273:
carried materials such as: union application materials, union membership dues books, dues stamps, and Wobbly literature necessary to recruit agricultural workers. Compensation for field delegates was based on commission per new member so it was an incentive to recruit as many new members as possible. To recruit members to the AWO, field delegates sometimes freight trains in and around harvest areas and demand to see a Red Card, proof of membership to the IWW, from all other riders. If a hobo could not produce a membership card, the field delegates forced the rider to purchase a card or get off the train. By doing so, the AWO hoped to create an "800 mile picket line" along the wheat belt ensuring the IWW controlled all harvest jobs. They were also organizers at the workplace and presented grievances to the ranch foremen and farmers; holding full organizer's responsibilities, delegates had the ability to call a strike against a farmer if the farmer did not address grievances. Field delegates had direct contact with other agricultural workers and were able to experience the working conditions at the field level; direct communication with both workers and ranch foremen, including farmers, allowed for negotiation of wages and delegates would not accept jobs that paid under the union scale of $ 3 per day. The delegate system effectively recruited new members and established multiple locals of the AWO, but not many recruits stayed with the union due to the migrant nature.
200:
capitalism which gave the IWW their platform. Members of the IWW were commonly known as wobblies who advocated for socialism, and did not discriminate based on race or gender. William D. Haywood, Eugene V. Debs, and Daniel De Leon were the founders and leading heads behind the IWW. These founders and the IWW were against the
American Federation of Labor (AFL) and was the only labor group who opposed World War I. The IWW consisted of unskilled workers who represented farm workers and miners who demanded higher wages and better working conditions. The IWW did not discriminate on class and welcomed workers from all groups such as women, minorities, immigrants, and the unemployed. Youth groups were even encouraged by the IWW and followed in their steps by organizing their own unions. They referred to themselves as "Junior Wobblies".
324:
25,000 members by 1921. The AWIU eventually became the biggest financial contributor to the
Industrial Workers of the World. "Nearly $ 85,000 of the money the AWIU had raised in 1922 went to support strikes in Oregon and California; and harvesters had also provided defense funds for Wobblies in Centralia, Washington, and made a large donation to the IWW's Work People's College in Duluth, Minnesota"(Sellars). However, because of the frightening split in Wobbly ranks in 1924, the AWIU experienced a steep decline in its members. The AWIU eventually fell as a result of the rise of new technologies. These technologies eventually drove the majority of harvest workers out of labor.
260:
member withdrawal of productive efficiency to win over employer demands. These two highly successful tactics resulted in the
Agricultural Workers Organization's ability to organize thousands of individuals in the agricultural, lumber, construction, and oil industries. The AWO was known for being able to bring in new members to the union while also improving working conditions for the harvest workers. Many of the workers employed at these industries faced harsh conditions that made collective action necessary for survival. Harsh conditions included, lice infested camps, long hours, intense heat, and earnings of $ 2.50 a day.
25:
339:
186:– a common method by which the parent organization communicated its more radical message to workers – soapboxing was practiced by AWO delegates, and met with considerable success. The AWO developed the roving delegate system for member sign-up and dues collection, which is still used by the IWW. Within two years, the AWO had achieved a membership of a hundred thousand.
397:, (2nd ed.; Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1988). Philip S. Foner, History of the Labor Movement in the United States, Vol. 4, Industrial Workers of the World (New York: International Publishers, 1965). Nigel Anthony Sellars, Oil, Wheat, and Wobblies: The Industrial Workers of the World in Oklahoma, 1905–1930(Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1998)
315:
Agricultural
Workers Organization's plan was to convince the harvest workers to join their union. However, most of the farmers in the area did not want the AWO taking over their town. Eventually, the harvest workers in Yakima Valley went on strike to demand better wages, but the strike was soon halted once local law enforcement became involved.
