Million Worker March: Wobs Report Back

Several members of the Pittsburgh General Membership Branch of the IWW and others took part in the Million Worker March this past Sunday in Washington DC. Those from the Pittsburgh IWW joined up with the IWW contingent and other radicals staking out their own place in this larger rally. What follows is taken from the IWW report back posted on infoshop.org written after the rally.

To see the red and black IWW banners, flags and balloons flying above the gathering of Wobblies on October 17 at the base of the Lincoln Memorial, you'd think you had stepped back in time. Considering the efforts undertaken by bosses and the state to crush the Industrial Workers of the World in the first half of the twentieth century, this was perhaps the largest showing of Wobs in 70 years.

Close to 100 Wobblies joined several thousand other workers, students and activists for the Million Worker March in Washington, DC as an organized contingent. The rally and march itself was initiated by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, or ILWU. While the overall turn-out for the rally itself was disappointing, numbering perhaps 5,000 or less due to a de facto ban by the AFL-CIO leadership, police interference with union buses and internal labor coalition shortfalls, it was inspiring to meet, sing and march in a large and visible presence.

An initial contingent comprised of the IWW, the Federation of Revolutionary Anarchist Collectives, or FRAC, the NorthEastern Federation of Anarchist-Communists, or NEFAC, and the Workers Solidarity Alliance, or WSA, met between 11:00 and 11:45 am on the west side of the Washington Monument until police demanded the gathering leave, calling the convergence a “demonstration” that was not allowed on monument grounds. The contingent then left the area marching along the southern edge of the Reflecting Pool singing songs such as “Solidarity Forever,” “There is Power in a Union,” and “A las Barricadas” among others. Wobblies set up a merchandise and information table at the edge of the Reflecting Pool near the Lincoln Memorial that drew large crowds throughout the day. Additionally, a massive amount of literature was distributed, both by the IWW (the Industrial Worker) and NEFAC (Strike!) as well as through FRAC’s table, and folks were incredibly receptive.

The rally itself consisted of speaker after speaker addressing the crowd from noon until just after 4pm, leaving many wondering if there was going to be a march at all. A Wobbly had initially been invited to speak only to be “uninvited” at the last minute. As a union, the IWW’s power rests in its ability to organize and energize workers and perhaps the most persuasive argument against the business unionism of the AFL-CIO bureaucracy is the example set by solidarity unionism in a constructive and practical form.

One criticism of the rally itself, apart from the external actions of police or AFL-CIO leadership, was the seeming lack of accessible information as to how it would progress. There were plans for a march to take place after the rally in support of HERE hotel workers, but conflicting reports and a lack of specifics confused many. A discussion took place among the IWW, NEFAC, FRAC and WSA regarding post-rally plans but a solid consensus could not be reached, prompting many to leave before the march in support of hotel workers occurred. Regardless, many Wobblies who traveled from as far away as the Bay Area, Lawrence, Kansas and Detroit, Michigan had a time limit for any further activities and were unable to participate.

Pittsburghers were pleased that the decision was finally made to march to the downtown Hilton Hotel to support the UNITE-HERE workers involved in a labor dispute there. Members of the Pittsburgh IWW marched with other Wobs, FRAC, and NEFAC members in a radical contingent. We attempted to insert a critique of the wage system and capitalism into this already rowdy march. We were inspired by workers at the hotel leaning out windows with their fists raised in response to the march arriving at the hotel. There were many other windows filled with workers doing their best to hear what was happening at the rally. We let management of the hotel know that the community is watching how they treat their staff and they are accountable to a larger movement that supports working class struggle.

- Jeremy Shenk is the Administrative Assistant at the Thomas Merton Center. He is a delegate for the IWW, a resident of Bloomfield and a proud Steelers fan.