Industrial Workers of the World Day

Industrial Workers of the World Day draws our attention to the importance of industrial workers. Today, industry is becoming increasingly modernized, and it seems to many people that enterprises are fully automated and robotic. But this is not true: there are still many workers in the world who work in factories and industry, producing the goods we need.

History

In June 1905, workers in industrial Chicago founded an international union called the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). The time for such a workers’ organization was ripe, as there was significant tension in the industrial world, with many workers dissatisfied with the treatment they received from their employers.

In the following decades, the IWW devoted itself to defending the rights of industrial workers and fighting for decent and fair treatment. Before the outbreak of the First World War, members of the IWW opposed the United States’ participation in the war. The government used this as a pretext for repression against the IWW—many of its members were arrested and sentenced to long prison terms, some as long as 20 years.

Interesting Facts

The author of the well-known books about Tarzan and the Martians, Edgar Rice Burroughs, wrote a sharply negative hero—a member of the IWW—in his novel “The Land That Time Forgot.” He was portrayed as a criminal and an informer. Aggressive attacks by the press and intellectuals led to public contempt for the IWW, and lynchings of its members were staged. In 1919, war veteran Wesley Everest was tortured and hanged three times in three different locations. According to investigators at the time, Everest “committed suicide”—three times, in three different places.

How to Take Part

Celebrate Industrial Workers of the World Day by paying respect to the people who make most of the items we use every day.

1. Congratulate your fellow workers on the holiday.
2. Post about it on your social media.
3. Teach your children where the things we use every day come from.

When is Industrial Workers of the World Day in 2025?

Industrial Workers of the World Day is observed on June 27 each year.

Observations