UNIONS & LABOR
Did you know unions are what brought races and genders together more than any other type of organization, including government? We’re all brothers and sisters in the union. And we don’t have to be forced into this unity. In the common struggle for a better life, a decent income and respectable retirement, the divisions fade away.--Loren Adams, Arkansas Postal Workers Union Editor, The Arkansas Postal Worker
In my time we was beaten, rotten egged, cussed, threatened, tarred and feathered and blackballed from other jobs. Hurt in so many different ways. But at our meetings our advice to the men and women that was hurt, we would just say to them what the good book says, the Lord will not put more upon you than you can bear, at least none of us lost our lives like some did in the early 30's. Thank God!... —W.M. "Jack" Anderson, first local president, UAW local 645 (TX)
One of these days you'll see the light and we'll have the union in. Just a matter of time.—W.M. "Jack" Anderson, first local president, UAW local 645 (TX)
Without unions, workers will lose many of the protections against abusive employers. Wages for all will be depressed, even as corporate profits soar. The American Dream will be destroyed for millions. And we will have a government of the corporations, by the already powerful, for the wealthy. —Kenneth Bernstein, teacher and blogger, in a 2011 CNN.com opinion piece on the Wisconsin measure to strip public employees of collective bargaining rights
Unions did in fact build the middle class. And here's what that did. That built the United States as we know it.—Joe Biden
Wall Street didn’t build this country. The middle class built this country. And UNIONS built the middle class.--President Joe Biden (2/8/23)
Strong, responsible unions are essential to industrial fair play. Without them the labor bargain is wholly one-sided. The parties to the labor contract must be nearly equal in strength if justice is to be worked out, and this means that the workers must be organized and that their organizations must be recognized by employers as a condition precedent to industrial peace.—Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis
Labor can not stand still. It must not retreat. It must go on, or go under.—Harry Bridges
Those unions that enjoy the right to strike have no guarantee that sacrificing their jobs and their livelihood will result in victory but they nevertheless engage in lengthy strikes, not because they are assured of winning but because they are determined to fight.—William Burrus, 1998
The role of a labor union is to ensure that the balance is not tipped in favor of the employer when employees do not receive wages and benefits commensurate with their contribution.—William Burrus
Labor will remain united and continue to work to protect the interests of America’s working families.—William Burrus, November 2004
The history of America has been largely created by the deeds of its working people and their organizations--there is scarcely an issue that is not influenced by labor’s organized efforts or lack of them.— William Cahn, Labor historian
The Union is not a fee-for-service organization, it is a family.—Sue Carney, APWU Director of Human Relations
At the core, labor unions (we) are working men and women, unified as one force. Despite any personal differences that may exist between us, we have banded together to protect and improve the lives of workers. We rise up together for the greater good. We defend one another like family.—Sue Carney, APWU, 2014
Every advance in this half-century--Social Security, civil rights, Medicare, aid to education, one after another--came with the support and leadership of American Labor.—Jimmy Carter
Labor Unions are the leading force for democratization and progress.—Noam Chomsky
With all their faults, trade unions have done more for humanity than any other organization of men that ever existed. They have done more for decency, for honesty, for education, for the betterment of the race, for the developing of character in men, than any other association of men.— Clarence Darrow
There is no such thing as the open shop, really. There is a union shop and a nonunion shop. Everybody that believes in the open shop disbelieves in the union shop, whatever they say.— Clarence Darrow
There is certainly...something wrong in that form of unionism whose leaders are the lieutenants of capitalism.—Eugene V. Debs
If you go to the city of Washington, you will find that almost all of those corporation lawyers and cowardly politicians, members of congress, and mis-representatives of the masses claim, in glowing terms, that they have risen from the ranks to places of eminence and distinction. I am very glad that I cannot make that claim for myself. I would be ashamed to admit that I had risen from the ranks. When I rise it will be with the ranks.—Eugene V. Debs
What can Labor do for itself? The answer is not difficult. Labor can organize, it can unify; it can consolidate its forces. This done, it can demand and command.—Eugene V. Debs
The only effective answer to organized greed is organized labor.—Thomas Donahue
The scaffold has never yet and never will destroy an idea or a movement.—Joseph Ettor, IWW organizer
We couldn't see things with the eyes of 1962. We saw them with the eyes of 1905 through about 1917. Well, we certainly never heard of such a thing and we never thought it would be possible, that there would be social security or unemployment insurance... Also, we never heard of vacations with pay. We never heard of vacations, let alone vacations with pay. We never heard of seniority as it is understood today. There were no pensions for retirement of workers.—Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, 1962
