An injury to one is an injury to all

Marching demonstrators displaying the motto

An injury to one is an injury to all is a motto popularly used by the Industrial Workers of the World. In his autobiography, Bill Haywood credited David C. Coates with suggesting a labor slogan for the IWW: an injury to one is an injury to all.[1] The slogan has since been used by a number of labor organizations. The slogan reflects the fact that the IWW is "One Big Union" and organizes skilled and unskilled workers.

Origin

The expression is similar to, and may be derived from, a slogan popularized in the prior quarter century by the Knights of Labor, "that is the best government in which an injury to one is the concern of all".[2]

  • Anti-Trump IWW anti-fascist protest with motto
    Anti-Trump IWW anti-fascist protest with motto
  • Occupy Boston, November 2011 in Massachusetts
    Occupy Boston, November 2011 in Massachusetts
  • "An Injury to One is an Injury to All," a mural by Mike Alewitz in Los Angeles (now destroyed) 1993
    "An Injury to One is an Injury to All," a mural by Mike Alewitz in Los Angeles (now destroyed) 1993

See also

References

  1. ^ Haywood, William Dudley (1929). The Autobiography of Big Bill Haywood. p. 186.
  2. ^ Annual Report of the Bureau of Labor and Industrial Statistics. 1884. pp. 68–71. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)


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