Bill Haywood
Born	February 4, 1869(1869-02-04) Salt Lake City, Utah
Died	May 18, 1928 (aged 59) Moscow, USSR
Occupation	Labor leader

William Dudley Haywood (February 4, 1869–May 18, 1928), better known as Big Bill Haywood, was a prominent figure in the American labor movement. Haywood was a leader of the Western Federation of Miners (WFM), a founding member and leader of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), and a member of the Executive Committee of the Socialist Party of America. During the first two decades of the 20th century, he was involved in several important labor battles, including the Colorado Labor Wars, the Lawrence textile strike, and other textile strikes in Massachusetts and New Jersey. is the 35th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1869 (MDCCCLXIX) is a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... For ships of the United States Navy of the same name, see USS Salt Lake City. ... is the 138th day of the year (139th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1928 (MCMXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see Moscow (disambiguation). ... State motto (Russian): Пролетарии всех стран, соединяйтесь! (Transliterated: Proletarii vsekh stran, soedinyaytes!) (Translated: Workers of the world, unite!) Capital Moscow Official language None; Russian (de facto) Government Federation of Soviet republics Area  - Total  - % water 1st before collapse 22,402,200 km² Approx. ... The labour movement or labor movement is a broad term for the development of a collective organization of working people, to campaign in their own interest for better treatment from their employers and political governments, in particular through the implementation of specific laws governing labor relations. ... is the 35th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1869 (MDCCCLXIX) is a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... is the 138th day of the year (139th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1928 (MCMXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Lawrence textile strike (1912), with soldiers surrounding peaceful demonstrators Labor unions in the United States function as legally recognized representatives of workers in numerous industries. ... Western Federation of Miners famous flyer entitled Is Colorado in America? The Western Federation of Miners (WFM) was a radical labor union that gained a reputation for militancy in the mine fields of the western United States. ... The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW or the Wobblies) is an international union currently headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. At its peak in 1923 the organization claimed some 100,000 members in good standing, and could marshal the support of perhaps 300,000 workers. ... The Socialist Party of America (SPA) is a socialist political party in the United States. ... Colorados most significant battles between labor and capital occurred primarily between miners and mine operators. ... Massachusetts militiamen with fixed bayonets surround a parade of peaceful strikers Flyer distributed in Lawrence, September 1912 The Lawrence textile strike was a strike of immigrant workers in Lawrence, Massachusetts in 1912 led by the Industrial Workers of the World. ... This article is about the U.S. state. ... This article is about the U.S. state. ...

Haywood was an advocate of industrial unionism,^[1] a labor philosophy that favors organizing all workers in an industry under one union, regardless of the specific trade or skill level; this was in contrast to the craft unions that were prevalent at the time, such as the AFL.^[2] His belief that workers of all ethnicities should be united also clashed with many unions.^[3] His strong preference for direct action over political tactics alienated him from the Socialist Party, and contributed to his dismissal in 1913.^[4] Industrial unionism is a labor union organizing method through which all workers in the same industry are organized into the same union — regardless of skill or trade — thus giving workers in one industry, or in all industries, more leverage in bargaining and in strike situations. ... Craft unionism, or sometimes trade unionism, is a labor union organizing method by which labor unions are divided along the lines of workers specific trades, regardless of what industry they work in. ... The American Federation of Labor (AFL) was one of the first federations of labor unions in the United States. ... For the Canadian urban guerrilla group Direct Action, see Squamish Five. ...

Never one to shy from violent conflicts,^[4] Haywood was frequently the target of prosecutors. His trial for the murder of Frank Steunenberg in 1907 (of which he was acquitted) drew national attention; in 1918, he was one of 101 IWW members convicted of violating the Espionage Act of 1917. While out of prison during an appeal of his conviction, Haywood fled to Russia, where he spent the remaining years of his life. Frank Steunenberg (August 8, 1861–December 30, 1905) was the governor of the U.S. state of Idaho from 1897 until 1901. ... The Espionage Act of 1917 was a United States federal law passed shortly after entering World War I, on June 15, 1917, which made it a crime for a person to convey information with intent to interfere with the operation or success of the armed forces of the United States...

Biography

Early life

Haywood was born in 1869 in Salt Lake City, Utah Territory. His father, a Pony Express rider, died of pneumonia when Haywood was three years old.^[5] At age nine, he injured his right eye while whittling, permanently blinding it. Haywood never had his damaged eye replaced with a glass eye; when photographed, he would turn his head to show his left profile. Also at age nine, he began working in the mines; he never received much formal education. After brief stints as a cowboy and a homesteader, he returned to mining in 1896.^[1] High-profile events such as the destruction of the Molly Maguires,^[6] the Haymarket Riot in 1886 and the Pullman Strike in 1894 fostered Haywood's interest in the labor movement.^[5] The Salt Lake Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is Salt Lake Citys top tourist draw. ... The Utah Territory was an organized territory of the United States that existed between 1850 and 1896. ... Frank E. Webner, pony express rider c. ... Look up Whittle in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A prosthetic right eye, made from acrylic An ocular prosthetic or artificial eye replaces a missing natural eye following an enucleation or envisceration that was lost due to disease or injury. ... This article is about mineral extractions. ... For other uses, see Cowboy (disambiguation). ... The Homestead Act is a piece of U.S. legislation which gave one quarter of a section of a township (160 acres, or about 65 hectares) of undeveloped land in the American West to any family head provided he lived on it for five years, or allowed the family head... For the movie, see The Molly Maguires (film). ... The Haymarket Riot on May 4, 1886 in Chicago is generally considered to have been an important influence on the origin of international May Day observances for workers. ... Pullman Strike began on May 11, 1894. ...