In my time we was beaten, rotten egged, cussed, threatened, tarred and feathered and blackballed from other jobs. Hurt in so many different ways. But at our meetings our advice to the men and women that was hurt, we would just say to them what the good book says, the Lord will not put more upon you than you can bear, at least none of us lost our lives like some did in the early 30's. Thank God!... —W.M. "Jack" Anderson, first local president, UAW local 645 (TX)
One of these days you'll see the light and we'll have the union in. Just a matter of time.—W.M. "Jack" Anderson, first local president, UAW local 645 (TX)
Without unions, workers will lose many of the protections against abusive employers. Wages for all will be depressed, even as corporate profits soar. The American Dream will be destroyed for millions. And we will have a government of the corporations, by the already powerful, for the wealthy. —Kenneth Bernstein, teacher and blogger, in a 2011 CNN.com opinion piece on the Wisconsin measure to strip public employees of collective bargaining rights
Unions did in fact build the middle class. And here's what that did. That built the United States as we know it.—Joe Biden
Wall Street didn’t build this country. The middle class built this country. And UNIONS built the middle class.--President Joe Biden (2/8/23)
Strong, responsible unions are essential to industrial fair play. Without them the labor bargain is wholly one-sided. The parties to the labor contract must be nearly equal in strength if justice is to be worked out, and this means that the workers must be organized and that their organizations must be recognized by employers as a condition precedent to industrial peace.—Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis
Labor can not stand still. It must not retreat. It must go on, or go under.—Harry Bridges
Those unions that enjoy the right to strike have no guarantee that sacrificing their jobs and their livelihood will result in victory but they nevertheless engage in lengthy strikes, not because they are assured of winning but because they are determined to fight.—William Burrus, 1998
The role of a labor union is to ensure that the balance is not tipped in favor of the employer when employees do not receive wages and benefits commensurate with their contribution.—William Burrus
Labor will remain united and continue to work to protect the interests of America’s working families.—William Burrus, November 2004
The history of America has been largely created by the deeds of its working people and their organizations--there is scarcely an issue that is not influenced by labor’s organized efforts or lack of them.— William Cahn, Labor historian
The Union is not a fee-for-service organization, it is a family.—Sue Carney, APWU Director of Human Relations
At the core, labor unions (we) are working men and women, unified as one force. Despite any personal differences that may exist between us, we have banded together to protect and improve the lives of workers. We rise up together for the greater good. We defend one another like family.—Sue Carney, APWU, 2014
Every advance in this half-century--Social Security, civil rights, Medicare, aid to education, one after another--came with the support and leadership of American Labor.—Jimmy Carter
Labor Unions are the leading force for democratization and progress.—Noam Chomsky
With all their faults, trade unions have done more for humanity than any other organization of men that ever existed. They have done more for decency, for honesty, for education, for the betterment of the race, for the developing of character in men, than any other association of men.— Clarence Darrow
There is no such thing as the open shop, really. There is a union shop and a nonunion shop. Everybody that believes in the open shop disbelieves in the union shop, whatever they say.— Clarence Darrow
There is certainly...something wrong in that form of unionism whose leaders are the lieutenants of capitalism.—Eugene V. Debs
If you go to the city of Washington, you will find that almost all of those corporation lawyers and cowardly politicians, members of congress, and mis-representatives of the masses claim, in glowing terms, that they have risen from the ranks to places of eminence and distinction. I am very glad that I cannot make that claim for myself. I would be ashamed to admit that I had risen from the ranks. When I rise it will be with the ranks.—Eugene V. Debs
What can Labor do for itself? The answer is not difficult. Labor can organize, it can unify; it can consolidate its forces. This done, it can demand and command.—Eugene V. Debs
The only effective answer to organized greed is organized labor.—Thomas Donahue
The scaffold has never yet and never will destroy an idea or a movement.—Joseph Ettor, IWW organizer
We couldn't see things with the eyes of 1962. We saw them with the eyes of 1905 through about 1917. Well, we certainly never heard of such a thing and we never thought it would be possible, that there would be social security or unemployment insurance... Also, we never heard of vacations with pay. We never heard of vacations, let alone vacations with pay. We never heard of seniority as it is understood today. There were no pensions for retirement of workers.—Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, 1962
...
