conditions and inform their general office. They are the field representatives of the industrial union.
- 225. What is a stationary delegate?
- Stationary delegates are placed at strategic points by their industrial unions. In the Marine Transport Workers' I. U. No. 520, they are known as "Port Delegates." The office of the stationary delegate is the base of operation for traveling and job delegates. Their offices usually are located at the gateways to the harvest fields and industrial centers. They are recruiting stations for migratory and stationary workers. The stationary delegate makes regular reports to his industrial union headquarters. The report will be comprehensive, giving much valuable industrial data to the general secretary and the officers of the industrial union stationed at headquarters.
- 226. How about initiation fees and dues in the I. W. W.?
- As the I. W. W. wants the workers to organize, it makes it as easy as possible for them to do so. So it inclines to make initiation fees and dues as low as possible. The initiation fee is $2.00 and the dues are 50 cents per month. Contrast this with the A. F. of L. unions, some of which charge several hundred dollars as an initiation fee. Evidently, unions which charge high initiation fees do so to keep workers out of the unions, and the purpose of high initiation fees is to keep men out. That is why the craft unions are called job trusts.
- 227. Does each Industrial Union demand an initiation fee?
- No. A member of the I. W. W. is called upon to pay only one initiation fee. Once a worker joins the I. W. W. and becomes a member of one industrial union, whenever he charges his occupation he automatically becomes a member of the industrial union in his new occupation upon presentation of his union card. Once a union man in the I. W. W., always a union man, unless he violates the laws of the union. In the craft union system whenever a man changes his occupation from one industrial calling to some other calling, he is required to pay a new initiation fee. If he refuses to be bled, or has not the price, a long and distinguished union career will not help him. He must pay. He can have a whole album full of union
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