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{{Infobox political party|name=Industrial Workers of the World|founded=June 27, 1905|abbreviation=IWW|newspaper=''Industrial Worker''|membership=11,275|political_line=[[Anarcho-syndicalism]]<br>[[Libertarian socialism]]|website=https://www.iww.org/|logo=IWW logo.png}}

The '''Industrial Workers of the World''' ('''IWW''') is an international leftist [[trade union]]. At its peak in 1917, it had 150,000 members.<ref>{{Citation|author=Eric Thomas Chester|year=2014|title=The Wobblies in their Heyday|title-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KBKJBAAAQBAJ&pg=PR12#v=onepage&q&f=false|isbn=9781440833021}}</ref> The IWW began as a [[Socialism|socialist]] organization but later shifted to an [[Anarcho-syndicalism|anarcho-syndicalist]] position.

== History ==
The IWW was founded in Chicago in June 1905.<ref>{{Web citation|author=Nathalie Hrizi|newspaper=[[Liberation School]]|title=Anarchism’s track record: What is militancy without a winning program?|date=2008-02-01|url=https://www.liberationschool.org/anarchisms-track-record-what-is-militancy-without-a-winning-program/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201127183242/https://liberationschool.org/anarchisms-track-record-what-is-militancy-without-a-winning-program/|archive-date=2020-11-27|retrieved=2022-08-28}}</ref>

The IWW allowed Black workers and women to join at a time when they were still excluded from other unions, including the [[American Federation of Labor]].<ref name=":0">{{News citation|author=Tom Mackaman|newspaper=[[World Socialist Web Site]]|title=The Wobblies (1979): What the IWW means for the working class today|date=2022-05-25|url=https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2022/05/26/kezm-m26.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220715132458/https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2022/05/26/kezm-m26.html|archive-date=2022-07-15|retrieved=2022-07-29}}</ref> During a lumber worker [[Strike action|strike]] in 1911 and 1912, half of the strikers were Black.

In 1912, the [[Syndicalist League of North America]], led by [[William Z. Foster]], split from the IWW.<ref name=":1">{{Citation|author=William Z. Foster|year=1952|title=History of the Communist Party of the United States|title-url=https://williamzfoster.blogspot.com/|chapter=The Heyday of the Socialist Party (1905-1914)|chapter-url=https://williamzfoster.blogspot.com/2013/01/chapter-eight-heyday-of-socialist-party.html}}</ref>

The IWW opposed the [[First World War]]. In September 1917, IWW headquarters across the country were raided and 2,000 members were arrested.<ref>{{Citation|author=William Z. Foster|year=1952|title=History of the Communist Party of the United States|title-url=https://williamzfoster.blogspot.com/|chapter=World War I: Social-Democratic Betrayal (1914-1918)|chapter-url=https://williamzfoster.blogspot.com/2013/01/chapter-nine-world-war-i-social.html}}</ref> Unlike the AFL, the IWW refused to take a pledge not to strike during the war.<ref name=":0" />

In 1920, the IWW General Executive Board endorsed the [[Communist International (1919–1943)|Third International]].<ref>{{Citation|author=William Z. Foster|year=1952|title=History of the Communist Party of the United States|title-url=https://williamzfoster.blogspot.com/|chapter=The Formation of the Communist Party  (1919-1921)|chapter-url=https://williamzfoster.blogspot.com/2013/01/chapter-twelve-formation-of-communist.html}}</ref>

The IWW declined after the First World War and had only 11 delegates at its 1925 convention.<ref name=":1" />

== Strikes ==
During the 1910s, the IWW carried out strikes of tens of thousands of workers. They led the "Bread and Roses" strike in Massachusetts in 1912, a strike of silk workers in New Jersey in 1913, and a strike of iron miners in Minnesota in 1916.<ref name=":1" />

== References ==
<references />
[[Category:Trade unions]]