r/IWW • u/Flaky_Ingenuity_9710 • Sep 09 '26

Central California

Im a current dsa member interested in joining the iww, but im wondering if there is anybody located near me, in the central coast of california, san luis obispo county, to be exact?

8 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

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8

u/Blight327 Sep 09 '26

When you sign up it alerts the closest GMB, they should reach out to you after. That said, I don’t believe there is a current SLO GMB. LA is likely the closest, and is quite active.

I would say join, get yourself to OT101, and organize your workplace.

5

u/Flaky_Ingenuity_9710 Sep 09 '26

Thanks! From some searching, it looks like theres some activity in santa cruz, which is closer but still a bit of a drive.

Im already union, its not a great one, cuz business unions be businessin’, but its absolutely better than all of the non union jobs ive had. My interest in IWW is helping others organize, something im trying to get into with EWOC, as well as finding others active in the labor movement, with a focus on militant unions. I started the labor committee in my DSA chapter a few months ago, and thus far there isnt much interest amongst our members, so thats my hope of finding wobblies close to me.

3

u/Blight327 Sep 09 '26

For sure, I would say that we’re quite small compared to the current DSA. Just be aware that the IWW doesn’t “cross pollinate”. You may see members doing mutual aid or some other community programs, you’ll even see members doing DSA work, but you won’t see them coming out as a union in support of any political campaign/organizing. There’s some hard lines in the constitution, we don’t endorse, we don’t collaborate with parties, and we don’t run our own politicians. You may have already known that, but maybe not. Stuff like this can be a bit of a cultural shock for people, it’s why folks label the whole union as anarchist (an inappropriate label mind you). I can elaborate if need be, but I figure you more than get the gist.

With that understanding, the union has much to offer as far as knowledge and training, that we freely share to all workers.

6

u/Flaky_Ingenuity_9710 Sep 09 '26

Yeah thats totally cool. Ive done a bit of research, and honestly, i could give a shit about electoralism at this point. The collusion with democrats is kind of a point of contention with me about the dsa, and since there is not a viable left-labor party at the moment, i dont involve myself with it on an official level anyway.

3

u/Blight327 Sep 09 '26

Understandable, here’s some resources you can read thru. Keep up with the GOB to see what training is available, and a lot of branches use insta to promote local events. Good luck out there fellow worker.

To clarify when a GMB reaches out often thru the email you registered with. That email is the one that will be used for listserv and other internal communications. So be sure you check spam folders or such, so you don’t miss any messages

-1

u/OptimusTrajan Sep 09 '26

There are almost certainly members near you, but that information is confidential.