Industrial Workers of the World

Labour movement founded in Chicago, USA in 1905, and in Australia in 1907, the members of which were popularly known as the Wobblies. The IWW was dedicated to the overthrow of capitalism and the creation of a single union for workers, but divided on tactics.

At its peak, (1912–15), the organization claimed to have 100,000 members, mainly in western mining and lumber areas, and in the textile mills of New England. Demonstrations were violently suppressed by the authorities. It gradually declined in popularity after 1917. See also syndicalism.