First Convention of the Industrial Workers of the World

When Bill Haywood used a board to gavel to order the first convention of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), he announced, "this is the Continental Congress of the working class. We are here to confederate the workers of this country into a working class movement that shall have for its purpose the emancipation of the working class..."

The first step towards the founding of the Industrial Workers of the World had already been taken in the fall of 1904 in an informal conference of six leaders in the socialist and labor movement: William Trautmann, George Estes, W. L. Hall, Isaac Cowen, Clarence Smith, and Thomas J. Hagerty. Others, including Eugene V. Debs and Charles O. Sherman, cooperated with them without being present at this meeting. These men shared the conviction that the existing American labor unions were unable to achieve real benefits for the workers. Some, such as the American Federation of Labor, were conservative and "". Others, including the American Labor Union (ALU), the Western Federation of Miners (WFM) and the Socialist Trade and Labor Alliance (STALA), were ineffective in negotiating with employers for other reasons, such as a lack of solidarity and cooperation. The WFM had recently been damaged by government intervention and vigilantism during the Colorado Labor Wars.

Those at the informal conference decided to arrange a larger meeting to be held on January 2, 1905 in Chicago, to which about 30 people were invited. This secret conference - known as the January conference - was attended by 23 individuals, formally representing 9 organizations. The conference wrote a manifesto, which indicted the existing American labor movement - especially the craft form of organization; proposed plans for a new form of labor organization; and called for a convention to organize that new labor union. A founding convention was to be held again in Chicago on June 27. The manifesto was signed by all who were present at the January conference and sent to all unions in America as well as the industrial unions in Europe.

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