Western Federation of Miners involvement

In 1896, Ed Boyce, president of the Western Federation of Miners, spoke at the Idaho silver mine where Haywood was working.^[5] Inspired by his speech, Haywood signed up as a WFM member, thus formally beginning his involvement in America's labor movement. Western Federation of Miners famous flyer entitled Is Colorado in America? The Western Federation of Miners (WFM) was a radical labor union that gained a reputation for militancy in the mine fields of the western United States. ... -1...

Haywood immediately became active in the WFM, and by 1900 he had become a member of the national union's General Executive Board. In 1902, he became secretary-treasurer of the WFM, the number two position after President Charles Moyer. That year, the WFM became involved in the Colorado Labor Wars, a struggle centered in the Cripple Creek mining district that lasted for several years and took the lives of 33 union and non-union workers.^[5] The WFM initiated a series of strikes designed to extend the benefits of the union to other workers, who suffered from brutal working conditions and starvation wages. The defeat of these strikes led to Haywood's belief in "One Big Union" organized along industrial lines to bring broader working class support for labour struggles.^[1] For the actual trade union, see One Big Union (Canada). ... The term working class is used to denote a social class. ...

Foundation of the Industrial Workers of the World

Late in 1904, several prominent labor radicals met in Chicago, Illinois to lay down plans for a new revolutionary union.^[7] A manifesto was written and sent around the country. Unionists who agreed with the manifesto were invited to attend a convention to found the new union which was to become the Industrial Workers of the World. For other uses, see Chicago (disambiguation). ... This article is about the U.S. State. ... The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW or the Wobblies) is an international union currently headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. At its peak in 1923 the organization claimed some 100,000 members in good standing, and could marshal the support of perhaps 300,000 workers. ...

At 10 A.M. on June 27, 1905, Haywood addressed the crowd assembled at Brand's Hall in Chicago.^[8] In the audience were two hundred delegates from organizations all over the country representing socialists, anarchists, miners, industrial unionists and rebel workers. Haywood opened the First Convention of the Industrial Workers of the World with the following speech:^[8] is the 178th day of the year (179th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see 1905 (disambiguation). ... Socialism is any economic system in which the means of production are owned and controlled collectively or a political philosophy advocating such a system. ... Anarchists can refer to several things, among which: The movie Anarchists Supporters of the principles of anarchism The Anarchists (Les Anarchistes), a famous song from Léo Ferré A List of anarchists This is a disambiguation page—a list of articles associated with the same title. ... Industrial unionism is a labor union organizing method through which all workers in the same industry are organized into the same union -- regardless of skill or trade -- thus giving workers in one industry, or in all industries, more leverage in bargaining and in strike situations. ...

Fellow Workers, 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 from the slave bondage of capitalism. The aims and objects of this organization shall be to put the working-class in possession of the economic power, the means of life, in control of the machinery of production and distribution, without regard to capitalist masters. The Continental Congress resulted from the American Revolution and was the de facto first national government of the United States. ...

Other speakers at the convention included Eugene Debs, leader of the Socialist Party of America, and Mother Mary Jones, an organizer for the United Mine Workers of America.^[8] After its foundation, the IWW would become aggressively involved in the labor movement. May refer to the politcal leader Eugene_V._Debs May also be in reference to a a debutante ball, a formal party undertaken by the leaving members of second-level schools in Ireland, most often in the month of August or September. ... The Socialist Party of America (SPA) is a socialist political party in the United States. ... This page is about the United States community organizer; there is also a magazine named after her. ... United Mine Workers of America seal The United Mine Workers (UMW or UMWA) is a United States labor union that represents workers in mining. ...

Murder trial

1907 photo of defendants Charles Moyer, Bill Haywood, and George Pettibone

On December 30, 1905, Frank Steunenberg was killed by an explosion in front of his Caldwell, Idaho home. A former governor of Idaho, Steunenberg had clashed with the WFM in previous strikes. Harry Orchard, a former WFM member who had once acted as WFM President Charles Moyer's bodyguard^[9] was arrested for the crime, and evidence was found in his hotel room.^[10] Famed Pinkerton detective James McParland, who had infiltrated and helped to destroy the Molly Maguires, was placed in charge of the investigation.^[11] This biography does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... is the 364th day of the year (365th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see 1905 (disambiguation). ... Frank Steunenberg (August 8, 1861–December 30, 1905) was the governor of the U.S. state of Idaho from 1897 until 1901. ... Nickname: Motto: More to Offer Location in Canyon County and the state of Idaho Coordinates: , Country State County Canyon Government  - Mayor Garret Nancolas Area  - City  11. ... -1... Harry Orchard was born Albert Horsley in 1867 in Ontario, Canada. ... Pinkerton guards escort strikebreakers in Buchtel, Ohio, 1884 The Pinkerton National Detective Agency, usually shortened to the Pinkertons, was a private U.S. security guard and detective agency established by Allan Pinkerton in 1850. ... James McParland[1] was a Pinkerton agent. ... Labor spies may be referred to as spies, operatives, agents, agents provocateurs, saboteurs, infiltrators, informants, spotters, special police, or detectives. ... For the movie, see The Molly Maguires (film). ...

