Home

Organize

Membership

Member Resources

Contact

San Francisco Bay Area General Membership Branch

Email: bayarea@iww.org

Phone: +1-510-845-0540

Bay Area IWW General Membership Branch includes workers from around the Greater Bay Area.

Facebook Page

Facebook Group

Branch Officers (to contact any of the officers below, please add the subject line "Attention: [insert officer and name here]".)

Branch Secretary - Dave K. - bayarea@iww.org

Branch Treasurer - Dave K. - bayarea@iww.org

Branch Communications Officer - Max P. - bayarea@iww.org

Branch Organizing Department Liaison - Thea D. - bayarea@iww.org

Environmental Unionism Caucus (contact) Steve - greensyndicalist@gmail.com

Industrial Union Organizing Contact

Marine Transport Workers IU 510 Steve - greensyndicalist@gmail.com

Bay Area IWW Shops

Textile and Clothing Workers Industrial Union 410

  • Stone Mountain & Daughter Fabrics (Since 2003)

Printing and Publishing House Workers Industrial Union 450

Recreational Workers Industrial Union 630

  • Embarcadero Center Cinemas (Since 2010)
  • Facebook

  • Shattuck Cinemas (Since 2005)

Municipal and Utility Service Workers Industrial Union 670

  • Community Conservation Centers (Buyback) Recycling (Since 2001)

  • Berkeley Ecology Center (Curbside) Recycling (Since 1989)

Notable Campaigns

  • IU 510 - Neptune Jade (1997-98)
  • IU 530 - Stockton Independent Truckers (2004-05)
  • IU 670 - East Bay Depot for Creative Reuse (2003-04)

A Little History:

This branch was created by a merger in 1971 of the SF Branch G.R.U. (General Recruiting Union) founded July 1st 1927, and the Berkeley Branch G.R.U. founded Sept. 10th 1961. There were no GMB branches prior to 1969.

First letter from Headquarters to the first Branch Secretary, Richard Ellington. Sept. 11th 1961:

Dear Fellow Worker: Yesterday I sent you the branch charter for a Berkeley branch. I ordered the branch seal this morning and as soon as it is delivered I will forward it to you. I am doing all this without authorization from the Board, but since time counts I had to take it upon myself to act, and I feel fairly sure that the Board will OK the application for the charter... Yours for a world of peace and freedom W. H. Westman Secretary-Treasurer

The minutes of the third monthly meeting, December 1961, were taken in long hand on the back of a menu for the Bistro San Martin where the earliest meetings were held.


The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) is a labor union representing nearly 9,000 workers across North America. Established in 1905, the IWW is known for its high standards of democracy, transparency, multinationalism, and active use of the right to strike.