There are two kinds of people, those who do the work and those who take the credit. Try to be in the first group; there is less competition there.—Indira Gandhi
Our movement is of the working people, for the working people, by the working people. . . . There is not a right too long denied to which we do not aspire in order to achieve; there is not a wrong too long endured that we are not determined to abolish.—Samuel Gompers
Where trade unions are most firmly organized, there are the rights of the people most respected.—Samuel Gompers
To be free, the workers must have choice. To have choice they must retain in their own hands the right to determine under what conditions they will work.—Samuel Gompers
In present conditions a workman may not unnaturally believe that only by belonging to a union can he secure a contract that shall be fair to him....If that belief, whether right or wrong, may be held by a reasonable man, it seems to me that it may be enforced by law in order to establish the equality of position...in which liberty of contract begins.—Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes
We are all here because we want to serve our brothers and sisters, and each individual should be given a constant opportunity to do that in the ways that will best benefit the Union as a whole.— Peter Holter-Mehren, WAPWU President (2002)
The story of the labor movement needs to be taught in every school in this land.... America is a living testimonial to what free men and women, organized in free democratic trade unions, can do to make a better life. We ought to be proud of it.—Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey, 1977 speech before the Minnesota AFL-CIO Convention
Every man is dishonest who lives upon the labor of others, no matter if he occupies a throne.— Robert Green Ingersoll
Although it is true that only about 20 percent of American workers are in unions, that 20 percent sets the standards across the board in salaries, benefits and working conditions. If you are making a decent salary in a non-union company, you owe that to the unions. One thing that corporations do not do is give out money out of the goodness of their hearts.—Molly Ivins
I am convinced that if the members of labor organizations would follow some of the tactics of the employers organizations their movement could more successfully withstand its opponents and to progress as it has in the past. But if we are to be successful we must have, above all things, more loyalty and less selfishness.— Charles E. James, African-American Union leader, 1907
The home is the most effective place to preach the gospel of unionism.— Charles E. James, African-American Union leader, 1905
A wise and frugal government, which shall leave men free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned -- this is the sum of good government.—Thomas Jefferson
The problem with unions today is that there aren't enough of them.--Martin Johns, 2011
The benefits that unions win don’t just go to the union members, they become the standard. When labor won the fight for an 8-hour day and 40-hour workweek with overtime pay, that became the standard. When labor fought for minimum wages, that became the standard, when labor fought for workplace safety, that became the standard. Labor’s fight is a fight to set the standard for the rest of us.--Dave Johnson, economic/industrial writer
The labor movement was not originated by man. The labor movement, my friends, was a command from God Almighty.—Mother Jones
The next generation will not charge us for what we've done; they will charge and condemn us for what we have left undone.—Mother Jones
The American Labor Movement has consistently demonstrated its devotion to the public interest. It is, and has been, good for all America.—John F. Kennedy
Our labor unions are not narrow, self-seeking groups. They have raised wages, shortened hours, and provided supplemental benefits. Through collective bargaining and grievance procedures, they have brought justice and democracy to the shop floor.—John F. Kennedy
Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.—John F. Kennedy
If a man hasn't discovered something that he would die for, he isn't fit to live.-- Martin Luther King, Jr.
In our society it is murder, psychologically, to deprive a man of a job or an income. You are in substance saying to that man that he has no right to exist. You are in a real way depriving him of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, denying in his case the very creed of his society.-- Martin Luther King, Jr.
