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Prior to 1920, the numbering of Industrial Departments and Industrial Unions in the Industrial Workers of the World was entirely arbitrary. The Agricultural Workers’ Industrial Union, for example, was originally numbered 400, to parody that day’s version of the “Forbes 400"—a list of the 400 richest plutocrats. By 1919 the old system had become virtually useless for administrative or organizing purposes, and that year’s General Convention ordered a revision. The present scheme of industrial classification was adopted by the 1920 General Executive Board. It was designed by Fellow Worker Robert Russell of Minneapolis, based on the Dewey Decimal System and William E. Trautmann’s pamphlet, “One Big Union: an Outline of a Possible Industrial Organization of the Working Class” (Chicago: Chas. H. Kerr, 1911).
The chief concern behind the new system was that it be scientific, rational, and practical. For the first time, the numbering of Departments and Industrial Unions indicated the relationships of the various interconnected industries, so that delegates lining up new members could easily determine what union to put them in. Also for the first time, industries were classified according to the primary role they played in the economy—extraction, production, or service—and arranged in a rational order on the new organizational chart.
Industrial Unions were renamed, combined, or divided to reflect the actual organization of industry. For example, the Boot and Shoe Workers’ Industrial Union, No. 620, was renamed the Leather Workers’ Industrial Union, No. 470; the Agricultural Workers’ Industrial Union, No. 400, was divided into the Agricultural Workers’ Industrial Union, No. 110 and the Horticultural Workers’ Industrial Union, No. 140; and the Bakery Workers’ Industrial Union, No. 48, was combined with the Food Product Workers’ Industrial Union, No. 1500, to form the new Foodstuff Workers’ Industrial Union, No. 460. There were some objections to the elimination or changing of union names and numbers, but the membership generally seems to have embraced the revision with enthusiasm.
Since that time, changes to the List of Industrial Unions have been relatively rare and small. For numerous historical reasons, the I. W. W. has not kept its scheme of industrial classification up to date, as originally planned. Capitalist industry has continued to develop and reorganize, with new industries and new technologies creating new classes of worker which the revision of 1920 could not have foreseen. In 2001, the General Assembly decided that it was time for a new, comprehensive re-examination of the I. W. W.’s chart, and established the Committee on Industrial Classification for that purpose.
After three years of research, investigation, and debate, your committee is now ready to recommend the revisions and related constitutional amendments which appear at the end of this report. It has been our goal to develop a proposal in keeping with the principles that guided the revision of 1920. We have tried to make our recommendations rational and scientific; to fit them to the actual state of modern industry, as far as we could understand it; and to make them serve what we consider the primary purposes of industrial classification: effective class struggle and efficient administration.
We are aware that our recommendations are imperfect, but we sincerely hope that the revisions we offer, despite their flaws, will be accepted by our Fellow Workers as a good beginning, which can be improved and developed through amendment, as experience and the needs of the organization may require.
(The history of industrial classification in the I. W. W., and many of the principles and resources relied on by the committee, are documented on the committee’s web site, at www.iww.org/cic.)
At the time of the 2003 General Assembly, the members of your committee were Bruce Arnold, Jim Crutchfield (Chairperson), Breeze Luetke-Stahlman, and Tristan Masat. FW Arnold thereafter resigned from the committee and was replaced by FW Karl Howeth. The committee now consists of FWs Crutchfield (Chairperson), Howeth, Luetke-Stahlman, and Masat. FW Patrick McGuire was formerly the committee’s liaison with the General Executive Board, and although he is no longer on the GEB, he has remained a supportive and interested observer.
In March the committee submitted to the membership a draft List of Industrial Unions for review and comment, and received numerous responses. A selection of representative responses is available on request from the Chairperson.
The committee did most of its business by e-mail, but met face to face in Chicago, 25-27 June, to revise its proposal based on comments received from the membership. The meeting was held during the Upper Midwest Wobfest, and several participants in that event sat in on parts of the committee’s meeting and made valuable contributions to the discussion.
The committee’s members have personally borne most of its expenses, including the cost of reference materials, travel, postage, and printing. The General Executive Board provided $200 in 2003 and $300 this year to help defray travel costs for members who attended meetings in Chicago.
1. Your committee finds that the most important purposes of industrial classification are to promote effectiveness in the class struggle and efficiency in administration. All of our recommendations have been developed with these two objects foremost in our minds.
2. The I. W. W. seeks to organize the entire working class, but from the start it has rejected the unwieldy mass organization that prevailed in the Knights of Labor. It also rejected organization on a territorial basis, as in some anarcho-syndicalist unions (although the union has been forced by circumstances into territorial organizing—the GMB system—as a way to preserve the organization until the Industrial Union system could be rebuilt). The I. W. W.’s goal has always been to organize workers according to industry, in Industrial Departments and Industrial Unions.
3. The Industrial Union system, once it is re-established, will also serve as a laboratory for developing the administrative structure of the future, post-capitalist economy—the new society which we are building in the shell of the old; but its most important purposes are, as we have said, effective class struggle and efficient administration in the present day. As our union grows and our struggle becomes more intense, the Industrial Union system must be refined and adapted so as always to meet the needs of the hour. Accurate and scientific industrial classification is a necessary element in that development.
