What is the Work People’s College? From 1921 until it’s closure in 1941, the Work People’s College trained hundreds of workers on tactics of the class struggle, nourishing a tradition of working class radicalism in Minnesota that lives on today.
In 2006, the Twin Cities IWW (aka Minneapolis & St. Paul IWW) began reviving the Work People’s College with a series of workshops, one-day educationals, and presentations.
While we are on the cusp of being a truly great force in the labor movement again, there are still some important challenges to overcome. Many Wobblies have gone through the Organizer Training 101 and those training’s have been instrumental in advancing the struggle for One Big Union. But still, too many organizing drives are falling short because beating a boss takes so much more than just the skills found in the 101 training.
Training workers in those additional skills is what the IWW Work People’s College is all about. Debuting this summer with an intensive six-day program in Minnesota, the Work People’s College will offer Wobbly organizers top-notch trainings in an array of critical tools including formulating a winning campaign strategy, developing member leadership, conducting research & intelligence gathering, and Labor Law 102, to name just a few of the many courses being offered. After the College, a group of highly-skilled Wobblies will return to their branches and their industries to share and implement what they’ve learned and meaningfully increase the power of our labor union.
Check out the curriculum! [ HERE ]
The Richmond IWW is fundraising to help send fellow workers from the Richmond General Membership Branch of the Industrial Workers of the World [www.richmondiww.org ] to the Work People’s College.
Members of the Richmond Industrial Workers of the World are building a radical labor movement in Virginia. Membership is growing, and we’ve been engaging working class people through various campaigns through out Virginia, and in each campaign we strive to increase class consciousness.
We are engaging workers on the shop floor and challenging the boss class, organizing with the Richmond Transit Riders Union for transportation equality, housing justice with Residents of Public Housing in Richmond Against Mass Eviction (RePHRAME), and against gentrification and food deserts through Sustainable East End Development in Church Hill(SEED-CH).
Those are a lot of different issues right? Not all of them take place in the work place, however they all involve working people, and these working people are working together to solve problems in their community the same way one would do in the work place. These are worker driven movements with a lot of inter-connectivity, and at the root of all these concerns lies the enemy, capitalism. A system which inherently feeds off the exploitation of the working class.
If you would like to support the work we do towards the organization of the working class on the shop floor, the abolition of the wage system and with it the capitalist system, please help us continue in the education of fellow workers within our union and our community. Please consider donating any amount to the Work People’s College Fund. Our goal is $1,500 by May 15, 2012
How do I donate?
We are a 501c5 Non-Profit Organization, so your donations will not be tax-deductable, sorry. However you can still send a donation online through the “donate” button at the top right hand corner of [ www.richmondiww.org ] or by sending well concealed cash / check / money order to:
Richmond IWW c/o WPC
PO BOX 7055
Richmond, Virginia 23221