An injury to one is an injury to all
Encyclopedia
Industrial Workers of the World
The Industrial Workers of the World is an international union. At its peak in 1923, the organization claimed some 100,000 members in good standing, and could marshal the support of perhaps 300,000 workers. Its membership declined dramatically after a 1924 split brought on by internal conflict...
who are also known as the "Wobblies." In his autobiography, Bill Haywood
Bill Haywood
William Dudley Haywood , better known as "Big Bill" Haywood, was a founding member and leader of the Industrial Workers of the World , and a member of the Executive Committee of the Socialist Party of America...
credited David C. Coates
David C. Coates
David Courtney Coates was a Pueblo, Colorado businessman, a radical, the 11th Lieutenant Governor of Colorado, secretary of Colorado's State Federation of Labor, and a friend to Big Bill Haywood.Coates was born in Brandon, England....
with suggesting a labor slogan
Labor slogans
This is a list of slogans used by organized labor, or by workers who are attempting to organize.-Glossary of labor slogans:* The slogan "An injury to one..." has a long history in the union movement. Initially attributed to the Knights of Labor, the expression took the form "an injury to one is the...
for the IWW: an injury to one is an injury to all. 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. Despite the reduced number of organized Wobblies today, the slogan is still popular with Wobblies, other unions and organizations.
Origin
The expression is similar to, and may be derived from, a slogan popularized in the prior quarter century by the Knights of LaborKnights of Labor
The Knights of Labor was the largest and one of the most important American labor organizations of the 1880s. Its most important leader was Terence Powderly...
, "that is the best government in which an injury to one is the concern of all".