Your committee consists entirely of North Americans, and we decided early on that our work should focus on the economies of North America: that we should not attempt to develop a plan that would be equally well-suited to the economies of other lands and regions. Our sense is that such a task would be unnecessarily difficult, not to mention presumptuous, given the different cultural settings and legal frameworks within which those economies have developed, and the limits of the committee’s resources, experience, and manpower. We believe that workers in other regions will be better equipped to develop their own variants as necessary, and should be free to do so.
Where specific workers actually operate in more than one region or country, so that the jurisdictions of different regional bodies overlap (a situation most likely to arise in the transport industries), any conflicts in industrial classification should be worked out by the Industrial Unions involved, with the advice of the Committee on Industrial Classification, the General Administration, and any Regional Organizing Committee having jurisdiction.
In assessing the following recommendations, Delegates should bear in mind that the industrial union structure of the I. W. W. is only a way of allocating administrative tasks, creating effective strategic units for class struggle, and dispersing power and money throughout the union. The One Big Union really is one big union, not a federation of autonomous organizations like the AFL-CIO.
The structure is therefore designed to be flexible and adaptable to the circumstances of actual workers, not carved in stone according to some unchanging philosophy or doctrine. Thus, if our presence in two closely-related industries is not yet large enough to justify two separate Industrial Union administrations, the Unions can combine their administrations temporarily. IUs 210, 310, and 330 did this in the 1940s.
On the other hand, if one Industrial Union becomes too large to represent all of its members effectively and equitably, it can subdivide along industrial lines, creating either internal sections or new Industrial Unions. In the 1920s, all of the manufacturing IUs in Dept. 400 had subsidiary sections. For example, the Metal & Machinery Workers’ I. U. No. 440 included sections for steel workers, engine & machinery workers, automobile, aircraft, & vehicle workers, and general metal product workers.*)
Where workers with similar jobs or similar concerns operate in several different industries, they can form delegate councils that cross industrial lines, in order to co-ordinate joint campaigns, share information, and otherwise co-operate.
Since the current Industrial Union structure exists only on paper, it should be obvious that the revised structure recommended below cannot be actually implemented right away. Some aspects of it may not be needed for years to come: for example, the Departmental Administrations described in our constitution since 1905 have never existed, except on paper, because the organization has never been big enough to need them.
Rather than leaving most revisions for a future date, when the need for change may be more acutely felt, your Committee believes that the time for a thoroughgoing revision is now, while the Industrial Unions exist only on paper and are not named in dozens or hundreds of contracts, leases, industry-specific publications, etc. (See the Introduction to the Committee’s web site.)
Capitalist production is a complex web of interconnected industries. While smaller amendments may be made piecemeal, your Committee finds that comprehensive revisions are needed to bring our current system up to date, and that they should be proposed as parts of an interlocking design. Thus, although not every aspect of the proposal may be needed or possible immediately, we believe that the plan should be considered and adopted as a unit, then implemented and amended as our growth and experience may indicate.
The process of production does not end when a finished product rolls off the assembly line. Products do not become social goods until they are placed in the hands of consumers. Accordingly, we must treat distribution as a part of the production process, even though the final phases of distribution are often handled by businesses independent of the companies that control the manufacturing process. The great majority of products are distributed by specialized enterprises that deal only, or mainly, in the products of one industry, or a small number of closely-related industries. Your committee has therefore taken care to group all workers who distribute the products of a certain industry with those who produce those products.
Only when a transportation or distribution facility handles the products of many industries more-or-less equally, as a service provided to various trades, are its workers organized as general transportation or distribution workers. (See “One Big Union of the I. W. W.” [ca. 1924], http://workerseducation.org/crutch/pamphlets/obu-iww.html.)
There is an increasing trend in manufacture to combine many phases of production in a single operation. (See Section G, below.) This “vertical integration” of industrial processes allows many large enterprises to operate more efficiently by eliminating “middle-men” and reducing transport costs, among other things. So, for example, a “factory farm” may breed hogs, slaughter them, butcher them, process and package the meat and other products, and send them off to retail distributors, all from a single location. Similarly, a single enterprise may combine a logging operation, a sawmill, a planing mill, a furniture plant, and a retail showroom. Following the lead of most other industrial classification systems, your committee has classified these integrated operations according to the highest level of production they comprise. Thus, according to the proposal, workers at the factory farm in our first example would be classified as foodstuffs workers (I.U. 460), not as livestock workers (I.U. 140). And those in the second example would all be classified as wood and furniture workers (I.U. 420) in the Department of Manufacture, rather than as lumber workers (I.U. 110), even if they worked exclusively as lumberjacks.
The Revision of 1920 embodied (without expressly describing it) a basic division of industries, which your committee has preserved in its proposal:
1. Extractive & reductive industries, which produce or gather raw materials from the earth and reduce them to manageable form for further processing or distribution. Examples include coal mines and coke ovens; metal mines and smelters; timber operations and sawmills; fishing operations and canneries; etc.
2. Productive industries, which manufacture raw materials into commodities for sale to consumers. Production may be roughly divided into phases (with much variation by industry and by enterprise), which may be carried on by different enterprises within the same industry:
a. Primary processing--some overlap here with reduction in the previous section, and classification will depend on circumstances in the specific industry. Primary processing puts raw materials into useable form for further manufacture. E.g., spinning fiber into yarn, rolling steel, pelletizing plastic, etc.
b. Component manufacture—takes processed materials and forms them into components for assembly.
c. Assembly--puts components together into finished products.
d. Distribution--completes production by placing commodities in the hands of consumers, in exchange for money.
