What is a GB?
A General Branch (GB) is the basic unit of the IWW and organises local workers in all industries who are not yet in an Industrial Union. It consists of 10 or more dues paying members who live within an hour’s travel of each other.
The difference between a branch and an assorted group of IWW members is that a branch is an official chartered unit of the IWW and is entitled to rights and responsibilities as defined in the IWW Constitution.
What your local branch wants to do is up to you and the other workers in it – decided democratically within the bounds of the constitution and policies of the IWW.
IWW Membership Card
What can I expect at my London General Branch?
Education
Learn from the experiences of other local workers organising unions at their jobs as you build towards a union at yours
Democracy
Be part of the larger democratic decisions made in the union through your elected branch delegates
Organisation
Start building the capacity for a union at your job and industry through learning how to organise with workers around you
Solidarity
Be part of something bigger than yourself and your workplace – meet other fellow workers, be supported by them, and support them in turn
Comradery
Find joy with your fellow workers in standing together and fighting for a better world
Community
Get to know other friendly fellow workers who are invested in building a kinder, a more humane, and a more just future (and who understand the unfair bullshit at your current job)
Is my GB a union at my job?
Your local GB is not a union at your job – but it is a place which will support getting one.
Getting to a formally recognised union at your job takes time and organisation – one advantage of the IWW way of organising a union is getting results on your way to a formally recognised union. When you have strong relationships with other workers at your job you can already start winning improvements in your working conditions through direct action even before your union is formally recognised.
Building these relationships is building the fundamentals of getting a union at your job. Half of the dues the IWW collects can be used as that your GB decides – including supporting organising campaigns like yours to get a unions at work.