine they'd be supporters of syndicalism as a strategy.

Then again neither am I, so. :mellow:

[Creative Destruction]

i guess by just being sort of a councillist, i have syndicalist sympathies, but more than that the idea of "one big union" as a revolutionary mass organization is appealing.

also, this should probably be apart of the thread:

rAaWvVFERVA

[Ethics Gradient, Traitor For All Ages]

Some IWW branches are actually populated by sane humans which is a nice change of pace from pretty much any open membership leftist group in the us.

[bcbm]

i re-joined when some wobblies were trying to organize my workplace but the campaign didn't really get off the ground and i didn't find much appealing in the personalities or politics of the people involved so i stopped renewing my membership and attending meetings when things stalled out. i would guess more people are joining up for similar reasons (active campaigns) and i think people enjoy being part of something that feels like it has 'history' and authenticity

[Ethics Gradient, Traitor For All Ages]

What kind of workplace if you don't mind me asking?

[Sewer Socialist]

I joined the Wobs, ten years ago, when there was a huge organizing drive for my industry, bike messengers in Chicago. There was tons of momentum at first, and a successful strike, but it petered out, and I found myself the general secretary for a while until I found myself burned out like everyone else.

It's nice when people are actively organizing in your workplace, but the general membership branch seemed more like a social club. I guess that's okay, but I didn't get much out of it.

[o well this is ok I guess]

very few barriers to entry + usually the only game in town

while i was wob one of the wobs straight up admitted "the only reason we've got so many people is cuz they have nowhere else to go" and everyone just nodded and shrugged.
i was told that the wobs in new york are like 5 people, since everyones favourite brand is available

[Art Vandelay]

I talked politics with a wobbly one night, who I met in a bar in Toronto, who attempted to recruit me despite our political differences. He gave me contact info to some IWW folks here in Canada, but I never got in touch. I had thought about joining at the time - or at the very least getting in touch - since I had been in talks with some co-workers about attempting to organize (support workers get fucked over). I think most people - with an ostensibly radical tinge to their politics - join for practical purposes. That certainly would of been my reasoning, not cause I see the IWW as any sort of viable vehicle for revolutionary activity.

[Ceallach_the_Witch]

if I move to Liverpool i'm considering it because afaik there's an active branch there

[BIXX]

I am not a fan of the wobblies, not gonna join, ever. Fuck that shit.

[bcbm]

What kind of workplace if you don't mind me asking?

call center, sort of. they bit off way more than they could chew

[Ocean Seal]

for the past couple months it seems like hella people have been joining the iww. mostly people who i woudln't expect to join.

ffs i joined the iww too.

what the hell is going on guys
they're pretty large and visible, and most of the members are pretty nice, that's why I joined up. Plus you get to do cool shit like harass the mta, cookie chains, among others :laugh:.

[Os Cangaceiros]

I'm kind of a member in name only at this point, and I'm probably delinquent on dues as well, dunno exactly how many months I paid for when I renewed last October or so. We never really seemed to do much as a group, plus there was a rift in what some of the older members (one of whom basically runs the general branch here) were into, and what some of the younger members wanted.

There's only around 20-25 members in this city, but it's definitely an extremely diverse political group, really well-rounded in my opinion. One thing I've noticed about the IWW around here is that, in addition to politically left wing ideologues (who can be found in any IWW branch) it also attracted really cynical people who had some pretty extreme beliefs but didn't come at a lot of issues from a traditionally leftist perspective/background, and probably only had very limited knowledge of the political left (even though the IWW is big on presenting it's history to anyone who will listen). That alone made for some really interesting conversations with fellow members of the organization here.

[Decolonize The Left]

I'm pleased to see this development. I don't think that the IWW is a substantially better organization than others, and I recognize that it has its own loads of internal issues, but it is directly tied to economic class and is relatively free of competing politics. I think that it's really important for people to have this--not necessarily as a basis for political action--but as a complement to it.

[cyu]

people who had some pretty extreme beliefs but didn't come at a lot of issues from a traditionally leftist perspective/background


FBI informant ;)

[consuming negativity]

i've always liked the idea of the IWW but in practice there's negative incentive to join

[#FF0000]

i've always liked the idea of the IWW but in practice there's negative incentive to join

I don't necessarily know about that but I think it depends on your area. In my region the IWW puts you in touch with some v. useful people if you have a problem on the job, even if I have my doubts about their ability to handle a large labor action.