Local Industrial Union. All mail carriers and mail wagon teamsters, as well as postal clerks, would belong to the Postal Workers' Local Industrial Union. All textile workers engaged in producing cloth, whether they were weavers, stenographers in the factories, chemists, or inspectors, would belong to the Local Industrial Union of Textile Workers. 1 Within the Local Industrial Union there may be subdivisions, either Trade or Shop Branches or both, as the requirements of the particular industry may render necessary. Trade, i. e., craft, divisions, based on the tool instead of the product, fall within the scope of the Local Industrial Union. The textile Union, for example, might have a Weavers' Branch, a Stenographers' Branch, a Carders' Branch, etc. The Local Union might also have a separate Branch for each shop or factory. All Trade and Shop Branches must be properly connected so as to constitute the local unit of Industrialism. All Local Industrial Unions in a given industry throughout America are organized into a National Industrial Union. This means that all producers in the nation are organized according to the industries in which they work, and there will be as many National Industrial Unions as there are separate, distinct industries in the United States. It is evident that industrial unionism is an expression of the class struggle, because it mobilizes on one side the whole working class in any given industry. Whenever there 1. Constitution of W. I. I. U.. Cf. D. De Leon, "Industrial Unionism," 9. is an industrial conflict, all the workers in that industry will then act as a unit. The Industrial Union has a dual mission: (1) To wage the every-day struggle of the workers distinctly with the view of abolishing exploit- (2) To organize the productive faculties of the the future Industrial Republic, whose structure they are rearing now. In waging the battle for the overthrow of capitalism the working class, says the W. I. I. U., must organize "in such a way that all its members in any one industry or in all industries, if necessary, cease work whenever a strike or lockout is on in any department thereof, thus making an in 1 jury to one an injury to all." With victory attained, the industrial union becomes a constituent unit in the Workers' Industrial Republic. 3. Structure and Mission of the Industrial Republic "The proletariat," said De Leon, "is one. From the fundamental principle of the oneness of interests of the pra etariat arises the ideal to be obtained - their solidarity. 1.Constitution of W.I.I.U., Preamble. However different the nature of the occupation, the work done, and the conditions of work, the useful labor of the land is one nation, hence must be organized as one union. The industrial principle of one union, on the same ground as one nation, excludes as a matter of course, the jelly-fish conception of oneness."l It implies the "oneness of high structure of the There must be highly organized co-operation, or there can be no abundance for all without arduous toil. "Hence," says De Leon, "the Industrial Union aims at a democratically centralized government, accompanied by the democratically requisite 'local self-rule' This ideal of a highly central 12 ized and co-ordinated form of social control of production and public service places the W. I. I. U. in sharp contrast with the I. W. W., as will be seen later. Let us now examine the structure provided for the attainment of this ideal, keeping in mind that its framers expect that it will be modified to some extent when it comes to function as a system of govern ment. The Local Industrial Union has two connections, one nationally, with all other Locals in the same industry, one locally, with the Industrial Council. The Industrial Council, which is organized "for the purpose of establishing general solidarity in a given district, is composed of delegates from Local Industrial Unions. The Council is 1. Daniel De Leon, "Industrial Unionism, 6. 2. Daniel De Leon, "Industrial Unionism," 3. 3. Constitution of W. I. I. U. |