Before any trial had occurred, McParland ordered that Orchard be placed on death row in the Boise penitentiary, with restricted food rations and under constant surveillance. After McParland had prepared his investigation, he met with Orchard over a "sumptuous lunch" followed by cigars.^[12] The Pinkerton detective told Orchard that he could escape immediate hanging only if he implicated the leaders of the WFM.^[13] In addition to using the threat of hanging, McParland promised food, cigars, better treatment, possible freedom, and even a possible financial reward if Orchard cooperated.^[14] The detective obtained a 64-page confession from Orchard in which the suspect took responsibility for a string of crimes and at least seventeen murders.^[15]

McParland then used perjured extradition papers, which falsely stated that WFM leaders had been at the scene of the Steunenberg murder,^[16] to cross the state line into Denver, Colorado and arrest Haywood, Moyer, and George Pettibone.^[5] On February 17, 1906, in what writer Peter Carlson described as a "kidnapping scheme,"^[17] McParland forced the three men onto a special train and extradited them to Idaho before the courts in Denver could intervene.^[18] The abductions were so egregious that even American Federation of Labor president Samuel Gompers, who had little good to say about the WFM, directed his union to raise funds for the defense.^[19] Yet a habeas corpus appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court failed, with only Justice Joseph McKenna dissenting.^[20] Nickname: Location of Denver in the State of Colorado Location of Colorado in the United States Coordinates: , Country United States State State of Colorado City and County Denver[1] Founded 1858-11-22, as Denver City, K.T.[2] Incorporated 1861-11-07, as Denver City, C.T.[3] Consolidated... This biography does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... is the 48th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1906 (MCMVI) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... The American Federation of Labor (AFL) was one of the first federations of labor unions in the United States. ... Samuel Gompers (January 27, 1850[1] - December 13, 1924) was an American labor union leader and a key figure in American labor history. ... For other uses, see Habeas corpus (disambiguation). ... The Supreme Court of the United States (sometimes colloquially referred to by the acronym SCOTUS[1]) is the highest judicial body in the United States and leads the federal judiciary. ... Joseph McKenna (August 10, 1843–November 21, 1926) was an American politician who served in all three branches of the U.S. federal government, as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, as U.S. Attorney General and as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. ...

Haywood's trial began on May 9, 1907, with famed Chicago defense attorney Clarence Darrow defending him. The government had only the testimony of Orchard,^[21] the confessed bomber, to implicate Haywood and the other defendants, and Orchard's checkered past and admitted violent history were skillfully exploited by Darrow.^[5] During the trial Orchard admitted that he had acted as a paid informant of the Mine Owners' Association,^[22] in effect working for both sides. He admitted to accepting money from Pinkerton detectives, and had caused explosions during mining disputes before he had met Moyer or Haywood.^[23] After Darrow's final summation (which moved many in the courtroom to tears),^[5] the jury acquitted Haywood. Darrow was ill, however, and withdrew from the subsequent trial of George Pettibone, leaving Judge Hilton of Denver in charge of the defense. After a second jury acquitted Pettibone, the charges against Moyer were dropped. is the 129th day of the year (130th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1907 (MCMVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Clarence Seward Darrow (April 18, 1857 Kinsman Township, Trumbull County, Ohio - March 13, 1938 Chicago) was an American lawyer and leading member of the American Civil Liberties Union, best known for defending teenage thrill killers Leopold and Loeb in their trial for murdering 14-year-old Bobby Franks (1924) and... A Mine Owners Association, also sometimes referred to as a Mine Operators Association or a Mine Owners Protective Association, is the combination of individual mining companies, or groups of mining companies, into an association, established for the purpose of promoting the collective interests of the group. ... Orrin N. Hilton was a Denver judge and attorney who participated for the defense in several famous court cases. ...

Lawrence textile strike

For more details on this topic, see Lawrence textile strike.

Bill Haywood had left the WFM and was organizing for the IWW by the time the Lawrence textile strike in Lawrence, Massachusetts garnered national attention. On January 11, 1912, textile mill workers in Lawrence left their jobs in protest of lowered wages. Within a week, twenty thousand workers were on strike. The IWW already had a presence in Lawrence and assumed leadership of the strike. Massachusetts militiamen with fixed bayonets surround a parade of peaceful strikers Flyer distributed in Lawrence, September 1912 The Lawrence textile strike was a strike of immigrant workers in Lawrence, Massachusetts in 1912 led by the Industrial Workers of the World. ... Massachusetts militiamen with fixed bayonets surround a parade of peaceful strikers Flyer distributed in Lawrence, September 1912 The Lawrence textile strike was a strike of immigrant workers in Lawrence, Massachusetts in 1912 led by the Industrial Workers of the World. ...   Settled: 1655 â€“ Incorporated: 1847 Zip Code(s): 01840 â€“ Area Code(s): 351 / 978 Official website: http://www. ... is the 11th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1912 (MCMXII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Sunday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ...

