"Bolshevik" union gave area a scare

x344543 — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 17:49:00 +0000

Joe Blackstock - San Bernadino County Sun, October 31, 2006

There were no more sinister initials to an Inland Empire rancher than IWW.

Just a hint of the presence of the IWW - Industrial Workers of the World - in the neighborhood was enough to make employers quake in their boots. A strong, socialist-leaning union, sometimes nicknamed the Wobblies, it helped foment strikes throughout the nation especially during and immediately after World War I.

Some believed the IWW was associated with the Bolsheviks and the Soviet revolution in Russia, though that link was very tenuous, if one even existed. Nonetheless, most local newspaper articles did not hesitate to refer to its leaders as Bolsheviks.

The union did make some gains nationally, especially because it

welcomed minority and foreign workers that many mainstream unions did not.

In 1919, the agricultural Inland Empire was right in the sights of IWW organizers hoping to bring the area's farm workers - mostly Mexican, Japanese, Chinese and Asian Indians - into their fold.

As it turned out, the IWW never made much impact here because the combined might of ranchers and businessmen backed by the strong arm of police suppressed the union at every turn.

Industrial Workers of the World - Department 100 - Agriculture and Fisheries

"Bolshevik" union gave area a scare