A debate was held over whether this banner should be carried by the I.W.W. Comrade Isaacson answers yes, every day.

‘No God! No Master!’ by Jack Isaacson from Solidarity. Vol. 4 No. 27. July 12, 1913.

This question in regards to the banner is being discussed by some of the I.W.W. locals as to whether it should be carried by the Revolutionary Proletariat in its struggle for the overthrow of the wage system or not. I for one believe that a banner like the one above referred to should be carried by us in the everyday struggle with the capitalists. What does the banner, “No God, No Master” signify. It signifies that we, the workers, refuse to be muzzled by the church, state, and institution or individual that advocate peace between capital and labor any longer! We see that the revolutionary workers refuse to take the advice of the A.F. of L.’s labor fakirs, “socialist,” politician or priests. We refuse to take the advice of the labor fakirs because we know that capital and labor cannot live in harmony, and we further know that a struggle has to go on until we, the workers, through our industrial organizations, recapture all that was taken from us. We refuse to accept the advice of the socialist politician, because we know that capitalism can’t be overthrown nor can industrial democracy be ushered in through a “socialist congress.” We refuse to accept the advice of the priest because, we know that the “capitalist and the worker are not “brothers,” as it is being claimed by our priests. If the banner, “No God, No Master” signifies all that, then I believe it does have a place in the I.W.W.

New York, June 30.

The most widely read of I.W.W. newspapers, Solidarity was published by the Industrial Workers of the World from 1909 until 1917. First produced in New Castle, Pennsylvania, and born during the McKees Rocks strike, Solidarity later moved to Cleveland, Ohio until 1917 then spent its last months in Chicago. With a circulation of around 12,000 and a readership many times that, Solidarity was instrumental in defining the Wobbly world-view at the height of their influence in the working class. It was edited over its life by A.M. Stirton, H.A. Goff, Ben H. Williams, Ralph Chaplin who also provided much of the paper’s color, and others. Like nearly all the left press it fell victim to federal repression in 1917.

PDF of full issue: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/solidarity-iww/1913/v04n27-w183-jul-12-1913-solidarity.pdf