Authorities responded by calling out police, and the strike quickly escalated into violence. Local IWW leaders Joseph Ettor and Arturo Giovannitti were jailed on charges of murdering Anna LoPizzo,^[24] a striker that nineteen witnesses^[25] said was killed by police gunfire,^[26] and martial law was declared. In response, Haywood and other organizers arrived to take charge of the strike. A national outrage was sparked when authorities forcibly detained a group of women and children who were being evacuated from the town. A congressional hearing and the attention of President Howard Taft pressured the mill owners into cooperating with the strikers; on March 12, the owners agreed to all the demands of the strikers, officially ending the strike. Joseph J. Ettor (1886- ) served as one of the leaders of an American labor party named the Industrial Workers of the World which conducted its first great Eastern strike involving some 35,000 workers in 1912 at Lawrence, Massachusetts. ... 1912 arrest, Giovannitti right, with Ettor and Joseph Caruso Arturo M. Giovannitti (1884-1959) was an Italian-American union leader and poet, an immigrant from Italy who entered the United States in 1901. ... Anna LoPizzo was a striker killed during the Lawrence textile strike (also known as the Bread and Roses strike), considered one of the most significant struggles in U.S. labor history. ... Type Bicameral Houses Senate House of Representatives President of the Senate President pro tempore Dick Cheney, (R) since January 20, 2001 Robert C. Byrd, (D) since January 4, 2007 Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, (D) since January 4, 2007 Members 535 plus 4 Delegates and 1 Resident Commissioner Political... William Howard Taft I (September 15, 1857–March 8, 1930) was the 27th President of the United States (1909-1913), and the 10th Chief Justice of the United States (1921 - 1930). ... is the 71st day of the year (72nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

However, Haywood and the IWW were not yet finished in Lawrence; despite the end of the strike, Ettor and Giovannitti remained in prison. Haywood threatened the authorities with another strike, saying "Open the jail gates or we will close the mill gates." Legal efforts and a one-day strike on September 30 did not prompt the authorities to drop the charges. However, on November 26, Ettor and Giovannitti were acquitted. is the 273rd day of the year (274th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 330th day of the year (331st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

Socialist Party of America involvement

For many years, Haywood was an active member of the Socialist Party of America. Haywood had always been largely Marxist in his political views, and campaigned for Eugene Debs during the 1908 presidential election, traveling by train with Debs around the country.^[4] Haywood also represented the Socialist Party as a delegate to the 1910 congress of the Second International, an organization working towards international socialism.^[4] In 1912, he was elected to the Socialist Party National Executive Committee. The Socialist Party of America (SPA) is a socialist political party in the United States. ... May refer to the politcal leader Eugene_V._Debs May also be in reference to a a debutante ball, a formal party undertaken by the leaving members of second-level schools in Ireland, most often in the month of August or September. ... Presidential electoral votes by state. ... The phrase Second International has two meanings: For the international association of socialist parties of the late 19th century, see Second International (politics) and a successor organization, the Socialist International For one of the Merriam-Webster dictionaries of American English, see Websters New International Dictionary, Second Edition This is...

However, the aggressive tactics of Haywood and the IWW, along with their call for abolition of the wage system and the overthrow of capitalism created tension with more moderate members of the Socialist Party. Haywood and the IWW focused on direct action and strikes, which often led to violence, and were less concerned with political tactics.^[27] In a party opposed to violence and dedicated to respectability, Haywood openly advised socialists and workers to practice sabotage and risk imprisonment to foster revolution. This conflict eventually led to Haywood's recall from the National Executive Committee in January of 1913;^[28] thousands of IWW members left the Socialist Party with him.^[27] For the Canadian urban guerrilla group Direct Action, see Squamish Five. ...

Other labor involvement

1913 photo of Paterson silk strike leaders Patrick Quinlan, Carlo Tresca, Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, Adolph Lessig, and Haywood

In 1913, Haywood was involved in the Paterson silk strike. Haywood and approximately 1,850 strikers were arrested during the course of the strike.^[29] Despite the long holdout and fundraising efforts, the strike ended in failure on July 28, 1913. The Paterson silk strike of 1913 was a strike of the silk mill workers in Paterson, New Jersey. ... Carlo Tresca (1879-1943) was a skilled labour agitator. ... Elizabeth Gurley Flynn (1890-1964) was born in Concord, New Hampshire on 7 August, 1890. ... The Paterson silk strike of 1913 was a strike of the silk mill workers in Paterson, New Jersey. ... is the 209th day of the year (210th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1913 (MCMXIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ...

Espionage trial

Haywood and the IWW frequently clashed with the government during their labor actions. The onset of World War I gave the federal government the opportunity to take action against Haywood and the IWW.^[30] Using the newly passed Espionage Act of 1917 as justification, the Department of Justice raided forty-eight IWW meeting halls on September 5th, 1917.^[27] The Department of Justice, with the approval of President Woodrow Wilson, then proceeded to arrest 165 IWW members for "conspiring to hinder the draft, encourage desertion, and intimidate others in connection with labor disputes."^[30] “The Great War ” redirects here. ... The Espionage Act of 1917 was a United States federal law passed shortly after entering World War I, on June 15, 1917, which made it a crime for a person to convey information with intent to interfere with the operation or success of the armed forces of the United States... Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building, Washington, D.C. For animal rights group, see Justice Department (JD) The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) is a Cabinet department in the United States government designed to enforce the law and defend the interests of the United States according to the... Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856—February 3, 1924), was the twenty-eighth President of the United States. ...