813:
234:(IWW) all gathered in Kansas City, MO in attempt to form an organization directed towards harvest workers. This conference led to the emergence of the Agricultural Workers Organization (AWO) that focused on recruiting farmers in the Western United States and Canada to join one big union. This new organization demanded:
208:
At the beginning of the IWW there were three main founders and leaders. These three founders include
William D. Haywood, Eugene V. Debs, and Daniel De Leon who were all a part of the Socialist Party. Haywood believed strikes and boycotts were the most efficient way to reach the goals of IWW, but De
305:
The decline of the
Agricultural Workers' Industrial Union (AWIU) the mid 1920s was also influenced by the inability to adapt to the rapidly changing demographics of farmworkers in the West Coast. Asians and Latinos composed a large part of the workforce; the AWIU struggled to incorporate strategies
259:
To organize the wheat harvest in the west, the
Agricultural Workers Organization used two successful tactics: job delegate and on the job strike. For the job delegate tactic, the IWW assigned members to work the fields and assist farmers with the harvest. The on the job strike tactic was threatening
174:
ten years earlier, the AWO's founding convention sought rather to address immediate needs, and championed a ten-hour work day, premium pay for overtime, a minimum wage, good food and bedding for workers. In 1917 the organization changed names to the
Agricultural Workers Industrial Union (AWIU) as
323:
By 1917 the
Agricultural Workers Organization had close to 20,000 members. In this same year the AWO was renamed the Agricultural Workers Industrial Union (AWIU). Even though the AWIU coincided in the midst of the Red Scare and World War One, the AWIU's membership still continued to grow reaching
212:
William D. Haywood was a part of the
Western Federation of Miners (WFM) and was the main founder and of the IWW. In the WFM Haywood fought for raising wages and wanted to ban children workers from working in the mines. Eventually Haywood became the secretary-treasurer of the WFM, and in 1901 he
301:
and his brother, owners of a large farm and ranch, refused to address the complaints of their agricultural workers who presented a list of demands to them. In response to their refusal and firing of the leading IWW members, Wobblies met that same night and included speakers who spoke in German,
272:
designated two types of delegates, field delegates (or walking delegates) and stationary delegates, who organized in main wheat belt towns without continuous migration. Field delegates were agricultural workers who recruited new members and acted as representatives of the AWO. Field delegates
314:
During the summer of 1916, farm workers in Washington State campaigned to establish the Agricultural Workers Organization in Washington's Yakima Valley. With many AWO leaders residing in the region already, the IWW sent out AWO leaders to reach out to the independent farmers in the valley. The
281:
The AWO did not restrict membership to a particular race or ethnicity, as did craft unions. The AWO built solidarity among its members by emphasizing the shared exploitation in the fields and living quarters. The Wobbly press's attempted to build solidarity by drawing on the similar working
199:
Members of the American Socialist Party were the founders of the labor organization Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). The IWW was found on June 27, 1905, in Chicago, Illinois. A group of radicals held a conference and their primary goals were to overthrow the wage system and get rid of
290:'s cartoon whose character "Mr. Block" was controlled by employers who used race and ethnic backgrounds to divide workers. The cartoon was addressed toward several ethnicities and exposed the strategies employers used to obtain the most production for the little pay.
209:
Leon and Debs believed they could achieve their goals though the Trade Union Movement and Socialist Party. This disagreement caused De Leon and Debs to leave behind the IWW which caused the wobblies to split into two different groups.
827:
1066:
1081:
394:
788:
559:
219:
Daniel De Leon was a Marxist who was a part of the Knights of Labor. De Leon was an editor for the Social Labor Party, and was extremely opposed to capitalism and wanted to overthrow it.
595:
171:
882:
179:
522:
Greg Hall, Harvest Wobblies: The Industrial Workers of the World and Agricultural Laborers in the American West, 1905–1930, (Corvallis: Oregon State University Press, 2001), 51.
513:
Greg Hall, Harvest Wobblies: The Industrial Workers of the World and Agricultural Laborers in the American West, 1905–1930, (Corvallis: Oregon State University Press, 2001), 59.
468:
Foner, Philip S. History of the Labor Movement in the United States Volume IV: The Industrial Workers of the World, 1905–1917, (New York: International Publishers, 1965), 261.
384:
Hall, Greg. Harvest Wobblies: The Industrial Workers of the World and Agricultural Laborers in the American West, 1905–1930. Corvallis: Oregon State University Press, 2001.
1071:
1076:
357:
381:
Foner, Philip S. History of the Labor Movement in the United States Volume IV: The Industrial Workers of the World, 1905–1917. New York: International Publishers, 1965.
686:
922:
578:
552:
531:
Arnesen, Eric, and Greg Hall, ed. Encyclopedia of U.S. labor and working-class history. New York: Routledge, 2007. s.v. "Agricultural Workers Organization,"35.
994:
369:
Arnesen, Eric, and Greg Hall, ed. Encyclopedia of U.S. labor and working-class history. New York: Routledge, 2007. s.v. "Agricultural Workers Organization."
504:
Frank T. Higbie, Indispensable Outcasts: Hobo Workers and Community in the American Midwest, 1880–1930, (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2003), 154.
459:
Frank T. Higbie, Indispensable Outcasts: Hobo Workers and Community in the American Midwest, 1880–1930, (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2003), 152.
936:
1034:
676:
641:
1086:
951:
545:
387:
Higbie, Frank T. Indispensable Outcasts: Hobo Workers and Community in the American Midwest, 1880–1930. Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2003.