3. Service industries, which perform actions in support of other industries or for the benefit of the public, but do not significantly produce commodities. Services may be general (i.e., available to all comers, or to all within a broad category of customers) or special (i.e., dedicated to a single industry or narrow category of customers).
There is wide overlap among these divisions, and the lines between them may at times be blurred; but we see no need for bright lines at this point, and believe that such distinctions will best be made by workers on the job, who will know their industries better than we can.
Your committee makes the following findings with regard to industrial classification generally:
1. That the list ought to classify workers according to the enterprises that exploit them, rather than the type of work they are engaged in. (“Enterprise” means the actual business operation, factory, plant, mill, mine, office, etc., not necessarily the corporation or other entity that owns the business.) The phrase used in the existing List of Industrial Unions, “workers engaged in . . .” is therefore not ideal, since “workers engaged in producing printed matter,” for instance, may work in numerous industries.
2. That the term, “general” should be used only to make a distinction between general and special types of a single category. Therefore, the classification “general construction”, for example, should be used only in connection with “special construction”.
3. That catch-all Industrial Unions should be avoided if possible, and, where unavoidable, should be organized on definable, industrial criteria. Thus, current IU 650 has been divided, in the following proposal, into several unions based on actual industries, rather than “general office work”; but a new catch-all union, the Commercial Service Workers’ I. U. No. 720 is proposed, based on the close connections among the consumers of these workers’ services. With regard to all catch-all IUs, it is important to observe the limiting phrase, “all workers not otherwise organized”. Whenever workers can be primarily identified with a specific industry, they should be organized as workers in that industry, even if their work might fall under the description of a catch-all IU.
4. That classification of students, homemakers, and other non-wage-workers is governed by Article II, Section 1(b) of the Constitution, and is based on other than industrial considerations. Your committee has therefore not made any recommendations regarding such persons.
5. That the industrial classification system needs to be flexible in order to keep pace with the constant revolutions and reorganizations of capitalist industry; that the List of Industrial Unions should therefore be subject to amendment by means of a process that does not require a referendum of the membership, but does require sufficient criteria to prevent temporary majorities from making disruptive and unnecessary changes, ensures that the will of workers affected by amendments be given priority, and prevents amendments from being adopted over the objection of affected Industrial Unions.
(These findings may be easier to follow if read in connection with the tables provided with this report, comparing the current system to the proposed system.)
a. The committee finds that forestry is a significant industry both in the North American economy and in the I. W. W.’s history, and should be mentioned in the name of the department.
b. That the development of modern capitalist agriculture has led to increasing specialization in agricultural enterprises, with most capitalist farms producing either crops or livestock for the market, rarely both. Agricultural wage-workers thus tend generally to work in crop production or livestock production, but not both. Accordingly, there should be separate IUs for workers in crop production and livestock production. Workers employed in general or mixed farming would organize with crop-production workers.
c. That the name of the Floriculture Workers' I. U. 140 does not adequately reflect the industries comprised in that IU and should be changed.
d. That fish hatcheries in general have little to do with ocean fishery and should be classified with other livestock operations. (Salmon hatcheries run by the government to replenish wild stocks are a partial exception, but do not justify dividing the industry over two IUs.)
e. That the current order of IUs in Dept. 100 is arbitrary and should be changed to group more closely related industries together.
a. Your committee finds that the name of the Metal Mine Workers’ I. U. No. 210 does not adequately reflect the industries comprised in that IU and should be changed.
b. That there is no geothermal industry as such in North America, and that that term should accordingly be removed from the name and description of IU No. 230.
a. Your committee finds that “general” in the name of Dept. 300 is meaningless, since there is no other department of construction that might be considered “special”, and the word should therefore be eliminated.
b. That the workers comprised by IU No. 310 are not engaged in “general” construction, but in a special type of construction, often called “heavy construction” within the industry. Because the name “Heavy Construction Workers’ I. U. No. 310" did not appeal to the committee, they recommend that the IU’s name be changed to “Civil Construction Workers’ I. U. No. 310", since these workers build primarily civil works, which civil engineers design.
c. That although there are good reasons for classifying shipbuilding workers with other transportation equipment manufacturing workers, the committee agrees with some commentators that the manufacturing process in shipbuilding is sufficiently different from those of other transportation equipment, and sufficiently connected with that in building construction to justify leaving this IU in Dept. 300. Note that workers in the mass production of small boats should be organized with one or another IU in Dept. 400.
a. Your committee finds that the words “and General Production” in the name of this department are meaningless and should be deleted.
b. That the words “and Clothing” in the name of IU No. 410 are redundant, since clothing workers are textile workers, and should be deleted.
c. That the name of the Furniture Workers’ I. U. No. 420 does not adequately reflect the industries comprised in that IU and should be changed.
d. That electronics workers are not currently included in the Industrial Classification system, and that an IU for them should be created.
e. That printing and publishing workers are engaged in the packaging and distribution of information, and should be organized with other information-processing industries in a separate department; and that “house” in the name of this IU reflects an archaic organization of the publishing industry and should be deleted.
f. That many products formerly made of leather are now often made of other materials; but that many enterprises that once made leather goods are still often making the same products (mostly footwear), only with different materials; and so workers for these enterprises should continue to be organized with leather workers. The name should accordingly be changed to reflect the broader scope of materials employed and the principal product of the industry.