In April 1918, Haywood and 100 of the arrested IWW members began their trial, presided over by Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis. The trial lasted five months, the longest criminal trial up to that time; Haywood himself testified for three days.^[30] All 101 defendants were found guilty, and Haywood (along with fourteen others) was sentenced to twenty years in prison. Kenesaw Mountain Landis Kenesaw Mountain Landis (November 20, 1866 – November 25, 1944) was an American jurist who served as a federal judge from 1905 to 1922, and subsequently as the first commissioner of Major League Baseball. ...

Despite the efforts of his supporters, Haywood was unable to overturn the conviction. In 1921, Haywood skipped bail while out on appeal and fled to Russia. In Russia, Haywood became an advisor to Lenin's Bolshevik government,^[5] but Lenin's illness and death and Stalin's rise to power ended his role as an advisor to the Soviet labor movement. At the invitation of CPUSA member Gus Hall, Idaho newspaper reporter John B. Chapple traveled to Moscow in 1927 in an attempt to interview Haywood, only to find him in a small apartment, barely coherent and suffering from advanced diabetes. This article is about the Bolshevik faction in the RSDLP 1903-1912. ... Gus Hall Gus Hall (October 8, 1910 – October 13, 2000) was a labor organizer, a founder of the United Steelworkers of America trade union, a leader of the Communist Party USA, and five-time U.S. presidential candidate. ...

Haywood died in Moscow in 1928. Half of his ashes were buried in the Kremlin and an urn containing the other half of his ashes was sent to Chicago and buried near the Haymarket Martyrs' Monument.^[5] For other uses, see Moscow (disambiguation). ... The Moscow Kremlin The Moscow Kremlin ( Russian: Московский Кремль) is the best known kremlin ( Russian citadel). ... The Haymarket Riot on May 4, 1886 in Chicago is generally considered to have been an important influence on the origin of international May Day observances for workers. ...

Haywood's labor philosophy

Industrial unionism

Even before Haywood first became an official with the Western Federation of Miners, he was convinced that the system under which working people toiled was unjust. He described the execution of the Haymarket leaders in 1887 as a turning point in his life, predisposing him toward membership in the largest organization of the day, the Knights of Labor.^[31] Haywood had watched men die in unsafe mine tunnels, and had marched with Kelly's Army. He had suffered a serious hand injury in the mines, and found that his only support came from other miners. When Haywood listened to Ed Boyce of the WFM addressing a group of miners in 1896, he discovered radical unionism and welcomed it.^[32] The Haymarket Riot on May 4, 1886 in Chicago is generally considered to have been an important influence on the origin of international May Day observances for workers. ... Knights of Labor seal The Knights of Labor, also known as Noble and Holy Order of the Knights of Labor, was founded by seven Philadelp tailors in 1869, led by Uriah S. Stephens. ... Kellys Army is the western contigent of Coxeys Industrial Army of the Unemployed, better known as Coxeys Army, which marched on Washington DC in 1894 to agitate for jobs as the United States languished in its worst economic depression to that time. ...

Haywood also shared Boyce's skepticism of the role played by the American Federation of Labor (AFL). Haywood criticized labor officials who were, in his view, insufficiently supportive of Labor militants. For example, he recalled with disdain the opening remarks of Samuel Gompers when the AFL leader appeared before Illinois Governor Richard Oglesby on behalf of the Haymarket prisoners: The American Federation of Labor (AFL) was one of the first federations of labor unions in the United States. ... Samuel Gompers (January 27, 1850[1] - December 13, 1924) was an American labor union leader and a key figure in American labor history. ... Richard James Oglesby (1824 - 1899) was a U.S. political figure. ...

I have differed all my life with the principles and methods of the condemned.^[33]

Gompers was an advocate of craft unionism,^[2] the idea that workers should be separated into unions according to their skills. The AFL disdained to organize workers who were not skilled.^[34] Furthermore, in 1900 Gompers became the first vice-president of the National Civic Federation, which was "dedicated to the fostering of harmony and collaboration between capital and organized labor."^[35] But Haywood had become convinced by the experiences of striking railroad workers that a different union philosophy, some form of industrial unionism, was necessary for workers to obtain justice. This had become apparent in 1888 when the craft-organized locomotive firemen kept their engines running, helping their employers to break a strike called by the railroad engineers.^[36] by Leon CunninghamCraft unionism refers to an approach to union organizing in the United States and elsewhere that seeks to unify workers in a particular industry along the lines of the particular craft or trade that they work in. ... The National Civic Federation, was a federation of American businesses and labor leaders founded in 1900. ... Industrial unionism is a labor union organizing method through which all workers in the same industry are organized into the same union — regardless of skill or trade — thus giving workers in one industry, or in all industries, more leverage in bargaining and in strike situations. ...

