{"id":3168,"date":"2026-07-26T11:24:31","date_gmt":"2026-07-26T15:24:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/patersonhistory.com\/?page_id=3168"},"modified":"2026-07-31T23:50:38","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T03:50:38","slug":"industrial-workers-of-the-world-iww","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/patersonhistory.com\/index.php\/industrial-workers-of-the-world-iww\/","title":{"rendered":"Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)<\/strong>\u2014popularly known as the “Wobblies”<\/strong>\u2014played a central role in one of the most famous labor struggles in American history: the 1913 Paterson Silk Strike<\/strong>. Their involvement transformed what began as a local dispute into a nationally recognized battle over workers’ rights and industrial democracy.<\/p>\n

The IWW Comes to Paterson<\/h2>\n

Founded in Chicago in 1905, the IWW believed that all workers, regardless of skill, nationality, race, or gender, should belong to “One Big Union.”<\/strong> Unlike many traditional unions of the period, the IWW organized immigrant workers, women, and unskilled laborers who were often excluded from other labor organizations.<\/p>\n

In early 1913, Paterson’s silk manufacturers introduced the four-loom system<\/strong>, requiring weavers to tend four looms instead of two. Workers feared this would:<\/p>\n