216:
Eugene V. Debs was an activist in the Trade Union Movement and eventually became the national secretary of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen.
406:
Sellars, Nigel. Oil, Wheat and Wobblies, The Industrial Workers of the World in Oklahoma, 1905–1930. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. 1998.
793:
626:
46:
747:
68:
282:
conditions among white, Asian, Hispanic, and African American workers. Conscious of employer's use of race to divide workers, the
646:
605:
989:
956:
757:
737:
711:
568:
352:
231:
167:
134:
742:
600:
1029:
946:
621:
773:
39:
33:
302:
Greek, Italian, Arabic, and Spanish to the crowd in order to gain the most supporters among the group of workers.
256:
The harvest workers stated that if these requirements were met then they would in return perform their best work.
752:
666:
651:
50:
1019:
400:
Oregon State University. "Harvest Wobblies: The IWW and Agricultural Laborers in the American West, 1905–1930".
294:
110:
1045:
966:
961:
907:
852:
783:
344:
409:
Veblen, Thorstein. "Using the IWW to Harvest Grain" The Journal of Political Economy. Vol. 40, No. 6. 1932.
837:
732:
706:
671:
798:
375:
Castaneda R. Oscar, "The IWW in the Fields, 1905–1925," Seattle Civil Rights & Labor History Project
163:
897:
696:
1024:
912:
902:
847:
450:
Henry E. McGucken, Memoirs of a Wobbly, Charles H. Kerr Publishing Company, 1987, page 70–73.
1014:
691:
636:
432:
Melvyn Dubofsky, We Shall Be All, Abridged Edition, University of Illinois Press, 2000, page 182.
298:
170:(IWW). Although the IWW had advocated the abolition of the wage system as an ultimate goal since
372:
Brissenden, Paul. The IWW, A Study of American Syndicalism. New York: Columbia University. 1919.
269:
293:
In an earlier example of multiracial organizing among IWW agricultural workers was in the 1913
681:
656:
403:
Reider, Ross. "Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)." History Link. N.p., 8 Dec. 1999. Web.
862:
661:
441:
Henry E. McGucken, Memoirs of a Wobbly, Charles H. Kerr Publishing Company, 1987, page 70.
390:
832:
778:
479:
1060:
892:
701:
182:
in order to organize workers. While the AWO resolved to prohibit street speaking and
155:
150:), later known as the Agricultural Workers Industrial Union, was an organization of
867:
857:
842:
287:
537:
941:
716:
631:
872:
334:
151:
222:
Through the Socialist Party these three men gathered and formed the IWW.
338:
183:
159:
812:
327:
The last annual convention (the 21st) was held in Seattle in 1929.
395:
We Shall Be All: A History of the Industrial Workers of the World
1067:
Trade unions affiliated with the Industrial Workers of the World
541:
18:
166:. It was supported by, and a subsidiary organization of, the
251:
and free transportation in answering any long-distance call.
175:
part of a broader reorganization of IWW industrial unions.
1082:
Agriculture and forestry trade unions in the United States
306:
that united a culturally and socially diverse workforce.
412:"William Haywood." Spartacus Educational. N.p., n.d. Web
268:
Agricultural Workers Organization's Secretary-Treasurer
178:
As a member organization of the IWW, the AWO embraced
378:"Eugene Debs." Spartacus Educational. N.p., n.d. Web
1007:
975:
921:
881:
820:
766:
725:
614:
588:
577:
130:
120:
102:
94:
86:
358:Labor federation competition in the United States
226:Founding of the Agricultural Workers Organization
428:
426:
319:Decline of the Agricultural Workers Organization
310:Agricultural Workers Organization Yakima Valley
553:
8:
995:Metal and Machinery Workers Industrial Union
81:
937:Australasian Meat Industry Employees Union
929:
687:1916–1917 northern Minnesota lumber strike
585:
560:
546:
538:
80:
1072:Defunct trade unions in the United States
957:Marine Transport Workers Industrial Union
952:Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee
480:"Wobby Wheels: The IWW's Boxcar Strategy"
69:Learn how and when to remove this message
1077:1915 establishments in the United States
32:This article includes a list of general
1035:Workers' International Industrial Union
422:
16:Former trade union of the United States
677:Bayonne refinery strikes of 1915–1916
642:1912–1913 Little Falls textile strike
213:joined the American Socialist Party.
195:Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)
7:
828:List of General Secretary-Treasurers
947:Education Workers Industrial Union
627:1912 New York City waiters' strike
82:Agricultural Workers' Organization
38:it lacks sufficient corresponding
14:
985:Agricultural Workers Organization
144:Agricultural Workers Organization
1087:Trade unions established in 1915
811:
606:Pressed Steel Car strike of 1909
337:
23:
990:Lumber Workers Industrial Union
758:Stockton cannery strike of 1937
738:1922 New England Textile Strike
570:Industrial Workers of the World
353:Industrial Workers of the World
239:freedom from illegal restraint;
232:Industrial Workers of the World
168:Industrial Workers of the World
135:Industrial Workers of the World
748:1927–1928 Colorado Coal Strike
743:1923 San Pedro maritime strike
1:
647:1913 El Paso smelters' strike
601:1907 Skowhegan textile strike
162:formed on April 15, 1915, in
1030:Western Federation of Miners
622:1912 Lawrence textile strike
789:2018–2019 Education strikes
774:1964 Mount Isa Mines strike
596:First Convention of the IWW
297:in Wheatland, California.
1103:
486:. University of Washington
242:adequate housing and food;
1043:
942:Burgerville Workers Union
932:
809:
753:1933 Yakima Valley strike
667:1913 Ipswich Mills strike
652:1913 Paterson silk strike
295:Wheatland Hop-Fields Riot
1020:Glossary of Wobbly terms
111:United States of America
1047:Organized Labour portal
967:United Campaign Workers
962:Starbucks Workers Union
784:2011 Wisconsin protests
345:Organized labour portal
230:On April 15, 1915, the
53:more precise citations.
838:Elizabeth Gurley Flynn
733:Anaconda Road massacre
707:Seattle General Strike
672:1913 Studebaker strike
277:Multiracial Organizing
248:a $ 4.00 minimum wage;
799:2021 Frito-Lay strike
794:Lyft and Uber strikes
898:Industrial democracy
697:Green Corn Rebellion
180:a variety of tactics
1025:Little Red Songbook
913:Solidarity unionism
903:Industrial unionism
484:IWW History Project
204:Founders of the IWW
83:
1015:Free speech fights
712:Centralia massacre
692:Bisbee Deportation
637:Wheatland hop riot
478:Hermida, Arianne.
245:a 10-hour workday;
1054:
1053:
1003:
1002:
807:
806:
726:1920s & 1930s
284:Industrial Worker
172:its own formation
140:
139:
79:
78:
71:
1094:
1048:
930:
925:
885:
815:
682:Everett massacre
657:Paterson pageant
586:
581:
571:
562:
555:
548:
539:
532:
529:
523:
520:
514:
511:
505:
502:
496:
495:
493:
491:
475:
469:
466:
460:
457:
451:
448:
442:
439:
433:
430:
347:
342:
341:
113:
84:
74:
67:
63:
60:
54:
49:this article by
40:inline citations
27:
26:
19:
1102:
1101:
1097:
1096:
1095:
1093:
1092:
1091:
1057:
1056:
1055:
1050:
1046:
1039:
999:
971:
923:
917:
883:
877:
863:Matilda Robbins
816:
803:
762:
721:
662:Hopedale strike
610:
579:
573:
569:
566:
536:
535:
530:
526:
521:
517:
512:
508:
503:
499:
489:
487:
477:
476:
472:
467:
463:
458:
454:
449:
445:
440:
436:
431:
424:
419:
391:Melvyn Dubofsky
366:
343:
336:
333:
321:
312:
279:
266:
254:
228:
206:
197:
192:
154:throughout the
123:
116:
109:
75:
64:
58:
55:
45:Please help to
44:
28:
24:
17:
12:
11:
5:
1100:
1098:
1090:
1089:
1084:
1079:
1074:
1069:
1059:
1058:
1052:
1051:
1044:
1041:
1040:
1038:
1037:
1032:
1027:
1022:
1017:
1011:
1009:
1008:Related topics
1005:
1004:
1001:
1000:
998:
997:
992:
987:
981:
979:
973:
972:
970:
969:
964:
959:
954:
949:
944:
939:
933:
927:
919:
918:
916:
915:
910:
905:
900:
895:
889:
887:
879:
878:
876:
875:
870:
865:
860:
855:
850:
845:
840:
835:
