January 18–25, 1996

cover story

The Return of the Wobblies

The Industrial Workers of the World want to wage "industrial guerrilla warfare" — and they're setting up shop in North Philadelphia.

By Larissa Comis

At a glance, the old shoestore appears no different than the rest of the dilapidated buildings in this North Philadelphia neighborhood near the intersection of Ridge and 16th.

The old sign, shaped like a shoe, patchy and fading, is still discernible over the doorway. Metal grates still guard the windows. The house next to it is missing a door — a blanket, scattered refuse and pieces of broken wood litter the floor inside.

The deep snow that blanketed the entire Northeast can't hide the remnants of cardboard houses that, in better weather, provide shelter for the homeless who sleep in this neighborhood. Down the street, three men hover over a barrel of fire trying to stay warm.

But the old shoestore at 1652 Ridge — purchased from a prisoner in New Jersey who is a former North Philadelphia resident — is no vacant building, no junkie-infested crackhouse.

It is home to an old political movement that is trying to revive itself in this poor section of Philadelphia.

It is home to the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), better known as the Wobblies.

Armed with a printing press and a growing number of enthusiastic, dedicated supporters, the Wobblies will use this building, which they call the Ben Fletcher Center, as their new union hall.

Their plan?

To educate the surrounding North Philadelphia community about theories of revolution and the tactics of industrial guerrilla warfare.

Ben Fletcher, the IWW building's namesake, was an African-American Wobbly from Philadelphia who knew all about industrial guerrilla war.

Fletcher organized the Philadelphia dockworkers' strike in 1913 and was "a very accomplished and important IWW leader," said Bob Helms. Helms is a principal organizer of the current Philadelphia branch of the IWW, which was established in November of 1991.

According to Helms, Fletcher was successful in getting ethnic groups to work together.

The dockworkers' strike was only one example of the labor strife that permeated American society at the beginning of the 20th century. There was widespread unrest between both American-born and immigrant workers and their often abusive employers.

The establishment of the IWW in 1905 by Colorado miner Big Bill Haywood followed a long and often violent struggle between the Western miners and mill workers who were pitted against the owners and the American government.

Wobblies have continuously engaged workers in a war of sabotage or direct action meant to cripple the profits of the bosses. In the past, Wobblies slowed down production lines or infiltrated non-union work forces called in to break strikes.

Today, Wobblies encourage workers to incorporate computer sabotage into these older tactics.

Inside the Fletcher Center there are books — walls of books — to help workers in their struggle against bosses, but there is no heat.

The center is still being renovated. A thick, yellowing, plastic sheet hangs as a divider between the front reading area and the back room that is packed with two photocopy machines and a huge, iron-black printing press. Boxes of IWW pamphlets clutter the floors and the tables, remnants of the annual national assembly of Wobblies, which was held at the center last year over Labor Day Weekend.

Cyrehl Esaf, a North Philadelphia native and a Wobbly who describes himself as being "on the fringes" of the organization, lives at the center somewhere on the third floor. He is visited frequently by other Wobblies and finds constant companionship with the two rambunctious tabby cats who share the space.

A tall, fit-looking man in his 30s, Cyrehl has been squatting in houses since the late 1970s.

"I consider myself promoting grass roots homesteading as an alternative against a lack of housing and people not having enough money to pay their rent," said Esaf. As a squatter, Esaf said that he started bumping into people who shared many of his beliefs, including anarchism. He eventually found his way to the IWW in 1993.

Because the Fletcher Center is not yet operational, the Philadelphia headquarters of the IWW is at the A-Space at 47th Street and Baltimore Avenue.

Sitting in the cluttered back office of the A-Space is Scott Lamson, a 20-something Minnesota native who arrived in Philadelphia two years ago. A very active anarchist and Wobbly, Lamson affirmed that the goal of the IWW — when it was founded in 1905, and today in 1996 — is industrial revolution.

"Ultimately the IWW is organizing for a general strike — everyone stops working. This would be a way to have a largely peaceful revolution," said Lamson.

In both the neighborhood surrounding the A-Space in West Philadelphia and that encompassing the Fletcher Center in North Philadelphia, the struggles of the working-class poor are very acute.

In his encounters with the neighbors of the Fletcher Center, Lamson has witnessed the effects of a weakening economy.

"There used to be factories for them to work at, especially older folks," he said. "People say, 'I used to work here or there, but now the places are closed.'"

Esaf said the North Philadelphia neighborhood's younger residents are most at risk. He said they are "falling for the facade of help and hope in the status quo. It's being more propagandized that you can make it. A lot of people are living a false hope."

Despite their rhetoric, however, none of the Wobblies admits to imposing an agenda onto residents.