g. That the Glass & Pottery Workers’ I. U. No. 480 should be expanded to include workers in all non-metallic minerals (other than precious stones), whose classification is not clear under the present system; and that the name of the IU should be changed accordingly.
a. Your committee finds that, with the development of advanced information technologies, information has become a raw material comparable to iron or wool in modern industry. Accordingly, there should be a new department comprising workers for enterprises engaged in the processing and distribution (i.e., communication) of information.
b. That with the rise of information as an industry, transportation is no longer to be regarded primarily as a form of communication, but rather as a part of the distribution process. There should therefore be a department comprising all general transportation and distribution services.
c. That the name of the new department of transportation and distribution should emphasize that this department comprises only general transportation and distribution services, i.e., common carriers and general distribution outlets which serve various industries more or less equally. {Special transportation and distribution workers should be classified with the productive industry whose products they handle.)
d. That the new department of information and communication should be grouped with other productive industries (Depts. 300 & 400), while the new department of transportation and distribution should be grouped with other service industries (Dept. 600). Accordingly, the information department should be new No. 500 and the transportation department should be new No. 600.
e. That the need for rational arrangement of the departments outweighs, in the committee’s opinion, the desire to preserve the historic number of the Marine Transport Workers’ I. U. No. 510. This opinion is supported by the fact that the MTWIU during its most active period was actually known as No. 8 and not No. 510.
f. That the Marine Transport Workers’ I. U. nevertheless has a significant history that should be honored. The committee proposes to do this in part by changing the names of the Motor Transport and Municipal Transport Workers’ IUs, so that only one IU will have the initials, MTWIU.
g. That the carriage of passengers by highway has more in common with other forms of passenger transportation than with the carriage of freight by highway, and should therefore be classified with other mass-transit workers.
h. That maintenance, supply, and other service workers primarily serving the transportation industries should be classified with other workers in those industries.
i. That food & beverage and other retail workers in transport stations and terminals, whose work is primarily for the support of the transportation industry and the convenience of travellers, should be explicitly classified as transportation workers; but that those who work in large stations that also function as shopping malls for the general public should be classified with other restaurant workers, or with the workers who produce the products that they distribute, as appropriate.
j. That messengers, couriers, postal workers, and the like, are properly classified as communications workers, since they principally carry written communications.
k. That parcel delivery workers are primarily engaged in the general distribution of goods and should be classified with other general distribution workers.
l. That telecommunications workers, i.e., those who provide and maintain the equipment and media of communication, should be classified as communication workers in the new department of information and communication.
m. That workers engaged in producing content for telecommunications, or video, audio, or film products for distribution, should be classified as information workers in the new department of information and communication.
n. That computer workers are to be found in virtually every industry and should not be classified in a single craft union; and that workers engaged specifically in installing and servicing computer networks for commercial enterprises and households, or in writing computer programs for various industries, should be classified with other workers providing general technical and scientific services.
a. Your committee finds that the tremendous growth and increasing specialization of service industries since the adoption of the current system requires a significant expansion of the I. W. W.’s provisions for organizing service workers. That in addition to the need for accurate classifications for service workers, there is also a practical need for service workers to be spread among several IUs and departments, so that they can be equitably represented in bodies where each department, IU, or branch has a single vote, and, on the other hand, so that their organizations will not have overwhelming and inequitable majorities in bodies where departments, IUs, or branches have voting strength corresponding to the numbers of their membership.
b. That the name of the Educational Workers’ I. U. 620 should be changed to “Education Workers’ I. U.”, in keeping with modern usage.
c. That the Recreational Workers' I. U. 630 should be renamed and redefined to include wage workers in the lively and graphic arts as well as entertainment and recreation. (See note on proposed new I. U. 950 for further explanation.)
d. That building service workers have no specific, natural connection with hospitality workers; that the Restaurant, Hotel, and Building Service Workers' I. U. 640 should accordingly be renamed and redefined to include only hospitality workers; and that building service workers should be classified with workers providing similar services.
e. That the General, Legal, Public Interest and Financial Office Workers' I. U. 650 amalgamates workers from numerous industries into what is essentially a craft union for white-collar workers, inappropriate to an industrial organization; and that it should accordingly be divided up by industry.
f. That the General Distribution Workers' I. U. 660 properly belongs in the proposed new Department of General Transportation & Distribution Services; that it should be redefined to make the meaning of “general distribution” more clear, as many workers have mistaken it for a “retail workers’ union”; and that several enterprises not clearly classified in the current system, such as packing services and automobile towing and storage services, should be specifically included in the definition of this IU.
g. That workers engaged in the maintenance of cemeteries, parks, streets, and highways have no specific, natural connection with utility and sanitation workers; that cemeteries are generally maintained by funeral service providers or by landscaping contractors; that parks workers are best classified as recreational workers; that streets and highways are generally maintained by municipal government workers or by highway construction contractors; that utility and sanitation workers are no longer primarily municipal employees; and that the Municipal and Utility Service Workers' I. U. 670 should therefore be renamed and redefined.
h. That the definition of the Household Service Workers’ I. U. should be revised to emphasize wage workers employed by private households and household service contractors.
i. That the Sex Trade Workers’ I. U. 690 is a craft union and should be eliminated, and that sex workers should be organized with the various industries in which they operate.
j. That there should be an IU for government employees not otherwise organized.
