Between 1908 and 1913 the Industrial Workers of the World (I.W.W.) were a small organisation in New Zealand whose infl uence was tremendous amongst working people. By means of hundreds of propaganda meetings, thousands of pamphlets and in particular their paper, the Industrial Unionist, the Wobblies (I.W.W. members) spread their revolutionary ideas wide and far. The big strike actions of 1912/13 can be attributed to workers uniting as a class inspired by revolutionary ideas. Th e transient nature of workers at that time also contributed to Wobbly ideas reaching every corner of the English speaking countries within a few years. However, it also made organising diffi cult due to the short-lived groups. Th e history of the I.W.W. challenges traditional historical understandings, as historians tend to argue that, while workers lost in 1913, they were eventually victorious in 1935 with the election of the fi rst Labour Government. Th is view misrepresents the I.W.W. and the revolutionary ambitions of workers who were committed to syndicalism and whose anti-parliamentarian views brought them closer to anarchism than Marxist state control orsocial democratic reforms.

Th e I.W.W. was founded in June 1905 at a conference attended by 200 delegates from unions, anarchist and socialist organisations in Chicago. Among them were several New Zealanders, including New Zealand born William Trautmann who was the founding General-Secretary.1 Th e participants’ ideologies covered a range of left-wing philosophies and many anarchists took part in the founding convention.2 Th e I.W.W. was formed to be a syndicalist classstruggle organisation whose goal was a socialist society where workers controlled the means of production. Th ey rejected parliamentary politics as a means for change and chose industrial unionism to fi ght for the revolution. Th e Wobblies’ aim was to organise industrially rather than by trade and to form the ‘One Big Union’ which covers all workers. A split occurred early on in 1908 when a group of people around Daniel DeLeon argued in favour of a combination of industrial and political action through the Socialist Labor Party. However, the vast majority were in favour of revolutionary syndicalism and maintained their opposition to parliamentary politics. In 1912, the I.W.W. had approximately
50,000 members and membership peaked in 1923 (100,000 members). While the union was able to organise many workplaces, it never managed to get the majority of workers to join.

The most striking thing about the I.W.W. in New Zealand is that it punched above its weight. Although it was only ever a small organisation, it played a signifi cant role in the 1913 strike. Th e I.W.W. did not emerge out of nowhere in that year: a fi rst branch was established as early as 1908. On 11th January 1908 “a new workers’ organisation [was] trying to struggle into healthy existence at Wellington,” wrote the Grey River Argus.3 At the beginning of the 20th century workers and their ideas travelled extensively between continents to look for work. I.W.W. supporters would have travelled to New Zealand as early as 1905. Th ere were at least ten people involved with that fi rst Wellington branch. Th is initial branch did not last long. Only one of the founders appears in the records of the organisation’s further history in New Zealand. Th is is not evidence that they were not involved, simply evidence that they did not leave records behind. Th e exception was committee member W. Reid. In late 1913 he wrote for the Industrial Unionist about visiting Tom Barker, the I.W.W. organiser in 1913, in a Wellington jail:
I visited Barker at Wellington jail this morning. He is in good nick, and is in a cell on his own. Th ey brought another charge up against him, and refused bail on this second charge. The lack of continuity in membership demonstrates how transient workers were in their search for better pay and work in general.

An I.W.W. Recruiting Club was formed in Christchurch at the end of 1910 after anarchists were expelled from the Socialist Party.This group quickly merged with another to become the Local Recruiting Union in early 1911. Syd Kingsford, who in 1913 was the Christchurch contributor to the Industrial Unionist, was involved with this group and so was Wyatt E. Jones, an anarchist watchmaker.6 It is unclear how long this branch was active though it was probably only active for a few months. A branch was re-formed in Christchurch in August 1913 calling itself Local 2.7 14 people turned up to the fi rst meeting.

Meetings were also held in September of that year with Tom Barker, who was arrested during his visit in Christchurch, and local activist Kingsford.8 “Local Waihi miners march, May 1912. The I.W.W. was particularly vocal in their support of the miners, calling for a general strike in solidarity and advocating a campaign of sabotage.

2, though small, is active,” reported Kingsford in the Industrial Unionist in early November 1913.9 Th ey were printing 4,000 copies of the I.W.W. preamble and sold four dozen papers at the SDP meeting and, therefore, would have spread their syndicalist ideas to many workplaces in Christchurch.
Th e only other branch ever established was the Auckland local, although there were preparations for groups on the West Coast and in Wellington in the Spring of 1913. Th e Auckland group was by far the biggest and most active. In November 1911 a group of strike experienced Canadian syndicalists arrived in Auckland.10 Among these revolutionaries were John Benjamin King, A. Holdsworth and C. Blackburn. An I.W.W. club was formed in April 1912. In August Charles T. Reeve became secretary of the group. Other members at that stage included Frank Hanlon and W. Murdoch. King was involved in Waihi during the big industrial dispute there in 1912. He ran an economics class which was attended by 30 other workers.

