No one really knows the exact reason why members of the Industrial Workers of the World (I.W.W.) labor union members became known as “Wobblies.” The union’s own website offers up four possible explanations. What is known about the IWW, founded in Chicago in 1905, is that it has always been controversial for its unabashedly socialistContinue reading “1924 Klan raid on San Pedro union hall included tarring and feathering, injuries to children”
Tag Archives: labor
Tumultuous dockworker strikes helped to form, strengthen the ILWU
Waterfront labor leader Harry Bridges, whom we’ve written about several times, led the movement to unionize West Coast dockworkers when he formed the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) in 1933. After meeting stiff resistance in contract negotiations with the Waterfront Employers Association (WEA), which represented shipping company owners, the union voted to strike in May 1934.Continue reading “Tumultuous dockworker strikes helped to form, strengthen the ILWU”