Your committee finds that there are many workers in the North American economy who are not adequately classified in our current List of Industrial Unions. These are casual laborers who frequently change industries (say, more than four times per year) and workers who cannot find a buyer for their labor power. These workers, in their unorganized state, form what Marx calls a “reserve army of labor” or “industrial reserve army”, which is used by the employing class to replace workers who go out on strike or who demand better wages or working conditions. Yet to organize them into any of the Industrial Unions would be problematic at best. Our rules would require casual laborers constantly to transfer membership from one IU to another, generating needless paperwork and expense for the union. Regular dues would be difficult for chronically unemployed workers, and their interests and needs are likely to be quite different from those of employed workers.
Your committee finds that the I. W. W. should organize such workers into an auxiliary Industrial Reserve Organization, in order to build class solidarity among them through education, social activities, the establishment of hiring halls, and other means, thereby turning the bosses’ chief weapon against themselves.
Your committee finds that it has amassed a great deal of useful research and knowledge about modern industry, which ought to be made useful to the union beyond the scope of the present report; that a well-informed standing Committee on Industrial Classification would be of help to the union in an advisory capacity concerning proposed changes to the industrial classification system and helping to adjust jurisdictional conflicts between Industrial Unions; that such a committee could also serve an educational purpose by continuing its research and publishing surveys on various industries; that the I. W. W. formerly had a Bureau of Industrial Research, which served similar purposes, publishing a number of useful pamphlets and articles, but which collapsed under the government persecution of the 1920s; and that a standing Committee on Industrial Classification could provide important assistance to organizing campaigns by supplying research on industries and individual companies and enterprises.
Your committee recommends that the General Assembly adopt the following resolutions and submit the same for ratification to the General Membership:
That Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution be amended by deleting the word "and" before "Regional Organizing Committees", and inserting the words "and the Industrial Reserve Organization" at the end of the sentence, so that it shall read as follows:
Sec. 2. The Industrial Workers of the World shall be composed of actual wage workers brought together in an organization embodying Job Branches, Industrial Union Branches, General Membership Branches, Industrial Unions, Industrial Departments, Regional Organizing Committees, and the Industrial Reserve Organization.
Note: You should vote for this proposal only if you also vote for Nos. 2 & 5.
That Article I, Section 3 (c) of the Constitution be amended by striking out all the matter following the words, "as follows" and replacing it with the following:
Department of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries No. 100
Department of Mining and Minerals No. 200
Department of Construction No. 300
Department of Manufacture No. 400
Department of Information and Communication No. 500
Department of General Transportation and Distribution Services No. 600
Department of Technical and Commercial Services No. 700
Department of Education and Public Service No. 800
Department of Personal and Domestic Service No. 900
The Industrial Reserve Organization
Note: You should vote for this proposal only if you also vote for Nos. 1 & 5.
That Article I of the Constitution be amended by the insertion of the following new Section 5, and the re-numbering of the succeeding sections:
Sec. 5. List of Industrial Unions
(a) The List of Industrial Unions published by the General Administration may be amended as follows:
(1) by the General Membership upon a referendum, as provided in Article IX, Section 2, of this Constitution;
(2) by the General Assembly, as provided in Article VI of this Constitution; or
(3) by the General Executive Board under the following circumstances:
i. the amendment is recommended by the General Organization Committee of an Industrial Union affected thereby; or
ii. if there is no chartered Industrial Union for the affected industry, the amendment is recommended by an Industrial Union Branch for that industry; or
iii. if there is no chartered Industrial Union or Industrial Union Branch for the affected industry, the amendment is recommended by a General Membership Branch that is currently organizing in the affected industry; or
iv. the amendment is recommended by the Committee on Industrial Classification;
provided, however, that no such amendment adopted by the General Executive Board shall be effective if it be rejected by the Industrial Union Convention or referendum of the members of an affected Industrial Union.
(b) Every proposed amendment to the List of Industrial Unions shall be submitted to the Committee on Industrial Classification for comment and recommendation, as follows.
(1) Within sixty days of receipt of such proposed amendment by the chairperson of the Committee, the Committee shall report to the General Executive Board its comments and recommendations concerning the same, and shall cause that report to be published in the General Organization Bulletin.
(2) If the Committee fails to make its report within sixty days, the body considering the proposed amendment may proceed to act on it as if the Committee had made its report.
(3) The recommendations of the Committee on Industrial Classification shall not be binding; but if the General Executive Board or General Assembly declines to follow such recommendations, it shall state in writing its reasons therefor and cause the same to be published in the next General Organization Bulletin.
Note: You should vote for this proposal only if you also vote for No. 4.
That the Committee on Industrial Classification be made a standing committee of the Industrial Workers of the World, by the addition to the General By-Laws of the following Article XV:
Section 1. Establishment and Purpose
There shall be a standing Committee on Industrial Classification, whose duty shall be to educate and advise the Industrial Workers of the World on the principles and practices of industrial unionism, to conduct research into the organization and operation of industry, to advise the General Administration concerning jurisdictional questions between Industrial Unions, and to offer recommendations regarding the organization's industrial classification system.
Sec. 2. Membership and Officers
(a) The Committee on Industrial Classification shall consist of no fewer than three, and no more than fifteen, members, all of whom shall be members in good standing of the Industrial Workers of the World.
(b) Members of the Committee on Industrial Classification may be appointed by the General Executive Board or elected by the Committee itself, and shall serve during good behavior.
