— Kim KellyUnlike modern interpretations that have been twisted by subsequent generations of bad-faith right-wing reactionaries, the Wobblies’ definition of free speech was simple, and served as a defining plank in their organizing strategy. They fought for the basic right to speak in public, to stand on their soapboxes and spread their message of industrial unionism, anti-capitalism, and the One Big Union to whoever wished to listen.
Replicated under Fair Use from Fight Like Hell: The Untold History of American Labor by Kim Kelly.