Comment by wz1000 | Hacker News Reader

Comment by wz1000 | Hacker News Reader

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> It's not a panacea, and there are several historical examples of union leadership betraying the trust of workers and neglecting the demands of the most marginalized members (such as the UAW in 1941), but a union correctly structured and rooted in worker solidarity is the only proven way to fight management on these kinds of issues.

Thats why the IWW exists, and they desperately need members. They refuse to cooperate with big business and government, and are based on decentralized worker solidarity and principles of direct action, not the capture of state power. If a union derives its power from the state, it is easily corrupted and subverted.

https://iww.org/unions/dept500/iu560

https://techcrunch.com/2012/11/01/want-to-unionize-developer...

Good god... I just Google'd the IWW. Their website looks, at a glance, like a militant extreme left group. From the hard white-and-red on black colour scheme through to a photo of two people in fatigues carrying AK-style weapons next to an advert for a highly politically charged event.

If they want more members, they might want to tone down the "militant" imagery. I'm uncomfortable being associated with that.

The IWW has a long history, and pioneered the American labour movement, being practically the first union to admit women and blacks. It has not been a stranger to government repression in this period, and is decidedly anti government and view all political solutions with distrust. Instead they advocate for direct action. If you don't have anti-authoritarian/anarchist leanings, you probably won't fit in with the philosophy of the IWW.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everett_massacre

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wesley_Everest

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulsa_Outrage

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/27/us/27hill.html?_r=0

Love the wobblies, and from what I understand they've organized one of the few existing tech workers unions, the IWW 560. Definitely very interested in organizing with them.

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