(c) Members of the Committee on Industrial Classification may be removed from the Committee by the General Executive Board for cause, including the persistent failure to abide by the rules and by-laws of the Committee, upon the written request of the committee's chairperson or a majority of its members.
(d) The Committee shall have the power to elect from among its members such officers as may be desirable, who shall serve terms of one year, or until their successors take office, and may succeed themselves. Officers shall be subject to recall by the Committee's membership at any time.
Sec. 3. Powers and Duties of the Committee
(a) The Committee on Industrial Classification shall conduct or commission research concerning the organization and operation of capitalist industry, and shall issue such reports and other publications as may be useful to the members, unions, and administration of the Industrial Workers of the World.
(b) The Committee shall produce and maintain, with funds supplied by the General Administration, a printed manual on industrial classification for the guidance of delegates and organizers in assigning workers to the appropriate Industrial Union, which shall be revised from time to time, in order that it shall always reflect the current organization and operation of capitalist industry.
(c) The Committee may recommend from time to time such revisions to the List of Industrial Unions as it may consider advisable, and shall, upon request, offer its opinions and recommendations as to any such revisions that may be proposed by others.
(d) In the event of disagreement between two or more Industrial Unions concerning the proper classification of workers, the Committee shall investigate the matter and offer a recommendation to the General Executive Board. If the General Executive Board declines to follow such recommendation, it shall cause the recommendation, together with its reasons for not following the same, to be published in the next General Organization Bulletin.
(e) The Committee shall have the power to raise its own funds; to open and maintain bank accounts; to issue voluntary assessment stamps; to sell its publications and retain the proceeds therefrom; and to solicit grants and donations from persons and organizations outside the Industrial Workers of the World. The General Executive Board may require the Committee to furnish it with regular financial reports, and any member of the General Executive Board may inspect the books of the Committee at any time, upon reasonable notice.
(f) The Committee shall have the power to adopt by-laws and rules of procedure, consistent with the Constitution and By-Laws of the Industrial Workers of the World, and subject to review and revision by the General Executive Board upon the request of any two members of the Committee.
(g) The chairperson of the Committee shall report to the General Executive Board from time to time, or upon request, concerning the activities and affairs of the Committee; and shall submit an annual report to the General Assembly, summarizing the Committee's activities and financial transactions in the preceding year, along with information on important developments in the organization or operation of industry, and such recommendations as the Committee may desire to offer.
Note: You can vote for this proposal whether you vote for any of the others or not.
That the following List of Industrial Unions be adopted by the Industrial Workers of the World in place of the current List, effective July 1, 2005, and that Branches, job branches, job shops, and others affected by the revisions contained therein be given until March 1, 2005, in which to submit requests to the General Executive Board for money to cover expenses made necessary by the revisions, according to such terms as the Board may prescribe.
Note: You should vote for this proposal only if you also vote for Nos. 1 & 2.
1. “Enterprise” means the actual business operation, factory, plant, mill, mine, office, etc., not necessarily the corporation or other entity that owns the business.
2. Specific types of enterprise or occupations are listed as examples, and are not exhaustive. Some are typical of the industry, but some (such as beekeepers) are listed because it might not be obvious that they belong in the category they are in.
3. Note IU descriptions that refer to workers “not otherwise organized”. The presumption is that most workers who fit that IU’s description will be organized elsewhere. For instance, most government employees will probably be classified with workers in private industries related to their work. Examples are forest rangers, road repair workers, and school teachers. Some, however, may work in government departments unrelated to any private industry. These would belong to an industrial union for government employees “not otherwise organized”.
4. These notes are not part of the proposal and are only to help delegates understand the proposal.
Forest & Lumber Workers’ I. U. 110: All workers for tree farms, forestry and logging operations, in bark and sap collection, in saw and shingle mills, and in preparing wood for fuel and manufacture.
Agricultural Workers’ I. U. 120: All workers for enterprises primarily engaged in production, harvest, primary processing, and distribution of crops. All workers engaged in general or mixed farming. Workers in supporting industries.
Greenhouse & Nursery Workers’ I. U. 130: All workers in nurseries, flower gardens, green- and hot-houses. Workers engaged in production, harvest, and primary processing of crops grown under cover. Workers in floral distribution.
Livestock Workers’ I. U. 140: All workers for enterprises primarily engaged in animal production and primary processing, including ranch hands; shepherds; workers in feed lots, poultry farms & hatcheries, fish farms & hatcheries, mink & rabbit farms, etc.; beekeepers; workers in supporting industries such as breeding services, livestock veterinary services, etc. All workers engaged in pet breeding.
Fishery Workers’ I. U. 150: All workers in fishing and harvesting pursuits on oceans, lakes, and rivers; oyster- and clam-bed keepers; workers engaged in receiving, unloading, and processing catches at the wharf; workers for enterprises primarily engaged in collecting seaweed, shells, pearls, corals, and sponges.
Metal Mine & Quarry Workers’ I. U. 210: All workers for enterprises primarily engaged in mining metals and minerals. All workers in refineries, smelters, and other reduction works. All workers in quarries; in sand, clay, and gravel pits; etc.
Coal Workers’ I. U. 220: All workers for enterprises primarily engaged in production, processing, and distribution of coal and coke.
Oil & Gas Workers’ I. U. 230: All workers in oil and gas fields, refineries and processing facilities. All workers engaged in distribution of petroleum products.