Eugene V. Debs had been head of the locomotive firemen's union, but he resigned to create the American Railway Union (ARU), organized industrially to include all railroad workers.^[37] In June of 1894, the ARU voted to join in solidarity with the ongoing Pullman strike. Railroad traffic throughout the nation was "largely paralyzed. The effectiveness of the industrial form of unionism was evident from the start."^[38] The strike was eventually crushed by massive government intervention that included 2600 Deputy U.S. Marshals, and 14,000 state and federal troops in Chicago alone.^[39] Debs attempted to seek help from the American Federation of Labor. He asked that AFL railroad brotherhood affiliates present the following proposition to the Railway Managers' Association: Eugene Victor Debs (November 5, 1855 – October 20, 1926) was an American labor and political leader, one of the founders of the International Labor Union, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), and five-time Socialist Party of America candidate for President of the United States. ... On June 20, 1893, railway workers gathered in Chicago, Illinois, and founded the American Railway Union (ARU), the largest union of its time, and the first industrial union in the United States. ... Pullman Strike began on May 11, 1894. ...

...that the strikers return to work at once as a body, upon the condition that they be restored to their former positions, or, in the event of failure, to call a general strike.^[40]

Observing that the ARU was defenseless, AFL officials viewed the plight of the rival organization as an opportunity to boster their own railway affiliates, and instructed all AFL affiliates to withhold help. In spite of what Haywood perceived as "treachery" and "double-cross"^[41] by the AFL leadership — the ARU members had put their own organization at risk for others, but the AFL refused to even help them try to end the strike in a draw — the power of workers crossing their trade lines and jurisdictional boundaries to join together in a fight against capital greatly impressed him. He described the revelation of such power as "a great rift of light."^[36] A labor federation is a group of unions or labor organizations that are in some sense coordinated. ...

For Haywood, industrial union principles were later confirmed by the defeat of the Western Federation of Miners in the 1903-05 Cripple Creek strike due — he believed — to insufficient labor solidarity. The WFM miners had sought to extend the benefits of union to the mill workers who processed their ore. Since the government had crushed the ARU, the railroad workers were again organized along craft lines under the AFL. Those same railroad unions continued to haul the ore from mines that were run by strike breakers, to mills that were run by strike breakers. "The railroaders form the connecting link in the proposition that is scabby at both ends," Haywood complained. "This fight, which is entering its third year, could have been won in three weeks if it were not for the fact that the trade unions are lending assistance to the mine operators."^[34] The obvious solution, it seemed to Haywood, was for all of the workers to join the same union, and to take collective action in concert against the employers. The militants of the WFM referred to the AFL as the "American Separation of Labor,"^[42] a criticism that was later echoed by the Industrial Workers of the World.^[43] Western Federation of Miners famous flyer entitled Is Colorado in America? The Western Federation of Miners (WFM) was a radical labor union that gained a reputation for militancy in the mine fields of the western United States. ...

Haywood's revolutionary imperative

Haywood's industrial unionism was much broader than formulating a more effective method of conducting strikes. Haywood grew up a part of the working class,^[44] and his respect for working people was genuine.^[45] He was quickly angered by the arrogance of employers "who had never ... spoken to a workingman except to give orders."^[46] The term working class is used to denote a social class. ...

Having met Debs during his WFM days, Haywood had also become interested in the former railway leader's new passion, socialism.^[47] Haywood subscribed to the belief, and with Boyce, formulated as a new motto for the WFM, that:

Labor produces all wealth; all wealth belongs to the producer thereof.^[48]

Haywood observed how the government frequently took the side of business to defeat the tactics and the aspirations of the miners.^[49] During an 1899 organizing drive in Coeur d'Alene, with pay cuts as a motivating issue, the company hired spies and then fired organizers and pro-union miners. Some frustrated miners responded with violence and when two men were killed, martial law was declared.^[50] As they had done in a strike in Coeur d'Alene seven years earlier, soldiers acted as strike breakers. They rounded up hundreds of union members without formal charges and put them in a filthy, vermin-infested warehouse without sanitation services for a year. They were so crowded that the soldiers locked the overflow of prisoners in boxcars.^[51] One local union leader was imprisoned for 17 years.^[50] On July 11, 1892 miners in Coeur dAlene, Idaho commandeered trains, fired on scabs, and threatened to blow up nonunion equipment. ... Coeur dAlene may refer to Lake Coeur dAlene The Coeur DAlene Tribe, a First Nations/Native American tribe The Coeur dAlene language Coeur dAlene, Idaho, a city in the USA The Coeur dAlene River The Coeur dAlene Reservation The Coeur dAlene National...

Haywood considered the brutal conditions in Coeur d'Alene a manifestation of class warfare. In 1901 the miners agreed at the WFM convention that a "complete revolution of social and economic conditions" was "the only salvation of the working classes."^[52]

In the WFM's 1903-05 struggle in Colorado, with martial law once again in force, two declarations uttered by the National Guard and recorded for posterity further clarified the relationship of the mine operator's enforcement army — provided courtesy of the Colorado governor — to the workers. When union attorneys asked the courts to free illegally imprisoned strikers, Adjutant General Sherman Bell declared, "Habeas corpus be damned, we'll give 'em post mortems."^[53] Reminded of the Constitution, one of Bell's junior officers declared coolly, "To hell with the Constitution. We're not going by the Constitution."^[54] For other uses, see Habeas corpus (disambiguation). ... This article is about the medical procedure. ...