Our movement is of the working people, for the working people, by the working people. . . . There is not a right too long denied to which we do not aspire in order to achieve; there is not a wrong too long endured that we are not determined to abolish.—Samuel Gompers
Where trade unions are most firmly organized, there are the rights of the people most respected.—Samuel Gompers
To be free, the workers must have choice. To have choice they must retain in their own hands the right to determine under what conditions they will work.—Samuel Gompers
In present conditions a workman may not unnaturally believe that only by belonging to a union can he secure a contract that shall be fair to him....If that belief, whether right or wrong, may be held by a reasonable man, it seems to me that it may be enforced by law in order to establish the equality of position...in which liberty of contract begins.—Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes
We are all here because we want to serve our brothers and sisters, and each individual should be given a constant opportunity to do that in the ways that will best benefit the Union as a whole.— Peter Holter-Mehren, WAPWU President (2002)
The story of the labor movement needs to be taught in every school in this land.... America is a living testimonial to what free men and women, organized in free democratic trade unions, can do to make a better life. We ought to be proud of it.—Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey, 1977 speech before the Minnesota AFL-CIO Convention
Every man is dishonest who lives upon the labor of others, no matter if he occupies a throne.— Robert Green Ingersoll
Although it is true that only about 20 percent of American workers are in unions, that 20 percent sets the standards across the board in salaries, benefits and working conditions. If you are making a decent salary in a non-union company, you owe that to the unions. One thing that corporations do not do is give out money out of the goodness of their hearts.—Molly Ivins
I am convinced that if the members of labor organizations would follow some of the tactics of the employers organizations their movement could more successfully withstand its opponents and to progress as it has in the past. But if we are to be successful we must have, above all things, more loyalty and less selfishness.— Charles E. James, African-American Union leader, 1907
The home is the most effective place to preach the gospel of unionism.— Charles E. James, African-American Union leader, 1905
A wise and frugal government, which shall leave men free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned -- this is the sum of good government.—Thomas Jefferson
The problem with unions today is that there aren't enough of them.--Martin Johns, 2011
The benefits that unions win don’t just go to the union members, they become the standard. When labor won the fight for an 8-hour day and 40-hour workweek with overtime pay, that became the standard. When labor fought for minimum wages, that became the standard, when labor fought for workplace safety, that became the standard. Labor’s fight is a fight to set the standard for the rest of us.--Dave Johnson, economic/industrial writer
The labor movement was not originated by man. The labor movement, my friends, was a command from God Almighty.—Mother Jones
The next generation will not charge us for what we've done; they will charge and condemn us for what we have left undone.—Mother Jones
The American Labor Movement has consistently demonstrated its devotion to the public interest. It is, and has been, good for all America.—John F. Kennedy
Our labor unions are not narrow, self-seeking groups. They have raised wages, shortened hours, and provided supplemental benefits. Through collective bargaining and grievance procedures, they have brought justice and democracy to the shop floor.—John F. Kennedy
Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.—John F. Kennedy
If a man hasn't discovered something that he would die for, he isn't fit to live.-- Martin Luther King, Jr.
In our society it is murder, psychologically, to deprive a man of a job or an income. You are in substance saying to that man that he has no right to exist. You are in a real way depriving him of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, denying in his case the very creed of his society.-- Martin Luther King, Jr.
...
If hard work were such a wonderful thing, surely the rich would have kept it all to themselves.— Lane Kirkland
We have come too far, -- struggled too long, -- sacrificed too much and have too much left to do, -- to allow that which we have achieved for the good of all to be swept away without a fight. And we have not forgotten how to fight.— Lane Kirkland
Our struggle is the struggle of every working man and woman in America. We built this country, we have fought and died in its wars, paid our taxes and built every road and building in it, from one coast to the other. And all we've asked in return is a fair day's pay for a fair day's work.—Moe Lepore, President Boston Metro Area Local APWU (2010)
A working class hero is something to be.—John Lennon
Let the workers organize. Let the toilers assemble. Let their crystallized voice proclaim their injustices and demand their privileges. Let all thoughtful citizens sustain them, for the future of Labor is the future of America.—John L. Lewis
If any man tells you he loves America, yet hates labor, he is a liar. If any man tells you he trusts America, yet fears labor, he is a fool.—Abraham Lincoln
Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if Labor had not first existed. Labor is superior to capital, and deserves much the higher consideration.—Abraham Lincoln
All that harms labor is treason to America.—Abraham Lincoln
I am glad to see that a system of labor prevails under which laborers can strike when they want to.—Abraham Lincoln
Anyone with a part-time job works full-time for half salary.—Denise D. Lynn
When a man tells you that he got rich through hard work, ask him whose.-- Don Marquis
One cannot have a trade union or a democratic election without freedom of speech, freedom of association and assembly. Without a democratic election, whereby people choose and remove their rulers, there is no method of securing human rights against the state. No democracy without human rights, no human rights without democracy, and no trade union rights without either. That is our belief; that is our creed.—George Meany, 1979