Many Wobblies went to Waihi as supporters and also visited jailed workers in Auckland. King left for Australia in August after questions were raised in parliament over his campaign for sabotage during the Waihi strike. He spread his ideas very far among unionists and workers in New Zealand through his active involvement in the ‘Auckland General Labourers’ Union’ and his participation at the third conference of the Federation of Labour where he put a motion forward
in favour of a general strike in support of the Waihi strike which failed (93 to 48 votes).11 However, the Federation was re-modelled along the lines of the Tom Barker, accused of making “one of the most dangerous speeches in the history of the industrial trouble.”

I.W.W. accepting its syndicalist preamble and intending to form eight industrial departments, Local Unions and Industrial Councils. In late 1912, disillusioned with the Federation after the Waihi strike was lost, many revolutionaries turned away from the Socialist Party. Th e I.W.W.decided to launch its own paper to promote industrial unionism. By that stage there was only the Auckland branch left and on 1st February 1913 publication of the Industrial Unionist began, a time-consuming project. At the same time they held dozens of propaganda meetings. In May “the I.W.W. is holding four and fi ve large meetings weekly in this district. Wednesday nights are reserved for a meeting at Wellesley Street corner. [...] Th e I.W.W. is in N.Z. to stay. We hope soon to have an organiser out, and to have locals in other centres.” Tram driver Tom Barker, who only the year before was the leader of the Auckland Socialist Party branch, resigned in May 1912 and joined the I.W.W. instead and was its secretary and organiser by June 1913.
Th e dedication to spread IWW ideas is demonstrated by the fact that the Wobblies held over 100 outdoor meetings in the fi rst half of 1913 in Auckland.

By August they had moved their offi ce to a larger location.15 In the same month Barker left Auckland for a tour around the country to get more local groups off
the ground and Local 2 was reformed in Christchurch. Barker held meetings in towns on the West Coast, and about his time Wellington he wrote he “had
11 propaganda meetings in 14 days. Which isn’t bad for Windy Wellington.”

No further groups were established but hundreds of workers came in contact with Barker and other militants at propaganda meetings. Th ere is no doubt that further groups would have been established. However, the Great Strike started
and class warfare had come to the streets of New Zealand. Th e strike lasted for several weeks from late October until the end of November (with some workers striking until the New Year) and the government sent hundreds off ‘special’
constables to the cities to crush the strike.

When Barker was arrested for sedition on 11th November on Queen Street during the strike, he had just fi nished selling 700 copies of the Industrial Unionist.

With the police too preoccupied with crushing the strike, he had to make his own way to Wellington for court. In Wellington, he delivered speeches to 1000s of workers in Post Offi ce Square but on 5th December was convicted and sentenced to 3 months in jail. Crown Prosecutor Ostler said Barker’s was “one of the most dangerous speeches made in the history of the industrial trouble and probably in New Zealand.”18 Tom Barker was the most prominent member of the I.W.W. during the strike, and played an important role.

Although the public speaking work of the I.W.W. was important, the most central means of communication for political activists were newspapers and pamphlets. Members of the I.W.W. submitted articles to the paper of the Federation of Labour, the Maoriland Worker. Th is weekly publication, established in 1910, reached a circulation of 10,000 by 1913.

Tom Barker and Frank Hanlon, who wrote articles on the Waihi strike, disliked the paper as it was full of advertisements and not supportive of industrial unionism. They wanted a paper of their own which was dedicated to syndicalist revolution and not “sporting and society sections”.

In late 1912 the Auckland I.W.W. group started to raise funds for their own paper and on Saturday, 1st February 1913, the fi rst issue of Industrial Unionist
came off the press. Until October of that year the paper was published monthly. With the start of the strike actions in late October the paper was
published almost every 3 days keeping its four page format. Circulation reached 4,000 which was an enormous achievement for a small organisation with limited
funds and radical ideas. Th e main drivers behind the publication were the editors and keenest writers: Frank Hanlon and A. Holdsworth. Th ese two also
published their own pamphlets in 1913. 3,000 copies of Holdsworth’s “Chunks of I.W.W.ism” and 1,000 copies of “Industrial Unionism” by Hanlon were sold.
Other regular contributors were Tom Barker (aka ‘Spanwire’), Syd Kingsford, W. Murdoch, Charles T. Reeve, Harry Melrose and Percival Bartle Short.
Th e Maoriland Worker did not, despite its name, have much to do with tangata whenua nor did they see Maori people as being oppressed by colonialist
capitalism. Th e I.W.W. had a diff erent approach. While there is no doubt that the organisation was made up of white men they did make an eff ort to reach
out to Maori people. Th e fi rst article in te reo Maori appeared in July 1913 titled “Ki nga Kaimahi Maori”.21 A total of seven articles were published in the Industrial Unionist in Maori. Short, a painter from Johnsonville was the authorof these articles.

