Contributors to the Rise and Fall of Socialism

             Unions had a large influence of the socialist ideas. Many people were tired of the capitalist's rules and laws and began to speak up. Nearly 80 percent of workers were in the American Federation of Labor, a union that consisted mostly of skilled workers that were white men. The AF of L did not agree with having women or foreigners in their union. Samuel Gompers was the speaker for the AF of L and even though he stated that the AF of L was for equal opportunity he also believed that it would not be proper to interfere with the "internal affairs" of the south. That left foreigners out of the picture. People that could not get into the AF of L were tired of being treated unfairly and in 1905 two hundred workers formed the IWW, Industrial Workers of the World. This union did not care if a person was a skilled worker or not, they did not care what color a person was or whether they were man or woman. As stated by Zinn "they spoke of direct action" meaning that the employee would not take demands from the employer. The worker would tell the employer when he would work, what his own wage was, and where the he would work. Workers of the IWW did not believe in violence to help them gain the edge on their victories but would fight back if they were attacked. At one strike the IWW said they would kill as many police men as strikers were killed. The strike ended in IWW favor with three officers dead and four strikers dead. Joseph Ettor, one of the IWW organizers said "If the workers of the world want to win, all they have to do is recognize their own solidarity. The have nothing to do but fold their arms and the world will stop. The workers are more powerful with their hands in their pockets than all the property of capitalism." Basically what he was stating is that workers have more power than the men that employ them. All they have to do is stop working and the employers will listen. This statement gave the IWW the edge and capitalists began to fear them.