The IWW often receives calls for help from workers in shops where working conditions have deteriorated to the point where workers are quitting or where they or their coworkers have been fired for trying to organize a union.

The IWW highly recommends that you don't wait until things get this bad before you contact us. We call situations like these, "Hot Shops". Hot shop organizing drives are hard to win. A few simple steps can prevent poorly run "Hot Shop" campaigns.

How does one prevent "Hot Shop" organizing conditions?

Members of the Bay Area IWW General Membership Branch (who have dealt with numerous "Hot Shop" campaigns) recommended the following steps:

(1) Workers who wish to organize a union in their industry or workplace should contacttheir nearest Industrial Union Branch (IUB) or General Membership Branch (GMB) and develop a preliminary organizing strategy before attempting to unionize.

(2) Interested workers should form a Job Branch (five or more workers in a shop in good standing, with at least one trained as a delegate) in their industry and require at least one member attend GMB business and organizing meetings if work schedules allow it. The Job Branch serves as a functional unit within the shop or industry that can link up with similar units in the same industry throughout the IWW and share information, including working conditions, strategies, and goals.

(3) All actions taken by the Job Branch should be reported to the local Industrial Union Branch (or General Membership Branch if no local IUB is available), even if the action is already underway so that more experienced members of the IWW can evaluate and recommend alternatives.

(4) If the Job Branch collects solidarity contact information, and they pass that informaion onto their local IUB or GMB, it should be understood that all contacts will be used whenever the IUB or GMB deems necessary for other local campaigns, (otherwise maintenance of the data becomes cumbersome). If the Job Branch wants to keep contacts isolated to their campaign, they should maintain that data themselves.

(5) Each member from a Job Branch should undergo a New Member Orientation (if provided by their local IUB or GMB).

(6) If 10 or more workers in the same Job Shop sign up, they should attempt to set up an Organizer Training, with the assistance of their local IUB or GMB complete with "modules" and/or "workshops" specific to the shops needs.

(7) "Joint" campaigns with other unions, such as the AFL-CIO do not work. Usually the business union expects the IWW to work as unpaid grunts for their business union organizing strategies. The success rate of these drives is generally pathetic. Even if the drive succeeds, the IWW gets no credit, the business union gets the dues, members, and contract, and the conditions are generally business union conditions (which is to say, undemocratic and authoritarian). The IWW will not help business unions hold back the workers of the world.

(8) If the above conditions are not agreed to by the workers in the shop, The IWW is not likely to prioritze the organizing drive. We will offer solidarity if requested, but we will tend not to spend any of our resources on such an effort, because it is likely to end in defeat (90% of business union organizing efforts fail).

(9) Of course, every organizing situation is slightly different. Each will need to be dealt with on a case-by-case basis. These suggestions are offered as a general set of guidelines.