Haywood at a convention in Chicago (1917)

General Bell had been the manager of one of the coal mines in Cripple Creek where the strike was taking place.^[55] It wasn't any surprise to Haywood that soldiers seemed to be working in the interests of the employers; he had seen that situation before.^[49] But when the Colorado legislature acknowledged the complaints of organized labor and passed an eight hour law, the Colorado supreme court declared it unconstitutional.^[56] So the WFM took the issue to the voters, and 72 percent of the state's voters approved the referendum.^[49] But the Cololorado government ignored the results of the referendum.^[49] The 8-hour day movement or 40-hour week movement (a. ...

To members of the WFM, it became clear that government favored the companies, and only direct action by organized workers could secure the eight hour day for themselves. When miners in Idaho Springs and Telluride decided to strike for the eight hour day, they were rounded up at gunpoint by vigilante groups and expelled from their communities. Warrants were issued for the arrest of the law-breaking vigilantes, but they were not acted upon.^[57] Idaho Springs is a city located in Clear Creek County, Colorado. ... Telluride is either: A compound of a metal with the element Tellurium. ...

Haywood complained that John D. Rockefeller was "wielding more power with his golf sticks than could the people of Colorado with their ballots."^[58] It appeared to Haywood that the deck was stacked, and no enduring gains could be won for the workers short of changing the rules of the game. Increasingly, his industrial unionism took on a revolutionary flavor.^[59] In 1905 Haywood joined the more left-leaning socialists, labor anarchists in the Haymarket tradition, and other militant unionists to formulate the concept of revolutionary industrial unionism that animated the Industrial Workers of the World. Haywood called this philosophy "socialism with its working clothes on."^[60] John Davison Rockefeller, Sr. ... Industrial unionism is a labor union organizing method through which all workers in the same industry are organized into the same union — regardless of skill or trade — thus giving workers in one industry, or in all industries, more leverage in bargaining and in strike situations. ... The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW or the Wobblies) is an international union currently headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. At its peak in 1923 the organization claimed some 100,000 members in good standing, and could marshal the support of perhaps 300,000 workers. ...

Haywood favored direct action. The socialist philosophy — which WFM supporter the Rev. Fr. Thomas J. Hagerty called "slowcialism" — did not seem hard-nosed enough for Haywood's labor instincts. After the Boise murder trial, he had come to believe, Thomas J. Hagerty The Reverend Fr. ...

It is to the ignominy of the Socialist Party and the Socialist Labor Party that they have so seldom joined forces with the I.W.W. in these desperate political struggles.^[61] The Socialist Party of America (SPA) is a socialist political party in the United States. ... The Socialist Labor Party of America (SLP) is the oldest socialist political party in the United States and the second oldest socialist party in the world. ...

While Haywood continued to champion direct action, he advocated the political action favored by the socialists as just one more mechanism for change, and only when it seemed relevant. At an October 1913 meeting of the Socialist Party, Haywood stated:

I advocate the industrial ballot alone when I address the workers in the textile industries of the East where a great majority are foreigners without political representation. But when I speak to American workingmen in the West I advocate both the industrial and the political ballot.^[62]

The "industrial ballot" referred to the methods (strikes, slowdowns, etc.) of the IWW.

Haywood seemed most comfortable with a philosophy arrived at through the hard-scrabble experiences of the workers. He had the ability to translate complex economic theories into simple ideas that resonated with working people. He would frequently preface his speeches with the statement, "Tonight I am going to speak on the class struggle and I am going to make it so plain that even a lawyer can understand it."^[63] He distilled the voluminous work of Karl Marx into a simple observation, "If one man has a dollar he didn't work for, some other man worked for a dollar he didn't get."^[63] While Haywood respected the work of Marx, he referred to it with irreverent humor. Acknowledging his scars from dangerous mining work, and from numerous fistfights with police and militia, he liked to say, "I've never read Marx's Capital, but I have the marks of capital all over me."^[64]

Haywood demonstrated his Marxist roots when, confronted by the Commission on Industrial Relations with an argument about the sanctity of private property, he responded that a capitalist's property merely represented "unpaid labor, surplus value."^[65] But the forum also gave Haywood an opportunity to compare the philosophy of the IWW with that of Marx and the socialist parties. Reminded by the Commission that socialists advocated ownership of the industries by the state, Haywood remembered in his autobiography that he had drawn a clear distinction. All of industry should be owned "by the workers," he observed.^[66] The Commission on Industrial Relations (Also known as the Walsh Report)[1] was a commission created by the US Congress on August 23, 1912. ...

