Where does the IWW fit in?
The IWW can and should organise where trade union membership/coverage rights/awards exist and don’t exist – i.e. everywhere! What I mean by that is there are some sectors where trade unions have no real ability to organise due to the fairly rigid bureaucratic structure of most of them – sectors like ‘cash in hand’, seasonal workers, labour hire, ‘illegals’, self-employed, etc. The IWW is perfect there without the need for a trade union because those workers have little ‘legal’ rights and self-organising will deliver greater benefits than doing nothing. However with established industries where trade unions currently operate, I think the two approaches can go together. Trade unions offer a range of ‘services’, whether legal/industrial/OHS for member discounts like ‘union shopper’ etc. The IWW cannot reproduce these ‘services’ (and in my opinion should not even try to). The IWW should be the union which teaches workers how to use direct action on the job, and in the community to fight th
