When Bill Haywood used a board to gavel to order the first convention of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), he announced, "this is the Continental Congress of the working class.
We are here to confederate the workers of this country into a working class movement that shall have for its purpose the emancipation of the working class..."[1] The first step towards the founding of the Industrial Workers of the World had already been taken in the fall of 1904 in an informal conference of six leaders in the socialist and labor movement: William Trautmann, George Estes, W. L. Hall, Isaac Cowen, Clarence Smith, and Thomas J. Hagerty.
These men shared the conviction that the existing American labor unions were unable to achieve real benefits for the workers.
Those at the informal conference decided to arrange a larger meeting to be held on January 2, 1905 in Chicago, to which about 30 people were invited.
[3] The 1905 convention of the IWW was attended by 203 radical trade unionists representing 43 organizations, which covered a wide range of occupations.