Construction is one of the most dangerous and difficult jobs at the moment. Dozens die each year on unsafe construction sites, and many more are injured. At a time when bosses are exploiting both ‘native’ and ‘migrant’ workers, pitting them against each other, flaunting health and safety regulations and pushing wages down, it is time for building workers of all hues to come together to build a fighting union.
Within construction, workers are often lost in a sea of subcontractors, agencies and gangmasters. The IWW prides itself on ‘following the worker, not the job’ – whatever site you work on, whatever job you’re doing, you are still a member of the IWW. This, coupled with our bottom-up, grassroots structure, means that the IWW is ideally suited to the needs of workers in the construction industry.
The IWW’s tactics of creative direct action on the job, workplace democracy and collective support have a proven track record of being very effective in construction. The current state of construction industries needs a union like the IWW now, and increasing numbers of roofers, plumbers, labourers, electricians, decorators, carpenters and others, are turning to the IWW as a militant, grassroots alternative. Get involved with organising in your industry today!
- Industrial Union 310: General Construction (e.g. construction of docks, railways, bridges, sewers, streets, tunnels, canals and pipelines)
- Industrial Union 320: Ship Builders (ship and boat builders and repairers, and drydock workers)
- Industrial Union 330: Building Construction Workers (erection, construction and decoration of buildings, and delivery of building materials)
Contact: rocsec [at] iww [dot] org [dot] uk for more information.