forced Lawrence bosses to agree to their demands: increased wages in all job classifications, overtime pay and, significantly, no discrimination against those who had taken part in the strike. After voting up the agreement, some 20,000 strikers celebrated by singing "The Internationale" in many languages.

Workers also turned their attention to IWW leaders Ettor and Giovannitti, who were still in prison. On the heels of the strike victory, a spirited international defense campaign was launched. After 10 months in jail, the two were acquitted.

In the immediate aftermath of the strike, the victory translated into growth for the IWW, which signed up some 16,000 workers for its local union. The IWW's militancy and creative tactics in Lawrence and other important struggles at the time showed the potential for organizing amongworkers that the AFL ignored--the unskilled, immigrants, African Americans and women.

However, the IWW also faced obstacles that would undercut its influence. The bosses launched a patriotic "god and country" campaign that attacked the IWW's radical politics.

And some of the policies of the IWW itself--such as refusing to sign contracts, viewing these as compromises with the bosses--also undercut the group's potential influence. In addition, IWW organizers left Lawrence soon after the strike, failing to build any stable organization to defend the gains of the struggle.

This left workers in Lawrence in a weakened position to fend off the bosses' assault and build on the gains they had made during the tremendous walkout. By the summer of 1913, the Lawrence IWW was again a smaller organization of 700.

Nevertheless, no bosses' campaign