"My hope is that the community will define what happens here," said Josie, an active member of the IWW. "We're interested in encouraging community-based initiative and independence. We're not here to propagandize the IWW."

Still, the Wobblies do have a plan of action for North Philadelphia. The group wants to expand on programs they have already set up in West Philadelphia, such as Food Not Bombs, which distributes food to needy community members, and Books Through Bars, an organization that donates free books to prisoners around the country. Lamson said that the Wobblies are also exploring the possibilities of beginning a vaccination program in North Philadelphia.

Helms expects the Wobbly library to make the Fletcher Center a much more active hub of activities than the group's present office at the A-Space. He also said that he occasionally wonders what "relevance to social change" the A-Space has. The Fletcher Center, Helms said, will be "much more focused on activism and direct action" than the A-Space.

Lamson is also determined to keep activities at the Fletcher Center focused on the surrounding community. "We don't want to start a middle-class art colony. The point is to work with people already in the community," said Lamson.

When asked why the IWW had targeted North Philadelphia as a site for a union hall, Lamson said that "it was a coincidence, but obviously that area of North Philadelphia has a lot of problems. It is a completely neglected area of the city."

The establishment of the Fletcher Center is just one sign that the IWW is, as Helms maintains, "absolutely, positively picking up strength" in Philadelphia, across the nation and around the world. In 1995, the national IWW increased 55 percent, from 400 to 625 members, according to Fred Chase, general secretary and treasurer of the international IWW, which is based in Ypsilanti, Michigan.

When compared to the estimated 250,000 Wobblies that stood up to employers in 1917 and 1918, today's numbers are "still a drop in the bucket. But now they are a drop and a half," said Chase. Membership dues are based on individual income and range from $3 to $12 per month.

Chase believes that the dramatic increase in interest in the IWW stems from "the economic climate and the repression of labor." As a result, "a lot of angry unionists are dual card holders. They join the IWW to promote militancy in the unions," said Chase.

"A lot of working-class people are very pissed. I think people are seeing that there are very few alternatives with the current system. They go in many different directions. Some come to us," said Lamson in response to the increased membership.

Chase went so far as to compare the economic and social conditions of today to the Depression years of the 1930s. "I get feeling that we are in the early stages of the '30s. The gap between rich and poor is growing. The country is treating poor people like they are pariahs. We're going to have to take actions like at the beginning of the century to get the balance back," said Chase.

Like Chase, Lamson believes that many of the problems that face today's workers are reminiscent of the early days of the IWW, but he also sees a key difference. "In the '30s, working-class white males were allowed to get a little bit inside. Today, the ruling class has said, 'Deal's off. We don't care what the fuck happens to you. We need you less than before.' People are losing their privilege. They're saying, 'What the hell's going on? My dad could get a decent job but I can't,'" said Lamson.

The jobs, said Lamson, aren't all going to women and minorities, as California Governor Pete Wilson and others have argued. Nor does he believe that all factory jobs have been lost to technology. "I think technology is replacing jobs, but what is happening more is companies are replacing people's jobs with desperate people who have no choices. Factories are moving to places like Guatemala," said Lamson.

The Philadelphia branch of the IWW is involved in many international grass roots struggles. "Worldwide, NAFTA and GATT have removed what little independence was gained after colonialism. They say, 'We'll help you develop, but our way and for us,'" said Lamson.

"Many people in the IWW are doing solidarity work for people in Chiapas, Mexico," Lamson said. "It is a community-based uprising that came from the villages and answers to the villages. It's an example of what we want to support... The best way to stop decent jobs from leaving the U.S. is to have people elsewhere demanding the same conditions."

Back at home, the IWW in Philadelphia is harnessing the new unrest among many people in the workplace. Helms estimates that, although there are only about 30 paying IWW members in Philadelphia, there are between 100 to 200 local workers participating in IWW activities.

"Generally we can call on three or four times our numbers for some of our activities," said Chase of the national IWW. Helms, weary of taking head counts, said, "I don't want to give concrete numbers because I try not to think in terms of numbers of people... It's on principle," not numbers.

Over the years, the members of the IWW have determined that the best way to change working conditions is to practice "direct action." As defined in the IWW handbook, A Worker's Guide to Direct Action, "direct action is any action taken in the work place which cripples the boss's profit-making and forces the company to give in to the workers' demands." The tactics of direct action are referred to as "industrial guerrilla warfare."

Neither Lamson nor Helms would go into details about the specifics of industrial guerrilla warfare practiced by workers in Philadelphia.

"I can't tell you specifics about labor because it would get people fired," said Lamson. He adds that workers at many different local shops are engaged in direct action activities.

