Committee on Industrial Classification

The Committee on Industrial Classification was appointed by the 2001 General Assembly with the task of considering a complete revision of the union's industrial classification system.

The Industrial Workers of the World was first organized because its founders realized that organized labor as it then stood was a relic of a former time and an obsolete organization of industry. They wrote, "We find that the centering of the management of industries into fewer and fewer hands makes the trade unions unable to cope with the ever-growing power of the employing class." The first Wobblies were committed to the principle of scientific organization, in which workers would oppose the capitalist class by organizing as the bosses organized, mirroring capital's organization and matching it at every level.

The mission of the Committee on Industrial Classification is to study modern industry, and, in light of that study, to propose recommendations for bringing our union's industrial structure up to date.

 The complete report is here.