Civil Construction Workers’ I. U. 310: All workers for enterprises primarily engaged in construction, maintenance, and repair of docks, railroads, highways, streets, bridges, sewers, subways, tunnels, canals, viaducts, pipelines, and other heavy construction works.
Ship Builders’ IU 320: All workers for enterprises engaged in building and repairing ships, boats, and small harbor craft. All drydock workers.
Building Construction Workers IU 330: All workers for enterprises primarily engaged in erection, construction, demolition, renovation, and repair of buildings; all workers employed by general construction contractors; all workers employed by specialized contractors and materialmen primarily serving the construction industry. All workers for enterprises engaged in prefabrication of houses (including mobile homes) and major components.
Textile Workers’ I. U. 410: All workers for enterprises primarily engaged in producing thread, yarn, cordage, and cloth from natural or synthetic fibers. All workers for enterprises primarily engaged in manufacturing or distributing wearing apparel.
Wood and Furniture Workers’ I. U. 420: All workers in planing mills and furniture factories. All workers for enterprises primarily engaged in producing veneers, plywood, particle board, laminate, etc. All workers for enterprises primarily engaged in producing wooden containers, including cabinets and burial coffins. All workers for enterprises primarily engaged in the manufacture of stringed musical instruments.
Chemical Workers’ I. U. 430: All workers for enterprises primarily engaged in producing drugs, paint, rubber, explosives, medicines, chemicals, plastics, synthetic fibers, and other chemical products.
Metal and Machinery Workers’ I. U. 440: All workers in blast furnaces, steel mills, aluminum plants, etc. All workers for enterprises primarily engaged in the production, repair or maintenance of agricultural machinery, cars, locomotives, engines, automobiles, bicycles, and air craft.
Electronics and Instrument Workers’ I. U. 450: All workers for enterprises primarily engaged in the manufacture and assembly of electronic devices and components; of technical, medical, and scientific instruments; of jewellery and timepieces; and of musical instruments other than stringed instruments.
Foodstuff Workers’ I. U. 460: All workers for enterprises primarily engaged in processing and distributing foodstuffs, beverages, and tobacco products.
Leather and Footwear Workers’ I. U. 470: All workers for enterprises primarily engaged in the tanning, dyeing, and cutting of leather; or in the production or distribution of goods historically made of leather and leather substitutes, such as shoes, boots, handbags, garments, tack and harness, trunks and suitcases, etc.
Glass, Pottery, and Mineral Workers’ I. U. 480: All workers for enterprises primarily engaged in producing and distributing glass, chinaware, pottery, tile, bricks, gypsum, lime, wall-board, abrasives, and other non-metallic mineral products other than fuels.
Pulp and Paper Mill Workers’ I. U. 490: All workers for enterprises primarily engaged in making and recycling pulp and paper products.
Printing and Publishing Workers’ I. U. 510: All workers for enterprises primarily engaged in producing and distributing newspapers, books, catalogues, and similar printed matter, and of computer software other than games. All workers, not otherwise organized, for enterprises primarily engaged in producing publications for the World-Wide Web and Internet, including programmers, website administrators, and technicians. All reporters, staff writers, photographers, graphic artists, and programmers attached to the publishing industry. All workers in bookstores, sheet-music stores, software stores, newsstands, etc., and Internet distributors of printed matter and computer software.
Telecommunication Workers’ I. U. 520: All workers for enterprises primarily engaged in the provision and maintenance of telephone, telegraph, radio, television, internet, and satellite communication systems and services. All workers for enterprises primarily engaged in the installation, maintenance, and repair of communications cable, signal towers, transmitters, etc. All workers in radio and television stations, including writers, engineers, producers, announcers, etc.
Library and Information Service Workers’ I. U. 530: All workers for enterprises primarily engaged in the collection, storage, and retrieval of information, including workers in libraries and archives, other than those dedicated to particular professions, industries, or educational institutions. Workers employed by market-research, opinion-polling, and archival and statistical research services.
Video, Audio, and Film Production Workers’ I. U. 540: All workers for enterprises primarily engaged in the production and distribution of recorded music, radio and television programs, video and computer games, and motion pictures for sale, rental, broadcast, or commercial exhibition, and in auxiliary services, including catering; talent booking; set, property, and costume production, sale, and rental; location equipment rental; bulk duplication of recorded media; etc.
Postal & Express Delivery Workers’ I. U. 550: All workers for enterprises primarily engaged in processing, transfer, and delivery of letters, messages, and the like.
Marine Transport Workers’ I. U. 610: All workers engaged in general transportation by water. All workers on docks and in terminals. All workers in auxiliary industries, including port and harbor operations, ship cleaning, etc.
Railroad Workers’ I. U. 620: All workers engaged in long-distance railway freight and passenger transportation. All repair, maintenance, and supply workers specific to the industry. All workers in and around passenger and freight depots, including food & beverage and newsstand workers.
Motor Freight Workers’ I. U. 630: All workers engaged in long-distance carriage of general freight by truck. All workers for household and office moving and storage services. All workers in and around truck stops, motor freight hubs, and depots. All repair, maintenance, and supply workers specific to the industry.
Transit Workers’ I. U. 640: All workers for urban and suburban passenger transportation services, including commuter rail, bus, limousine, and taxicab services. All workers for rural and interurban bus lines. All workers in bus and transit stations, including food & beverage and newsstand workers. All repair, maintenance, and supply workers specific to the industry.