Although Lamson has only been a member of the IWW for two years, he was involved in workplace disputes before he left Minnesota. While employed for United Parcel Service, Lamson and his co-workers were told by managers that they had to double their workload, with no extra pay, to accommodate a new suburban hub in Minneapolis that was not yet manned. Management was left with little leeway when Lamson and his colleagues flatly refused to take on any extra work.

Chase revealed some examples of direct action that IWW members carried out in Detroit. The strike at the Detroit Free Press and Detroit News has been the focus of many activities. The workers have been picketing and leafleting at stores advertising in the paper, and they are distributing the Sunday Journal, a newspaper published by the striking employees. Chase reported that he and other members of the IWW are also "doing everything we can to make it impossible for people to get newspapers out of boxes."

When asked whether the IWW in Philadelphia would be willing to become involved in labor disputes at the Philadelphia Inquirer or the Daily News, Lamson said, "If anything were to happen then we'd be more than happy to help, especially if people started to ask us."

Generally, the Wobblies here don't get involved with labor disputes unless they are approached by workers.

"If workers in a place don't contact the IWW, then it has no reason to believe there's any union energy in there," said Helms. "To stand up to your boss takes nerve. Someone has to demonstrate the nerve and have the organizational character. Unless that happens, the union is wasting time."

Lamson concurs.

"We need connections on the inside. We can't just walk in and say, 'We're here to save you,'" said Lamson.

In addition to aiding workers in industrial guerrilla warfare, the IWW in Philadelphia offers advice and guidance to disgruntled employees.

"The IWW can definitely bring some important forgotten ideas into labor dialogues: direct democracy, community control and class struggle," said Lamson. "People are losing focus of what it means to be a worker. If you are a worker, you are being exploited," continued Lamson.

Other labor unions, according to IWW members, have always failed American workers. The whole concept upon which they were founded contradicts the fundamental principles of the IWW.

"One of our slogans is one big union," said Chase.

Since its foundation, the IWW has claimed to encompass working-class people of all skills, races and genders.

"Where the union movement went wrong was in letting racism, white-skinned privilege, divide people," said Lamson.

Helms, who was once on the staff of a "regular union," said that he left because "I didn't feel that it was putting my anarchist methods into practice." He also criticized the unwillingness of trade unions to go beyond economic boundaries to help all workers. "If five people approached us, we would be interested in working with them for free. Another union would say there aren't enough of you. It's not worth our effort."

Even as far back as its beginnings in 1905, the IWW criticized other labor unions. At the foundation of the IWW, Big Bill Haywood accused the American Federation of Labor (AFL) of failing to be a union for the "working class."

Lamson said that "the difference between mainstream and radical unions is that the mainstream is constantly trying to repatch something. We have to cure the problem, which is that society is divided into classes."

Tony Iannone, secretary to the General Committee of the United Transportation Union, does not agree with a lot of Wobbly philosophy.

"If we were all together to talk about things, I think there would be strength there," said Iannone. But he would "part ways" with the Wobblies because, "I don't like to be disruptive. I would rather have the union come together in a partnership with management."

Covering the walls of the Fletcher Center are dozens of books and pamphlets about topics such as the IWW, anarchy and political prisoners. Many of them have been published by the Monkey Wrench Press, a publishing company begun by the Philadelphia IWW in 1994. Almost all 3,000 copies of the press' first book, Anarchism and the Black Revolution, written by activist Lorenzo Komboa Ervin, have sold out. The Monkey Wrench Press has published several pamphlets, including a series of writings by Voltairine de Cleyre, a late 19th-century anarchist and feminist who lived in Philadelphia, entitled On Marriage.

Plans for publishing in 1996 are extensive. According to Helms, two books are in the works, including an autobiography of Ervin and a translation of the short stories of French anarchist writer Octave Mirbeau, who was well known in the late 1890s. Many political writings are due to be published in pamphlets as well.

Helms points out that there are many anarchist fiction writers all over the world, but they are confined to the small presses because there is no money in publishing anarchist works.

As the publications of the Monkey Wrench Press and the new acquisition of the Fletcher Center give the Philadelphia branch of the IWW more notoriety, space and flexibility to expand activities into new areas of the city, the national IWW is expanding as well.

In addition to the 18 branches that are established throughout the U.S., Chase reported that the IWW has branches in England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Australia, Canada and Austria. He also said that one quarter of the IWW membership is involved in educational activities throughout the world.

As the local branch of Wobblies brings its writings, experiences and revolutionary theories to the desolate neighborhoods of North Philadelphia, they come with the hope that they can all, as Bob Helms described, have "the roses of life."