To see the red and black IWW banners, flags and balloons flying above the gathering of Wobblies on October 17 at the base of the Lincoln Memorial, you'd think you had stepped back in time. Considering the efforts undertaken by bosses and the state to crush the Industrial Workers of the World in the first half of the twentieth century, this was perhaps the largest showing of Wobs in 70 years.

Close to 100 Wobblies joined several thousand other workers, students and activists for the Million Worker March in Washington, DC as an organized contingent. The rally and march itself was initiated by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, or ILWU. While the overall turn-out for the rally itself was disappointing, numbering perhaps 5,000 or less due to a de facto ban by the AFL-CIO leadership, police interference with union buses and internal labor coalition shortfalls, it was inspiring to meet, sing and march in a large and visible presence.

An initial contingent comprised of the IWW, the Federation of Revolutionary Anarchist Collectives, or FRAC, the NorthEastern Federation of Anarchist-Communists, or NEFAC, and the Workers Solidarity Alliance, or WSA, met between 11:00 and 11:45 am on the west side of the Washington Monument until police demanded the gathering leave, calling the convergence a "demonstration" that was not allowed on monument grounds. The contingent then left the area marching along the southern edge of the Reflecting Pool singing songs such as "Solidarity Forever," "There is Power in a Union," and "A las Barricadas" among others. Wobblies set up a merchandise and information table at the edge of the Reflecting Pool near the Lincoln Memorial that drew large crowds throughout the day. Additionally, a massive amount of literature was distributed, both by the IWW (the Industrial Worker) and NEFAC (Strike!) as well as through FRAC's table, and folks were incredibly receptive.

The rally itself consisted of speaker after speaker addressing the crowd from noon until just after 4:00 pm, leaving many wondering if there was going to be a march at all. A feeder march assembled outside of AFL-CIO headquarters as the "Coalition of Imaginary Anarchists" before the rally, but there were some concerns among Wobs as to the choice of assembly points and in the end, plans were not worked out well enough in advance to facilitate coordination, thus the IWW, if not others, did not participate. As a union, the IWW's power rests in its ability to organize and energize workers and perhaps the most persuasive argument against the business unionism of the AFL-CIO bureaucracy is the example set by solidarity unionism in a constructive and practical form.

One criticism of the rally itself, apart from the external actions of police or AFL-CIO leadership, was the seeming lack of accessible information as to how it would progress. There were plans for a march to take place after the rally in support of HERE hotel workers, but conflicting reports and a lack of specifics confused many. A discussion took place among the IWW, NEFAC, FRAC and WSA regarding post-rally plans but a solid consensus could not be reached, prompting many to leave before the march in support of hotel workers occurred. All present wished to support the hotel workers, but again, information on how to plug-in was next to non-existant. Regardless, many Wobblies who traveled from as far away as the Bay Area, Lawrence, Kansas and Detroit, Michigan had a time limit for any further activities and were unable to participate.

An incident did occur during the discussion that should be addressed. When an African-American organizer with the ILWU approached the meeting, unfamiliar with its process, he was rather rudely told by a non-Wobbly that he should leave as he was not a member of any of the groups present. This reaction was apparently due to a misunderstanding, but lead to an open argument that was only resolved when members of the IWW and NEFAC apologized to the ILWU organizer for the indiscretion of the person in question. To that person's credit, he later apologized face-to-face and hopefully resolved any outstanding issues.

As Wobblies, or as others whether you consider yourselves anarchists, socialists, workers, unionists or just plain folks, we must strive to fight the bosses and the ruling class first and formost in solidarity with our sister and brother workers, no matter what their affiliation, so long as certain consistent principles are held in common. This means working side by side with those who support our principles while maintaining a clear focus on our objectives. As a Wobbly, rallies, marches and mass mobilizations are important but can never replace organizing and action undertaken on the job by workers for workplace democracy and the abolition of the wage system.

That being said, it is always good to see others and hopefully the momentum our larger movement has been building in recent years will continue through sustainable organizing campaigns, reinvigoration of our traditions and solidarity as we head into the coming years.