Huragok posted:

as far as what you should be doing



a g I t a t e

Anarcho-Commissar posted:

It's been great. I think it's really just that most people, especially working-class people, don't know how a budget works. And they can't really predict what they'll need, especially when until recently, many of the committees didn't do much, so there's little useful data.

But that's why the finance committee exists! So hopefully we'll start correcting that moving forward.

Victory Position posted:

everyone's better learning from each other and learning how to do what's needed. data's a bit biased on my side since I know what to collect and look for and all, but not everyone knows how to do that

100 HOGS AGREE posted:

Anarcho-Commissar posted:

I have an MBA, which is why I wanted to be on the Finance Committee (I sure as poo poo ain't gonna be a manager ever again). I want to help others who don't know how to do that.

tha_hotstepper posted:

One of my coworkers is attempting to organize but its looking pretty hopeless. There are maybe 10 people on board and any effort would be largely symbolic imo so i'm on the fence about paying $22 a month for dues.

woke kaczynski posted:

What is the IWW?

The preamble to the IWW constitution is as good a place to start as any:



History of the IWW

The IWW was founded in Chicago in 1905. It was marked by a staunch opposition to capitalism and particularly the AFL's compromising with capital, as well as its craft union model excluding unskilled workers. The IWW was notable for being open to women, minorities, and immigrants at a time when that was highly unusual, if not outright illegal. Some notable early wobblies, as IWW members are known, include Eugene Debs, Big Bill Haywood, Daniel De Leon, Joe Hill, Lucy Parsons, Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, and Helen Keller. Notable current wobblies include Noam Chomsky and Tom Morello.

I'm hoping someone smarter than me will post some more history I will edit in later, but let's talk about :



The IWW Today

There are a few thousand IWW members scattered throughout the US and Canada, a few thousand in the UK and Ireland, and some folks scattered all over the world. While a far cry from the 150,000 members the IWW had at its peak, the union has survived political splits and heavy-handed political repression during the Red Scare and continues to punch above its weight. Notable current IWW campaigns and activities include:

• Burgerville: The Burgerville Workers Union has won NLRB elections at two locations, with organizing continuing throughout the chain.
  
• Stardust: Stardust Family United dealt with massive firing waves and allegations, ultimately winning back wages and jobs back for any fired workers who wished to return.
  
• Prison Strike: The IWW's Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee is one of many groups that has helped organize phone zaps and other support for prison strikes including the latest one starting August 21st and led by Jailhouse Lawyers Speak. IWOC is one of the most active groups in the IWW.
  
• GCI: Canvassers with Grassroots Campaigns are fed up with progressive talk from management masking toxic labor practices, and have been organizing nationwide.
  

In addition, wobblies have taken the organizing lessons they've learned into workplaces around the world, even without public campaigns. For instance, my current workplace will likely never see a public campaign like any of those listed above, but I have organized with my coworkers around various demands, and we won the dismissal of a serial sexual harasser who had been working there for years before I started.



So You Want To Join The IWW
Well hello there, fellow worker! The only membership requirements are:

• You don't have hiring or firing power.
  
• You're not a paid officer of another union.
  
• You aren't a cop.
  

You can join regardless of the industry you work in, whether you're a member of another union or not, or even whether your profession is legal or not. (For instance, IU690 is the industrial union covering all sex workers.)

In order to join, I recommend you go here and look up the closest branch to you, then contact them directly. You can also join and pay your dues entirely online, but building relationships with other members of the union is what really makes a difference. If you don't have any branches in your area, you can join as an at-large member, but to be honest that isn't the best experience in the world at the moment. You'll also want to see what industrial union you fit into. Dues are based on income and range from a minimum of $6 a month to $33 a month for the highly paid, self loathing computer touchers among us (hi!)

There's a surprising number of goon wobblies out there already, who will be happy to answer any questions/shitpost endlessly into the ether. Let's bring to birth a new world in the ashes of the old!