833:Eugene V. Debs
830:
824:
822:
818:
817:
810:
808:
805:
804:
802:
801:
796:
791:
786:
781:
779:Redwood Summer
776:
770:
768:
764:
763:
761:
760:
755:
750:
745:
740:
735:
729:
727:
723:
722:
720:
719:
714:
709:
704:
699:
694:
689:
684:
679:
674:
669:
664:
659:
654:
649:
644:
639:
634:
629:
624:
618:
616:
612:
611:
609:
608:
603:
598:
592:
590:
583:
575:
574:
567:
565:
564:
557:
550:
542:
534:
533:
524:
515:
506:
497:
470:
461:
452:
443:
434:
421:
420:
418:
415:
414:
413:
410:
407:
404:
401:
398:
388:
385:
382:
379:
376:
373:
370:
365:
362:
361:
360:
355:
349:
348:
332:
329:
320:
317:
311:
308:
278:
275:
265:
262:
253:
252:
249:
246:
243:
240:
236:
227:
224:
205:
202:
196:
193:
191:
188:
138:
137:
132:
128:
127:
126:100,000 (peak)
124:
121:
118:
117:
115:
114:
106:
104:
100:
99:
96:
92:
91:
90:April 15, 1915
88:
77:
76:
31:
29:
22:
15:
13:
10:
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
1099:
1088:
1085:
1083:
1080:
1078:
1075:
1073:
1070:
1068:
1065:
1064:
1062:
1049:
1042:
1036:
1033:
1031:
1028:
1026:
1023:
1021:
1018:
1016:
1013:
1012:
1010:
1006:
996:
993:
991:
988:
986:
983:
982:
980:
978:
974:
968:
965:
963:
960:
958:
955:
953:
950:
948:
945:
943:
940:
938:
935:
934:
931:
928:
926:
920:
914:
911:
909:
908:One Big Union
906:
904:
901:
899:
896:
894:
893:Dual unionism
891:
890:
888:
886:
880:
874:
871:
869:
866:
864:
861:
859:
856:
854:
851:
849:
846:
844:
841:
839:
836:
834:
831:
829:
826:
825:
823:
819:
814:
800:
797:
795:
792:
790:
787:
785:
782:
780:
777:
775:
772:
771:
769:
765:
759:
756:
754:
751:
749:
746:
744:
741:
739:
736:
734:
731:
730:
728:
724:
718:
715:
713:
710:
708:
705:
703:
702:Tulsa Outrage
700:
698:
695:
693:
690:
688:
685:
683:
680:
678:
675:
673:
670:
668:
665:
663:
660:
658:
655:
653:
650:
648:
645:
643:
640:
638:
635:
633:
630:
628:
625:
623:
620:
619:
617:
613:
607:
604:
602:
599:
597:
594:
593:
591:
587:
584:
582:
576:
572:
563:
558:
556:
551:
549:
544:
543:
540:
528:
525:
519:
516:
510:
507:
501:
498:
485:
481:
474:
471:
465:
462:
456:
453:
447:
444:
438:
435:
429:
427:
423:
416:
411:
408:
405:
402:
399:
396:
392:
389:
386:
383:
380:
377:
374:
371:
368:
367:
363:
359:
356:
354:
351:
350:
346:
340:
335:
330:
328:
325:
318:
316:
309:
307:
303:
300:
296:
291:
289:
285:
276:
274:
271:
263:
261:
257:
250:
247:
244:
241:
238:
237:
235:
233:
225:
223:
220:
217:
214:
210:
203:
201:
194:
189:
187:
185:
181:
176:
173:
169:
165:
161:
157:
156:United States
153:
149:
145:
136:
133:
129:
125:
119:
112:
108:
107:
105:
101:
97:
93:
89:
85:
73:
70:
62:
59:December 2013
52:
48:
42:
41:
35:
30:
21:
20:
984:
976:
868:Carlo Tresca
858:Lucy Parsons
853:Frank Little
843:Bill Haywood
527:
518:
509:
500:
488:. Retrieved
483:
473:
464:
455:
446:
437:
326:
322:
313:
304:
292:
288:Ernest Riebe
283:
280:
267:
258:
255:
229:
221:
218:
215:
211:
207:
198:
177:
152:farm workers
147:
143:
141:
131:Affiliations
65:
56:
37:
717:Bisbee Riot
632:Grabow riot
490:28 December
299:Ralph Durst
184:soap boxing
164:Kansas City
51:introducing
1061:Categories
884:Philosophy
873:Ben Legere
767:After 1940
364:References
270:Walter Nef
34:references
286:included
264:Delegates
122:Members
95:Dissolved
924:Sections
848:Joe Hill
331:See also
103:Location
977:Extinct
580:History
190:History
87:Founded
47:improve
821:People
160:Canada
36:, but
615:1910s
589:1900s
417:Notes
492:2016
158:and
142:The
98:1930
148:AWO
1063::
482:.
425:^
393:,
561:e
554:t
547:v
494:.
146:(
72:)
66:(
61:)
57:(
43:.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
