wobblydev:

thehemoscrotum:

wobblydev:

Want to join the One Big Union for all workers? Follow these simple steps to get involved!
www.iww.org
www.wobblydev.com

Alright so I’m in a predicament. I recently left my local union because I was promoted to a part time management position, and our local contract says no union member has the power to write up or send home another. I am not able to hire or fire. Can I still join the IWW?

Also: The next promotion up would give me the power to fire, so I would have to leave the IWW. I will have to take the next promotion up when I am eligible because living in NY in a proper home that isnt just a room with a shared toilet is increasingly difficult. If I cant be in my local union, and I cant be a member of the IWW, is there another union or organization or mutual aid group akin to a union I could join? I am still very much so an exploited worker, just also a boss. Its frustrating, my ideals or my life have to get sacked.

If you do not currently have the power to hire or fire, and are not a cop, politician or paid union officer, then you can and should join the IWW.

It’s not uncommon for wobblies to get promoted to positions of authority in their workplace, so don’t worry. You may indeed need to leave the IWW at some future date, but there are secondary organizations which need so much support and committed activists.

The Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee is a prison abolitionist group supporting the millions of people who have been abducted and held in bondage by the state.

The General Defense Committee is the community defense arm of the IWW. It has its own bylaws, dues, delegates and chartering process.

Both of these are programs of the IWW, but you do not need to be a dues-paying wobbly to join them and help the work along. Find the closest chapter to you, attend a meeting and ask what work needs doing.

Even when you are forced through material need to take that promotion and leave the union, you might be able in some small ways to use your authority to improve the working lives of your coworkers. 

A warning: that can be very difficult because of the hierarchy and strata of most jobs. If you get promoted high enough, your class interests might organically shift, simply because you are scrutinized for how much labor value you can extract from those working beneath you, instead of how much labor value you yourself produce.

Don’t torture yourself if you need to take the promotion. Do what you can to continue fighting. Join the IWOC or the GDC. Keep in touch with your local affinity groups to maintain your presence of the class struggle. You’ll do all right.