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Cliques, Hoarding Power, and Cults of Personality

By x344543

Do any of the following characteristics describe your IWW Branch?

  • One member or a small handful have all the power and/or resources at their command;
  • One member or a small handful do all of the work;
  • Meetings take place in a member's residence or a common space that is alienating to most members of your branch or potential members;
  • Your IWW Branch's Phone Number, Mailing Address, Email Contact, and/or Social Media sites are those of individual members and not shared resources;
  • Your IWW Branch's literature, tabling equipment, A/V equipment, picket signs, banners, etc., are stored in a private location and only accessible to one or a handful of members;
  • Only an unnecssarily limited number of members have keys to your IWW Branch office, meeting space, or storage facilities;
  • All of the active members of your IWW Branch live in the same residence or a tiny handful of residences, whereas most of the other less active members do not;
  • Your IWW Branch Meetings are dominated by a tiny minority of your dues-paying membership;
  • Only a tiny handful of your members consistently remain in good standing while a much larger "revolving door" of members come and go;
  • Only a select few of your members get consistent notices of your IWW Branch Activity; the rest only get sporadic notice;
  • Meetings only start after a certain particular member or handful of members arrive, even if said members arrive significantly later than the meeting's announced starting time;
  • Motions and proposals are routinely tabled if certain specific members are absent from the meeting.

If the answer to one or more of these questions is "yes", your IWW Branch may be falling prey to or may have already succombed to clique control, hoarding of power, or cults of personality.

Perhaps not, though.  Many of the aforementioned situations may be neccessitated by circumstances.  For example, sometimes--especially with newly forming branches--common space and/or common resources are not yet available or affordable.  Sometimes--especially in smaller branches, the small pool of members may mimic these circumstances but not actually reflect them.

Still, if unchecked and allowed to persist, these circumstances will limit your IWW Branch's ability to thrive and grow.  In many cases, they will eventually cause your IWW Branch to fade and die.  Also, it is much harder to fix these problems after they become entrenched.  Therefore, it is essential to look out for them.

Sometimes, in fact, often, these situations evolve unconsciously.  Sometimes this is the result of learned dysfunctional behavior due to the evils of capitalism, but sometimes--unfortunately--they're the result of individuals simply being control freaks or assholes.  Whatever the case, these behaviors are usually unhealthy (though to every rule there may be an ocassional exception). 

Why it's not ideal to mix collective and private resources (e.g. having your IWW Branch financial account be in one member's name or actually be that member's financial account, or having branch equipment stored in a individual member's space):

  • The aforementioned member has an unequal amount of power over the resources (whether intended or not);
  • It's inconvenient for the other members to use the resources, thus limiting their access to it;
  • It's inconvenient for the member whose resource is being shared, because they will get requests from the other members to have access at not necessarily convenient times;
  • If the member whose private resources are mixed with your IWW Branch's resources quits, it can derail crucial branch activity for days, weeks, even months while everything is sorted out.  In some cases, this can even cause IWW Branches to collapse.

All members should be treated equally in almost all cases

  • If your IWW Branch meetings consistently start late to accomodate one or a small number of particular members, this may be a sign that those members are considered more important than everyone else. 
  • Those members thus accomodated will get the message that they're being treated as VIPs and may even start taking advantage of the situation to throw their perceived weight around.  Alternatively, such accomodation may be a sign that these "special" members have been bullying others into giving them special treatment. 
  • In any case, such behavior can and probably will alienate many other members, particularly those with a strong commitment to rank & file democracy and/or those that have experienced such behavior in corrupt business unions.

Your meeting locations, office spaces, social experiences, and collective activity should be welcoming to all members:

  • Many IWW Branches in recent years have had close associations with activist and/or alternative culture; while such cultures have their place and their worth, they may not necessarily be inviting to all potential IWW members, especially those who do not have "activist" or "alternative" histories;
  • Some IWW Branches have also made it a habit to meet or hold social activities in establishments which serve alcohol.  While this may be accpetable in someinstances, this can be alienating to others;
  • While churches and/or other religious edifaces can be readily available and accessible meeting places, some members may find  them unqwelcoming as well.
  • When serving food and drink, be mindful of alternative diets, allergies, and/or preferences.  While you cannot anticipate every need, it is at least useful to provide choices for meat eaters, vegetarians, vegans as well as those who drink alcohol and those who don't.
  • Be mindful of those who have small children and need childcare, those with mobility limitations, those with physiological sensitivities (such as chemical sensitivities), those who prefer not to be in contact with cigarette smoke, and the like.
  • Treat everybody respectfully and appreciate the innate as well as chosen distinctions between members.  The working class is composed of all kinds.  Diversity is specifically detailed in the next manual.

Following these guidelines are not a guarantee against these problems (or others) arising, but at least being made aware of them can help minimize potential damage.