He joined the Auckland I.W.W. in 1913 and was one of the committee members for the paper.

The end of the I.W.W. in New Zealand occurred at the same time as the end of the 1913 strike. Th ere is no evidence of the I.W.W. continuing to operate
after the last Industrial Unionist was published on 29th of November 1913. Th at
last issue declared that the strike was going strong and workers were holding
out.23 A few days later the strike was lost and workers went back to work. After
the strikers were defeated most active Wobblies left the country abruptly. Barker
was convicted of sedition in the Wellington Supreme Court and sat in jail for
several months before going to Australia. Th e Auckland group lost around 15
good members, including the ex-assistant editor and the ex-manager of the Industrial
Unionist in October who all went overseas.24 It was the lost strike and
the subsequent state repression that made many Wobblies leave New Zealand.
Th ere was nothing to hold its transient members in the country anymore. With
some activists in jail and others already in Australia the organisation, along with
its paper, folded.
Frank Prebble writes that somebody told him “that there was an I.W.W
group active during the 51 Lockout.”25 In the late 90s the I.W.W. was back
in Dunedin. In 1999 two people set up a branch. Th e members supported
the Waterfront Workers’ Union at Port Chalmers and Bluff in 2000/01 where
they criticised union offi cial Les Wells. In issue 20 of the anarchist publication
‘Th rall’ the Dunedin branch declared that “by May 1 2002 we’d like to see
General Membership Branches (GMBs) and Industrial Union Branches (IUBs)
functioning outside of Dunedin and to have a Regional Organising Committee
for Aotearoa.”26 Th is goal was not achieved and the Dunedin branch remained
the sole group. It had around a dozen members, mainly anarchists. Th ey published
a pamphlet called “How to fi re your boss.” By 2003, the group did not
exist anymore. In 2004 the ‘Autonomous Workers Union’ was set up again in
Dunedin by former members of the I.W.W. and others too. Th e AWU is a
morphed but watered down version of the Dunedin I.W.W. Today, this syndicalist
union has around 60 members in Dunedin. Th e workers of Arc Café have
a collective agreement and workers at three Subways have joined the AWU.
8
In exploring the history and eff ect of the I.W.W. it is important to examine
their politics. Historians have tended to put them into the general left-wing/
socialist category as part of the so called ‘left-wing interpretation of history.’27
Th e I.W.W., like every other group in the 1913 strike, is shown as having its
ultimate victory in the Labour government of 1935.28 Th is misrepresents the
politics and goals of the I.W.W., and down-plays the radicalism of the 1913
struggle.
Generally the I.W.W. can be described as a syndicalist organisation.
Th eir politics were revolutionary, socialist and anti-parliamentary and their
infl uences drew from Marxism as well as anarchism. Th is was controversial
within the organisation; in August 1913 the I.W.W. distanced itself from
anarchism describing anarchists as idealists and industrial workers as materialists.
“Anarchists dislike the term ‘Democracy’; the I.W.W. stands for Industrial
Democracy. Some anarchists talk of reforming Society from the top,
down; the I.W.W. says from the bottom, up.”29 Although the same article acknowledged
that “I.W.’s have some ideas in common with the anarchists.” 30
I would argue that some wobbly activists’ ideas were actually very close
to anarcho-syndicalism. Barker referred to Philip Josephs, a co-founder of the
anarchist Freedom Group in Wellington31 in July 1913, as “our anarchist friend
and comrade” who helped him organise his meetings.32 A three part series by
E.J.B. Allen in the Industrial Unionist focussed on syndicalism in France.33 He
described the history of the First International and wrote that the split was
“caused by the authoritarianism of Marx and Engels, and the disputes over the
politics between Marx and Bakounine.”34 Bakunin was involved with the Jura
Federation which was made up entirely of Anarchists. Allen refers to them as
“Direct Actionists.”35 ‘Direct Actionists’ is also the term Barker uses to describe
the I.W.W. in Aotearoa.36 Th ere were discussions among Wobblies on the issue
of de-centralisation and “a growing section [was] in favour.”37 Th e consensus
was that political ambitions were not necessary because it was powerful industrial
organisations that could overthrow capitalism and at the same time form
“the structure of the new society.”38 Harry Melrose, a worker from Waihi and
regular contributor to the Industrial Unionist, fi nished off an article titled “Law
and Order” with “Liberty for all! To Hell with Law and Authority.”39
9
In conclusion, the organising of the Industrial Workers of the World contributed
to the industrial actions of 1912/13 and raised the class consciousness
of workers in New Zealand (and the world). We need to refrain from promulgating
that the 1935 Labour Government was a direct continuation of the
revolutionary period immediately before the First World War. In New Zealand,
many workers were in favour of industrial unionism infl uenced by the I.W.W.
propaganda. Th e combination of anti-parliamentary and socialist politics of
many I.W.W. supporters brought them closer to anarchist thinking rather than
Marx’s ideas of proletarian dictatorship through a political party.

