Industrial Workers of the World

American  

noun

1. an international industrial labor union, considered radical by many, that was organized in Chicago in 1905 and that disintegrated after 1920. I.W.W., IWW

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Industrial Workers of the World British  

noun

1.  IWW.  an international revolutionary federation of industrial unions founded in Chicago in 1905: banned in the US in 1949 See also Wobbly

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Example Sentences

In 1905, the Industrial Workers of the World rejected the AFL’s narrow craft unionism, calling for one big union uniting all workers to abolish wage labor.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 30, 2025

A statewide dragnet for organizers from the Industrial Workers of the World, or Wobblies, ensued, followed by hundreds of arrests.

From Los Angeles Times • May 16, 2024

On the same day he freed Debs, Harding commuted the sentences of 23 other political prisoners, activists and Industrial Workers of the World union members who spoke out against the war.

From Washington Post • Jan. 6, 2022

For these officials, the most worrisome left-wing group was the Industrial Workers of the World, known as the Wobblies.

From The New Yorker • Nov. 4, 2019

Industrial Workers of the World, American syndicalism, 247 n.

From Violence and the Labor Movement by Hunter, Robert