The basic goal of labor will not change. It is -- as it has always been, and I am sure always will be -- to better the standards of life for all who work for wages and to seek decency and justice and dignity for all Americans.—George Meany
Labor never quits. We never give up the fight – no matter how tough the odds, no matter how long it takes.—George Meany
The American trade union movement-unlike any other labor movement in the world-is committed to working within the American political and economic system in order to achieve the social and economic justice promised by the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.—George Meany, 1978
Only through a union built on real union principles can we hope to win real economic justice.—Richard Myers
The true face of the unions is not now a man in a hard hat as much as it is a woman in a classroom or in cleaning smocks.—Karen Nussbaum, SEIU
It was working men and women who made the 20th century the American century. It was the labor movement that helped secure so much of what we take for granted today. The 40-hour work week, the minimum wage, family leave, health insurance, Social Security, Medicare, retirement plans. The cornerstones of the middle-class security all bear the union label.—President Barack Obama, speech at Laborfest, September 6, 2010
The labor movement means just this: It is the last noble protest of the American people against the power of incorporated wealth.— Wendell Phillips
We have come too far, -- struggled too long, -- sacrificed too much and have too much left to do, -- to allow that which we have achieved for the good of all to be swept away without a fight. And we have not forgotten how to fight.— Lane Kirkland
Our struggle is the struggle of every working man and woman in America. We built this country, we have fought and died in its wars, paid our taxes and built every road and building in it, from one coast to the other. And all we've asked in return is a fair day's pay for a fair day's work.—Moe Lepore, President Boston Metro Area Local APWU (2010)
A working class hero is something to be.—John Lennon
Let the workers organize. Let the toilers assemble. Let their crystallized voice proclaim their injustices and demand their privileges. Let all thoughtful citizens sustain them, for the future of Labor is the future of America.—John L. Lewis
If any man tells you he loves America, yet hates labor, he is a liar. If any man tells you he trusts America, yet fears labor, he is a fool.—Abraham Lincoln
Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if Labor had not first existed. Labor is superior to capital, and deserves much the higher consideration.—Abraham Lincoln
All that harms labor is treason to America.—Abraham Lincoln
I am glad to see that a system of labor prevails under which laborers can strike when they want to.—Abraham Lincoln
Anyone with a part-time job works full-time for half salary.—Denise D. Lynn
When a man tells you that he got rich through hard work, ask him whose.-- Don Marquis
One cannot have a trade union or a democratic election without freedom of speech, freedom of association and assembly. Without a democratic election, whereby people choose and remove their rulers, there is no method of securing human rights against the state. No democracy without human rights, no human rights without democracy, and no trade union rights without either. That is our belief; that is our creed.—George Meany, 1979
The basic goal of labor will not change. It is -- as it has always been, and I am sure always will be -- to better the standards of life for all who work for wages and to seek decency and justice and dignity for all Americans.—George Meany
Labor never quits. We never give up the fight – no matter how tough the odds, no matter how long it takes.—George Meany
The American trade union movement-unlike any other labor movement in the world-is committed to working within the American political and economic system in order to achieve the social and economic justice promised by the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.—George Meany, 1978
Only through a union built on real union principles can we hope to win real economic justice.—Richard Myers
The true face of the unions is not now a man in a hard hat as much as it is a woman in a classroom or in cleaning smocks.—Karen Nussbaum, SEIU
It was working men and women who made the 20th century the American century. It was the labor movement that helped secure so much of what we take for granted today. The 40-hour work week, the minimum wage, family leave, health insurance, Social Security, Medicare, retirement plans. The cornerstones of the middle-class security all bear the union label.—President Barack Obama, speech at Laborfest, September 6, 2010
The labor movement means just this: It is the last noble protest of the American people against the power of incorporated wealth.— Wendell Phillips
...
The essence of trade unionism is social uplift. The labor movement traditionally has been the haven for the dispossessed, the despised, the neglected, the downtrodden, the poor.—A. Philip Randolph
Since all the workers in the industrial community get the benefits of these services performed by the union, made possible by the union, we believe that since all the workers share in the services all the workers ought to share in the cost of providing those services.—Walter Reuther
Labor is not fighting for a larger slice of the national pie--labor is fighting for a larger pie.—Walter Reuther
The most important resource of a union is its rank and file.—Ray Rogers
If I went to work in a factory, the first thing I'd do would be to join a Union.—Franklin D. Roosevelt
Those who have long enjoyed such privileges as we enjoy, forget in time that men have died to win them.—Franklin D. Roosevelt
It is to the real advantage of every producer, every manufacturer and every merchant to cooperate in the improvement of working conditions, because the best customer of American industry is the well-paid worker.—Franklin D. Roosevelt
The main mistake made by unions is people not being willing to talk to people that you strongly disagree with. Not just talk, but communicate.—Pete Seeger, folksinger, songwriter, activist, pacifist, and humanist
Suppose they’re working you so hard it’s just outrageous,
They’re paying you all starvation wages;
You go to the boss, and the boss would yell,
"Before I'd raise your pay I’d see you all in Hell."
