To all politicized, activist, and socially conscious prisoners, The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) is now offering prisoners free membership. The IWW – a revolutionary industrial union – was founded in 1905 by a group of anarchists and communists, and at one time boasted a membership of over 100,000.
According to the IWOC Directory and Reference Guide: “Members of the
IWW have created the Incarcerated Worker Organizing Committee…which functions
as a liaison for prisoners to organize each other, unionize, and build strong bridges
between prisoners on the inside and fellow workers on the outside… Neither the setup
nor the slavery inside of prisoners can be combated without the conscious participation of prisoners and the working class on the outside through mutual aid, solidarity, and the building of working class relationships that transcend prison walls and the politics of mass incarceration. The IWOC has been actively reaching out to prisoners while at the same time prisoners have been reaching out to the IWW for representation and assistance in building a prisoners’ union. The IWOC has taken up the cause and is
helping prisoners in every facility organize and build a union branch for themselves,
which will form a powerful IWW Industrial Union.
“To achieve this cage slave/wage slave alliance, the IWOC is accepting
IWW membership applications from prisoners who agree with the IWW Constitution
and believe that to truly change prison conditions, prisoners must be organized and
working towards such goals with the help and support of the working class on the out-
side. Prisoners will be full-fledged members on the IWW with their own local prison
branch to maintain and develop and will have the same rights and responsibilities of
members on the outside.”
When the IWW receives your membership request they will welcome you
into the IWW database, assign you a membership number, mail you a letter of confirmation and place your “red card” into the IWW documents file unless you request it to be mailed to a third-party. The IWW will then send you IWW-related literature, such as One Big Union; Preamble, Constitution and General Bylaws of the IWW; IWOC
Organizing Structure Plan; and the IWOC Directory and Reference Guide.
Requesting membership can be as simple as writing the IWW a letter stating
that you are interested in free membership, and that you are a worker.
You don’t have to be an actual prisoner-worker to qualify for membership.
If you are serious about creating drastic changes in our living conditions, helping to
abolish the Prison Industrial Complex, and taking full control of your (our) destiny,
[then join the IWW!]
