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Who We Are
The I.W.W. (Industrial Workers of the World) is a member-run union for all workers, a union dedicated to organizing on the job, in our industries and in our communities.
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What We Do
I.W.W. members are organizing to win better conditions today and build a world with economic democracy tomorrow.
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Our Vision
We want our workplaces to run for the benefit of workers and communities, rather than for a handful of bosses and executives.
Current Projects
Peet's Labor Union
The workers at Peet's Coffee on NE Broadway have joined Peet's Labor Union!
Fried Egg Workers Union
Workers at Fried Egg I'm In Love are establishing a union to protect their rights on the job and to provide a voice for the workers.
Craft Tenders Union
The Craft Tenders Union is working to build workplace democracy at DIY Bar. Visit them on Instagram to learn more about their work.
Doughnut Workers United
Doughnut Workers United are a united group of Voodoo Doughnuts employees seeking to improve the lives and working conditions of all workers.
Burgerville Workers Union
BVWU is an independent collective voice of Burgerville workers whose goal is to win better working conditions by building union power on the shop floor.
Portland IWOC
The Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee are workers who stand with all human beings behind bars. They are working for both improved conditions and an end to mass incarceration.
Call to Safety Workers Union
Call to Safety Workers Union (CTSWU) was born in 2007-2008 when there was a high level of tumult in the organization. When Call to Safety recovered, both staff & management felt it was a good idea to add formal protections for workers to prevent previous practices of workplace misconduct.
Mirisata Workers Union
Mirisata Workers Union are the first unionized co-op in Portland, voluntarily recognized by Mirisata management of the all-vegan Sri Lankan cuisine restaurant.
Your workplace?
We believe all members of the working class deserve a union. Your boss's interests are inherently different than yours and the only appropriate response is uniting with your coworkers. We can't lead your union but we will train you and your workplace how to take action against the boss. Please contact us and tell us what's up.
Donate to the IWW
Donate today and help build a radical labor movement in Portland, Oregon
Calendar of Events
If you or your organization would like to access the IWW scheduling calendar or request meeting space at the IWW hall, please contact the chapter secretary at portlandiww@gmail.com. If you are a member of Portland DSA, you can contact one of the Communications Committee co-chairs to request calendar access.
Contact Us
You can contact us directly using the form below or emailing secretary@portlandiww.org
You can give us a call at 503-893-2382
Contact Form
Organize with the Portland I.W.W.!
- Interested in joining the union?
- Have questions about issues at your job?
- If you want to organize a union in your workplace or industry, you are in the right place.
Sign up here to get on our communications list and become a union member
Email an I.W.W. organizer at secretary@portlandiww.org
Or call us any time at 503-893-2382
We’ll put you in touch with an I.W.W. member, or “wobbly,” who can help answer your questions.
Tips to Remember
Here is some advice in the short term: You will want to keep any union talk, and general conversations about wages, benefits, hours, etc., out of the ears of management.
You will want to be a model employee because you do not want to give management any reason to fire you. Your job is worth defending and improving.
Unions are legal, just not popular with bosses.
Visit the IWW Store
Check out the official IWW store for apparel, books, posters and more.
Make the jump to a Red Card holder
Become an official card-carrying member of the Portland IWW.
IWW History Project
Learn about the IWW's history and influence on the radical labor movement in the United States.
About Us
The I.W.W. (Industrial Workers of the World) is a member-run union for all workers, a union dedicated to organizing on the job, in our industries and in our communities. Here are some I.W.W. Fun Facts:
- Founded in Chicago in 1905
- I.W.W. members are referred to as wobblies
- There are general membership branches all around the world – Australia, Germany & Austria, The United Kingdom, China… just to name a few!
We are the Industrial Workers of the World because we organize industrially. This means we organize all workers producing the same goods or providing the same services into one big union, rather than dividing workers by skill or trade, so we can pool our strength to win our demands together.
Since the I.W.W. was founded in 1905, we have made significant contributions to the labor struggles around the world and have a proud tradition of organizing across gender, ethnic, and racial lines long before such organizing was popular.
We invite you to become a member whether or not the I.W.W. happens to have representation rights in your workplace. We organize the worker, not the job, and recognize that unions are not about government certification or employer recognition but about workers coming together to address common concerns. Sometimes this means refusing to work with dangerous equipment and chemicals. Other times it means agitating around particular issues or grievances in a workplace or industry.
The Portland General Membership Branch (or GMB) is one of the most established and active branches in the nation (maybe the world?). Originally chartered in Portland back in 1908, our current organization was rechartered in 1997 which makes us over 25 years old now. While currently we primarily represent the food, retail, and social service industries, our members truly come from every background – from students to self-employed, non-profit to big box workers.
The working class and the employing class have nothing in common. There can be no peace so long as hunger and want are found among millions of the working people and the few, who make up the employing class, have all the good things of life.
Between these two classes a struggle must go on until the workers of the world organize as a class, take possession of the means of production, abolish the wage system, and live in harmony with the Earth.
We find that the centering of the management of industries into fewer and fewer hands makes the trade unions unable to cope with the ever growing power of the employing class. The trade unions foster a state of affairs which allows one set of workers to be pitted against another set of workers in the same industry, thereby helping defeat one another in wage wars. Moreover, the trade unions aid the employing class to mislead the workers into the belief that the working class have interests in common with their employers.
These conditions can be changed and the interest of the working class upheld only by an organization formed in such a way that all its members in any one industry, or in all industries if necessary, cease work whenever a strike or lockout is on in any department thereof, thus making an injury to one an injury to all.
Instead of the conservative motto, "A fair day's wage for a fair day's work," we must inscribe on our banner the revolutionary watchword, "Abolition of the wage system."
It is the historic mission of the working class to do away with capitalism. The army of production must be organized, not only for everyday struggle with capitalists, but also to carry on production when capitalism shall have been overthrown. By organizing industrially we are forming the structure of the new society within the shell of the old.
