Music of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) [1905-Present]

The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) is a revolutionary syndicalist labor union that was founded in 1905 in Chicago, IL. The IWW was an important labor organization of the 1910s and its organizers led major strikes of the decade, including the 1911 Lawrence, MA Mill Strike and the 1915 Patterson, NJ Silk Factory Strike. The union was important in organizing the large migrant labor population in the U.S. southwest and west coast. It is also almost entirely forgotten that the IWW had numerous international chapters and was a minor influence in the left-wing politics of countries that included Sweden, Finland, Chile, Australia, Canada, and Mexico. In addition to its organizing, the IWW was famous for its roster of what IWW historian Daniel Gross calls "worker-scholar-poets," organizers that doubled as theorists, historians, songwriters, cartoonists, journalists, and poets. The music, poetry, and art produced by these IWW members (or Wobblies) became some of the foundational cultural material of the U.S. labor movement and left-wing. During the 1950s, the effects of two "Red Scares" (1919-21 and 1947-1955) and the decline of the U.S. left-wing in general had all but destroyed the IWW. It regained some strength in the 1960s but failed to become a meaningful force in the labor movement. However, in recent decades the IWW has begun to rebuild. This playlist collects both the numerous covers, arrangements, and adaptations of classic IWW music from the union's most successful period (1910-1920) as well as newer material by Wobblies from the 1930s to today. Here you will find songs by legendary IWW figures such as Joe Hill, Ralph Chaplin, and T-Bone Slim, tunes written by the 1960s generation of Wobblies such as Utah Phillips and Leslie Fish, music written by and for the IWW after the turn of the millennium, as well as music written about IWW members and strikes. Many of the more contemporary tunes are from a recent IWW-produced left-wing political hardcore and post-punk compilation titled 'We Don't Work May 1st,' which was released in 2019. Some other more contemporary standouts include sludge metal band Shellac's 'Gary,' which adapts lyrics by IWW organizer and poet T-Bone Slim, as well as Laulava Unioni, a Finnish folk-rock band put together in 2018 to record the music of the Scandinavian chapters of the IWW. Enjoy and solidarity!