Well, he’s puffing a big see-gar and feeling mighty slick,
He thinks he’s got your union licked.
He looks out the window, and what does he see
But a thousand pickets, and they all agree
He’s a bastard - unfair - slave driver -
Bet he beats his own wife.
—Pete Seeger, folksinger, songwriter, activist, pacifist, and humanist, from "Talking Union" (1941)
To quote scripture, from First Thessalonians, “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” That’s what a union does.— Elizabeth Shuler, AFL-CIO (2021)
Voting in a union election is one of the greatest forms of democracy in the workplace.— Elizabeth Shuler, AFL-CIO (2022)
Together, the labor movement and our faith partners are the most powerful forces for progress in the United States—not just for union members—for everyone. Industry by industry, sector by sector, in factories, mines and mills, we challenged the inhumane pace of production. We created safety standards. We transformed grim, dangerous work into good, sustainable union jobs. The pay, benefits and security of a good, union job are life-changing. And the best way to close wage gaps and fight discrimination at work is with a union card. That’s what we celebrate on Labor Day: The contributions of working people to American prosperity. And the innovations from the labor movement—like the 8-hour workday and the weekend and Labor Day itself—that raise the standards for everyone. Because this isn’t just about unions. It’s about fairness, it’s about the fundamental economic power of working people in the United States. It’s about the fundamental human right that all people are treated with dignity and respect in the workplace. It’s about progress like raising the federal minimum wage from the pathetic, current $7.25 to $15. If we did, it would be a raise for 40% of Black women. It’s about the entire community—work connects all of us—and good, union jobs means support for local schools, businesses and opportunities.— Elizabeth Shuler, AFL-CIO (2021)
Without labor nothing prospers. —Sophocles
Unions have been the only powerful and effective voice working people have ever had in the history of this country.—Bruce Springsteen
Unions have been the best anti-poverty program that actually worked and did not cost the government a dime. —Andy Stern, SEIU President
Let workers decide if they want to be divided from the other union members in their industry so that each union makes its own deals with employers instead of uniting workers' strength - or be part of one, powerful, industry-based movement.—Andy Stern, SEIU President
When fewer workers have unions, the standard of living falls for everyone and the gap between the rich and poor grows.—John Sweeney, 2003
As it has over the decades, the union movement stands for the fundamental moral values that make America strong: quality education for our children, affordable health care for every person—not just some—an end to poverty, secure pensions and wages that enable families to sustain the middle-class life that has fueled this nation’s prosperity and strength. Union members and other working family activists don’t just vote our moral values—we live them. We fight for them, day in, day out. Our commitment to economic and social justice propels us and everything we do.—John Sweeney, November 2004
We believe hard work nourishes the soul and should nourish the body and support the family as well. We believe every one of us has an equal claim to the prosperity of America. And that it’s our job to ensure a better life for the generations that come after us.—John Sweeney, November 2004
Working people want a labor movement strong enough to help return balance to our economy, fairness to our tax system, security to our families and moral and economic standing to our nation.—AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, May 20, 2011
The defense of our rights and our dignity, as well as efforts to never let ourselves to be overcome by the feeling of hatred--this is the road we have chosen.—Lech Walesa
Until you have a seat at the table, you’re probably on the menu.
