organized, not only for the every-day struggle with capitalists, but also to carry on production when capitalism shall have been overthrown. By organizing industrially we are forming the structure of the new society within the shell of the old.
- 204. What is meant by "organizing industrially?"
- Organizing in the industries as wage workers—economically — not politically. The I. W. W. believes the worker as wealth producer to be the social unit, for society cannot exist without its workers. The politician believes the citizen to be the social unit. Therefore, the I. W. W. relies upon the workers, organized as producers to exert greater influence industrially that is possible to them as citizens in capitalist society. That is what is meant when the preamble states "By organizing industrially we (the working class), are forming the structure of the new society within the shell of the old." This denies the possibility of doing so by political action, or by any other means.
- 205. Explain this more clearly?
- The I. W. W. seeks to organize the workers in all the industries into one organization. But this is not a mass organization. It proposes to follow the present arrangement of the workers in production, and to organize them as they are placed in industry. It does not ask the worker what tool he uses, or what operation he performs. It only asks for what object his labor power is expended. If it is for the purpose of assisting in coal production, it classifies him as a coal mine worker and enrolls him in the Coal Mine Workers' Industrial Union No. 220. If his work is to assist railroading, no matter what the nature of his task, he is put in the Railroad Workers' Industrial Union No. 520. So with any worker in the textile mill; whether he be an engineer, loom fixer, or janitor, he takes his place in the Textile Workers' Industrial Union No. 410; and so on until the whole field of working class activity is covered. All the time the I. W. W. is organizing, it is educating the workers, giving them a new viewpoint, filling them with a new consciousness. When its organization is sufficiently extensive, trained and disciplined, it is ready to take over industry—because it has prepared the workers to do so.
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