The editorial team behind the Seattle Worker wishes you happy holidays! We would like to take this end-of-the-year edition of the SW to say a few things about 2018 and our plans for the next year.

First, thank you to all of our readers and subscribers. Your donations and kind words keep this publication running. We hope to be able to continue putting out something worthwhile for you every edition. When we originally formed the SW committee of the Seattle General Membership Branch, the idea was to share news and essays from Seattle members with a wider audience. So thank you to everyone who has shared our words online, helped distribute our magazine, purchased an assessment stamp, and given us words of encouragement. We consider it a privilege to produce this magazine for you, and we plan to continue to publish our best work, and sharing the good work of others, as we carry on our daily struggles against the behemoth of capitalism.

It has been a busy year in the Seattle IWW. Our branch is now the largest General Membership Branch in the United States, and our growth shows no signs of slowing. In the last twelve months, we tripled in size, built organizing committees in multiple new shops, hosted four weekend-long organizer trainings, picketed at Wendy’s and Grassroots Campaigns, and participated in numerous community events. Our goals for this next year are ambitious, but we have the momentum we need to accomplish them.

One problem that has made publishing this magazine more difficult is that we can’t always talk about our organizing campaigns. Suffice to say we have numerous unionization efforts going on in Seattle right now, but we can’t name them publicly because of the near certainty of employer retaliation. But we do promise that when these workplaces do go public, we will share their stories in the pages of the SW.

And as our campaigns grow, we’d also like to grow the SW. Our priority has always been and will continue to be work done by IWW members. To this end, we are always open to suggestions, essays, news reports, photographs, drawings, and poetry.

Thank you for helping us get on our feet in 2018. We look forward to your continued support as we march forward together into 2019.

Solidarity forever!

The Editors

[This post was originally published in the fourth issue of the Seattle Worker, available now!]