Footnotes
1 Mark Derby, ‘Th e case of William E. Trautmann and the role of the ‘Wobblies’’, in Melanie
Nolan (ed.), Revolution: Th e 1913 New Zealand Great Strike, Christchurch, 2005.
2 Salvatore Salerno, Red November Black November – Culture and Community in the Industrial
Workers of the World, New York, 1989, pp. 69-90.
3 Grey River Argus, 20th January 1908, p. 2.
4 Industrial Unionist, No. 20, 29th November 1913, p. 1.
5 Herbert Roth, Unpublished notes on the Industrial Workers of the World, p. 1.
6 Prebble, Frank, “Troublemakers”: Anarchism and Syndicalism. Th e early years of the Libertarian
movement in Aotearoa, Libertarian Press. Available on http://www.takver.com/history/nz/tm/index.
htm (last accessed 16th August 2006), p. 17.
7 Industrial Unionist, No. 9, 1st October 1913, p. 1.
8 Industrial Unionist, No. 9, 1st October 1913, p. 1.
9 Industrial Unionist, No. 10, 1st Novembre 1913, p. 4.
10 Olssen, Erik, Th e Red Feds: Revolutionary industrial unionism and the New Zealand Federation
of Labour 1908-1914, Oxford University Press, Auckland, 1988, p. 128.
11 Olssen, pp. 145-6.
12 Olssen, p. 144.
13 Industrial Unionist, No. 4, 1st May 1913, p. 4.
14 Industrial Unionist, No. 7, 1st August 1913, p. 4.
15 Industrial Unionist, No. 7, 1st August 1913, p. 4.
16 Industrial Unionist, No. 9, 1st October 1913, p. 4.
17 Tom Barker to Herbert Roth 28th October 1952, Alexander Turnbull Library.
18 Herbert Roth, ‘New Zealand Wobblies’, in Here and Now, March 1952, pp. 6-7.
19 Olssen p. 43.
20 Industrial Unionist, No. 2, 1st March 1913, p. 2.
21 Industrial Unionist, No. 6, 1st July 1913, p. 4.
22 Tom Barker in a letter to Herbert Roth, 28th October 1952.
23 Industrial Unionist, No. 20, 29th November 1913, p. 1.
24 Industrial Unionist, No. 10, 1st November 1913, p. 4.
25 Prebble, p. 1.
26 Th e Industrial Workers of the World in Aotearoa, Th rall No. 20, July/August 2001. Available
on http://www.ainfos.ca/01/nov/ainfos00426.html (last accessed 16th November 2006).
27 Olssen, p. 217.
28 Chris Trotter, ‘New Zealand Class Collision – 1913, 1951, 1991: It takes to wings to fl y’, in
Unity, June 2006, p. 62.
29 Industrial Unionist, No. 7, 1st August 1913, p. 2.
30 Industrial Unionist, No. 7, 1st August 1913, p. 2.
31 Prebble, pp. 17-18.
32 Industrial Unionist, No. 9, 1st October 1913, p. 4.
33 Industrial Unionist, No. 4-6, 1913.
34 Industrial Unionist, No. 4, 1st May 1913, p. 3.
35 Industrial Unionist, No. 4, 1st May 1913, p. 3.
36 Industrial Unionist, No. 8, 1st September 1913, p. 2.
37 Industrial Unionist, No. 8, 1st September 1913, p. 2.
38 Industrial Workers of the World, Preamble in a membership booklet in the author’s possession,
1980.
39 Industrial Unionist, No. 17, 18th November 1913, p. 3.

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