Racial unity in the labor movement

Much of Haywood's philosophy relating to socialism, to the idea that industrial unionism was preferable to craft unionism, what he saw as the evils of the wage system, his attitude about corporations, militia, and politicians, seem to have been held in common with his mentor at the WFM, Ed Boyce. Boyce also called for legislation to forbid employment of aliens.^[67] Unlike Boyce and many other labor leaders and organizations of the time, Haywood believed that workers of all ethnicities should organize into the same union. According to Haywood, the IWW was "big enough to take in the black man, the white man; big enough to take in all nationalities - an organization that will be strong enough to obliterate state boundaries; to obliterate national boundaries."^[68] Industrial unionism is a labor union organizing method through which all workers in the same industry are organized into the same union — regardless of skill or trade — thus giving workers in one industry, or in all industries, more leverage in bargaining and in strike situations. ... by Leon CunninghamCraft unionism refers to an approach to union organizing in the United States and elsewhere that seeks to unify workers in a particular industry along the lines of the particular craft or trade that they work in. ...

In 1912, Haywood spoke at a convention for the Brotherhood of Timber Workers in Louisiana; at the time, interracial meetings in the state were illegal.^[3] Haywood insisted that the white workers invite the African American workers to their convention, declaring: This article is about the U.S. State. ... An African American (also Afro-American, Black American, or simply black) is a member of an ethnic group in the United States whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Africa. ...

You work in the same mills together. Sometimes a black man and a white man chop down the same tree together. You are meeting in a convention now to discuss the conditions under which you labor. Why not be sensible about this and call the Negroes into the Convention? If it is against the law, this is one time when the law should be broken.^[3]

Ignoring the law against interracial meetings, the convention invited the African American workers. The convention would eventually vote to affiliate with the IWW.^[3]

See also

Organized Labour portal

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Bill Haywood

• Industrial Workers of the World
• Western Federation of Miners

Image File history File links Syndicalism. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Wikiquote is one of a family of wiki-based projects run by the Wikimedia Foundation, running on MediaWiki software. ... The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW or the Wobblies) is an international union currently headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. At its peak in 1923 the organization claimed some 100,000 members in good standing, and could marshal the support of perhaps 300,000 workers. ... Western Federation of Miners famous flyer entitled Is Colorado in America? The Western Federation of Miners (WFM) was a radical labor union that gained a reputation for militancy in the mine fields of the western United States. ...

Notes

References

• Cahn, William (1972). A Pictorial History of American Labor. Crown Publishers. 

• Carlson, Peter (1983). Roughneck: The Life and Times of Big Bill Haywood. W. W. Norton. ISBN 0-393-01621-8. 

• Dolgoff, Sam (1980). Revolutionary Tendencies in American Labor - Part 2. The American Labor Movement: A New Beginning. Resurgence. Retrieved on 2006-04-11.

• Haywood, William [1929] (June 1966). The Autobiography of Big Bill Haywood. International Publishers. ISBN 0-7178-0011-3. 

• Thompson, Fred W.; Patrick Murfin [1976] (1976). The I.W.W.: Its First Seventy Years 1905-1975. Industrial Workers of the World. ISBN 0-917124-04-9. 

• Jameson, Elizabeth (March 1998). All That Glitters: Class, Conflict, and Community in Cripple Creek. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 0-252-06690-1. 

• Labor History Time Line (1900-1924). The Samuel Gompers Papers. Retrieved on 2006-04-11.

• Linder, Douglas (1998). The Trial of Bill Haywood. Famous Trials. Retrieved on 2006-02-09.

• Lukas, J. Anthony (1997). Big Trouble: A Murder in a Small Western Town Sets Off a Struggle for the Soul of America. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0684808587. 

• Marot, Helen [1914]. American Labor Unions: By a Member. New York: Henry Holt and Company. Retrieved on 2007-02-17. 

• Orth, Samuel (1919). The Armies of Labor - A Chronicle of the Organized Wage-Earners. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. Retrieved on 2006-05-11. 

• PBS Interactive (2001). William "Big Bill" Haywood. New Perspectives on the West. PBS Interactive. Retrieved on 2006-03-20.

• Siitonen, Harry (March, 2005). The IWW - Its First 100 Years. Industrial Workers of the World. Retrieved on 2006-03-31.

• St. John, Vincent [1917]. in ed. Damron, Mark (2001): The IWW - its History, Structure and Methods. Chicago: IWW Publishing Bureau. Retrieved on 2007-02-16. 

• Zinn, Howard (September 2001). A People's History of the United States, Revised and Updated, New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers. ISBN 0-06-093731-9. 

W. W. Norton & Company is an American book publishing company that has remained independent since its founding. ... Sam Dolgoff (1902-1990) was an American anarchist and anarcho-syndicalist. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 101st day of the year (102nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The University of Illinois Press is a major American university press. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 101st day of the year (102nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 40th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Jean-François Millet Le Semeur (The Sower) Simon & Schuster logo, circa 1961. ... Henry Holt (1840–1926) was a Baltimore, Maryland native book publisher and author. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 48th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Yale University Press is a book publisher founded in 1908. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 131st day of the year (132nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 79th day of the year (80th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 90th day of the year (91st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 47th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Howard Zinn (born August 24, 1922) is an American historian, political scientist, social critic, activist and playwright, best known as author of the bestseller[5] , A Peoples History of the United States. ... Collins was a Scottish printing company founded by a schoolmaster, William Collins, in Glasgow in 1819. ...

External links

• Bill Haywood's archive at Anarchist Archives
• Max Eastman "Bill Haywood, Communist"
• David Karsner "William D. Haywood,Communist Ambassador to Russia"
• Lewis Gannett "Bill Haywood in Moscow"