--Elizabeth Warren
Labor in this country is independent and proud. It has not to ask the patronage of capital, but capital solicits the aid of labor.—Daniel Webster
As can be seen in our history, the only answer to a powerful business leader is a powerful labor union.— Hilton M. Weiss
Since all the workers in the industrial community get the benefits of these services performed by the union, made possible by the union, we believe that since all the workers share in the services all the workers ought to share in the cost of providing those services.—Walter Reuther
Labor is not fighting for a larger slice of the national pie--labor is fighting for a larger pie.—Walter Reuther
The most important resource of a union is its rank and file.—Ray Rogers
If I went to work in a factory, the first thing I'd do would be to join a Union.—Franklin D. Roosevelt
Those who have long enjoyed such privileges as we enjoy, forget in time that men have died to win them.—Franklin D. Roosevelt
It is to the real advantage of every producer, every manufacturer and every merchant to cooperate in the improvement of working conditions, because the best customer of American industry is the well-paid worker.—Franklin D. Roosevelt
The main mistake made by unions is people not being willing to talk to people that you strongly disagree with. Not just talk, but communicate.—Pete Seeger, folksinger, songwriter, activist, pacifist, and humanist
Suppose they’re working you so hard it’s just outrageous,
They’re paying you all starvation wages;
You go to the boss, and the boss would yell,
"Before I'd raise your pay I’d see you all in Hell."
Well, he’s puffing a big see-gar and feeling mighty slick,
He thinks he’s got your union licked.
He looks out the window, and what does he see
But a thousand pickets, and they all agree
He’s a bastard - unfair - slave driver -
Bet he beats his own wife.
—Pete Seeger, folksinger, songwriter, activist, pacifist, and humanist, from "Talking Union" (1941)
To quote scripture, from First Thessalonians, “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” That’s what a union does.— Elizabeth Shuler, AFL-CIO (2021)
Voting in a union election is one of the greatest forms of democracy in the workplace.— Elizabeth Shuler, AFL-CIO (2022)
Together, the labor movement and our faith partners are the most powerful forces for progress in the United States—not just for union members—for everyone. Industry by industry, sector by sector, in factories, mines and mills, we challenged the inhumane pace of production. We created safety standards. We transformed grim, dangerous work into good, sustainable union jobs. The pay, benefits and security of a good, union job are life-changing. And the best way to close wage gaps and fight discrimination at work is with a union card. That’s what we celebrate on Labor Day: The contributions of working people to American prosperity. And the innovations from the labor movement—like the 8-hour workday and the weekend and Labor Day itself—that raise the standards for everyone. Because this isn’t just about unions. It’s about fairness, it’s about the fundamental economic power of working people in the United States. It’s about the fundamental human right that all people are treated with dignity and respect in the workplace. It’s about progress like raising the federal minimum wage from the pathetic, current $7.25 to $15. If we did, it would be a raise for 40% of Black women. It’s about the entire community—work connects all of us—and good, union jobs means support for local schools, businesses and opportunities.— Elizabeth Shuler, AFL-CIO (2021)
Without labor nothing prospers. —Sophocles
Unions have been the only powerful and effective voice working people have ever had in the history of this country.—Bruce Springsteen
Unions have been the best anti-poverty program that actually worked and did not cost the government a dime. —Andy Stern, SEIU President
Let workers decide if they want to be divided from the other union members in their industry so that each union makes its own deals with employers instead of uniting workers' strength - or be part of one, powerful, industry-based movement.—Andy Stern, SEIU President
When fewer workers have unions, the standard of living falls for everyone and the gap between the rich and poor grows.—John Sweeney, 2003
As it has over the decades, the union movement stands for the fundamental moral values that make America strong: quality education for our children, affordable health care for every person—not just some—an end to poverty, secure pensions and wages that enable families to sustain the middle-class life that has fueled this nation’s prosperity and strength. Union members and other working family activists don’t just vote our moral values—we live them. We fight for them, day in, day out. Our commitment to economic and social justice propels us and everything we do.—John Sweeney, November 2004
We believe hard work nourishes the soul and should nourish the body and support the family as well. We believe every one of us has an equal claim to the prosperity of America. And that it’s our job to ensure a better life for the generations that come after us.—John Sweeney, November 2004
Working people want a labor movement strong enough to help return balance to our economy, fairness to our tax system, security to our families and moral and economic standing to our nation.—AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, May 20, 2011
The defense of our rights and our dignity, as well as efforts to never let ourselves to be overcome by the feeling of hatred--this is the road we have chosen.—Lech Walesa
Until you have a seat at the table, you’re probably on the menu.
--Elizabeth Warren
Labor in this country is independent and proud. It has not to ask the patronage of capital, but capital solicits the aid of labor.—Daniel Webster
As can be seen in our history, the only answer to a powerful business leader is a powerful labor union.— Hilton M. Weiss