Air Transport Workers’ I. U. 650: All workers engaged in carriage of passengers and freight by air. All workers employed by auxiliary service and maintenance contractors attached to the industry. All workers in airports. All repair, maintenance, and supply workers specific to the industry.
General Distribution Workers’ I. U. 660: All workers in distribution facilities, wholesale and retail, not attached to a particular industry, including general warehouses, general wholesalers, department stores, and the like. All workers engaged in support activities for transportation and storage of goods, not specifically allied to a particular mode of transport, including packing and crating services, inspection and survey services, freight-forwarding services, etc. Workers engaged in local towing and storage of motor vehicles, other than those attached to repair shops. All workers for local transfer and storage companies. All workers for parcel delivery services.
Engineering, Technical, and Scientific Workers’ I. U. 710: All workers, not otherwise organized, for enterprises primarily engaged in providing engineering, technical, and scientific services. All workers in architectural offices. All workers in research laboratories not attached to educational institutions. All workers for enterprises primarily engaged in the installation, maintenance, and repair of computers and computer networks.
Commercial Service Workers’ I. U. 720: All workers, not otherwise organized, for enterprises primarily engaged in providing support services to various industries, including commercial laundries; pest-control services; employment agencies; temporary staffing agencies; printing and engraving shops; document copying, storage, and management services; telephone calling centers; telephone answering services; mailbox and mail forwarding services; etc.
Legal Service Workers’ I. U. 730: All workers in law offices, including attorneys who are actual wage-workers. Workers for legal research and brief-writing services; court reporting services; dedicated law publishers, printers, and stationers; and lawyers’ document-management services. Courthouse workers. Workers in notarial offices, title settlement offices, and title-search services. Workers employed by commercial arbitration and mediation services. Workers employed by process-serving, bail-bonding, and private investigation services.
General Repair and Maintenance Workers’ I. U. 740: All workers, not otherwise organized, for enterprises primarily engaged in the repair and maintenance of buildings and building systems, and commercial and domestic appliances and machinery. Workers for janitorial services and commercial landscaping services.
Financial and Insurance Workers’ I. U. 750: All workers in banks, insurance companies, stock and commodities exchanges; all workers for stock and insurance brokerages. All workers for enterprises primarily engaged in the sale and rental of real estate. All employees of insurance adjusting and surveying firms. All workers in accounting offices.
Education Workers’ I. U. 810: All workers in educational institutions and museums; workers for historical societies and educational foundations. Workers in industries auxiliary to education, including testing services, educational consulting services, dedicated school bus services, etc.
Public Interest Workers’ I. U. 820: All workers in religious, charitable, public advocacy, and service organizations not otherwise organized. All workers for enterprises primarily engaged in providing humane services to the public, other than health services.
Utility and Sanitation Workers’ I. U. 830: All workers for enterprises primarily engaged in the transmission, and supply of gas, electricity, water, and steam. All workers for sewer services. All workers for enterprises primarily engaged in the collection and primary processing of refuse and recyclable materials. All workers for enterprises primarily engaged in the collection, processing, and disposal of hazardous wastes. All workers in dumps, incinerators, and landfills.
Government Workers’ I. U. 840: All government employees not otherwise organized.
Hotel, Restaurant, and Catering Workers’ I. U. 910: All workers in facilities for public accommodation and refreshment, other than those attached to casinos. All workers for catering services not dedicated to serving a particular industry.
Household Service Workers’ I. U. 920: All workers providing domestic services to private households, including cooks, maids, gardeners, etc. All workers employed by housecleaning services, residential landscaping and gardening services, etc.
Personal Service Workers’ I. U. 930: All workers for enterprises primarily engaged in performing personal services for the public. All workers in barber shops, beauty salons, and massage services; erotic and escort services; veterinary offices and other animal care centers; funeral parlors, cemeteries and crematoriums; dry-cleaning establishments, small laundries, tailors’ shops, etc.
Health Service Workers’ I. U. 940: All workers employed in hospitals, nursing homes, clinics, medical offices, etc. Workers in rehabilitation centers. Workers for medical research services. Workers in medical billing services and other industries auxiliary to health services. Workers in health-maintenance organizations.
Arts & Recreation Workers’ I. U. 950: All workers in amusement parks, ball parks, playgrounds, carnivals, race tracks, casinos, game arcades, and other places of amusement and recreation. All workers in night clubs, music venues, etc.; exotic dance clubs, peep shows, etc.; theaters, concert halls, opera houses, and similar establishments; including associated food and beverage workers. All workers in arts organizations. All workers for enterprises primarily engaged in providing auxiliary services to the industry, including catering; talent booking; set, property, and costume production, sale, and rental; location equipment rental; etc. All writers, athletes, graphic artists, and performing artists not organized in other industries.
Note: This IU is intended mainly for workers whose primary product is live performance or some other type of immediate experience for the consumer. Workers who primarily produce recordings and other commodities for sale should be classified with IU 540.
All casual and temporary workers who frequently move between industries. All unemployed workers who have no near prospect of regular employment, as during financial crises or local job shortages caused by closure of a factory or mine.
Respectfully submitted,
The Committee on Industrial Classification
By Jim Crutchfield, Chairperson
Maintained by J. D. Crutchfield. This web page contains a few minor changes from the version provided to delegates to the General Assembly.
Last updated 7 March 2005
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