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
| 
|
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 and bread
it has earned - this is the sum of good government.
-- Thomas
Jefferson |
|
*
My
friends, it is solidarity of labor we want. We do
not want to find fault with each other, but to solidify
our forces and say to each other: "We must be together;
our masters are joined together and we must do the
same thing." -- Mother
Jones
I
know that there are no limits to which the powers
of privilege will not go to keep the workers in
slavery -- Mother
Jones
What
one state could not get alone, what one miner against
a powerful corporation could not achieve, can be
achieved by the union.
-- Mother
Jones
| 
|
I want
you to pledge to yourselves in this convention to stand as one solid army against
the foes of human labor. Think of the thousands who are killed every year and
there is no redress for it. We will fight until the mines are made secure and
human life valued more than props. Look things in the face. Don't' fear a governor;
don't fear anybody. You pay the governor; he has the right to protect you. You
are the biggest part of the population in the state. You create its wealth, so
I say, "let the fight go on; if nobody else will keep on, I will."
-- Mother
Jones, 1913
| 
|
*
“We
have words for racism and sexism, but wealth discrimination isn’t fully recognized.
It is a bias in favor of the wealthy and against labor, the environment, and the
community. Concern for the public good must become the animating force of our
economic order.”
-- Marjorie
Kelly |
No
one who works for a living should live in poverty.
-- Senator Edward Kennedy
| 
|
*
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
| In
our glorious fight for civil rights, we must guard against being fooled by false
slogans, as 'right-to-work.' It provides no 'rights' and no 'works.' Its purpose
is to destroy labor unions and the freedom of collective bargaining... We demand
this fraud be stopped.
-- Martin
Luther King, Jr. *
"All
labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken
with painstaking excellence."
-- Martin
Luther King, Jr. | 
|
More
men are killed by overwork than the importance of the world justifies.
--
Rudyard Kipling
If
hard work were such a wonderful thing, surely the rich would have kept it all
to themselves.
-- Lane Kirkland
Human
history is work history. The heroes of the people are work heroes.
-- Meridel
Le Sueur
| 
|
*
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 Labor
was marching toward the goal of industrial democracy and contributing constructively
toward a more rational arrangement of our domestic economy.
--
John L. Lewis
|
The
labor movement is organized upon a principle that the strong shall help the weak.
The strength of a strong man is a prideful thing, but the unfortunate thing in
life is that strong men do not remain strong. And it is just as true of unions
and labor organizations as is true of men and individuals. And whereas today the
craft unions of this country may be able to stand upon their own feet and like
mighty oaks stand before the gale, defy the lightning, yet the day may come when
those organizations will not be able to withstand the lightning and the gale.
Now, prepare yourselves by making a contribution to your less fortunate brethren...
Organize the unorganized!
-- 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 the superior
of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration."
-- Abraham
Lincoln |  |
All that harms labor
is treason to America.
-- Abraham
Lincoln
*
The
strongest bond of human sympathy outside the family relation
should be one uniting working people of all nations and
tongues and kindreds.
-- Abraham
Lincoln
| I
have been very interested in labor movement. If I could have wished another life,
I would have loved to be a pioneer woman in the beginning of labor movement.
-- Astrid Lindgren |
|
When a man tells you
that he got rich through hard work, ask him whose.
--Don Marquis
No
festival of martial glory or warrior's renown is this; no pageant pomp of war-like
conquest, no glory of fratricidal strife attend this day. It is dedicated to peace,
civilization and the triumphs of industry. It is a demonstration of fraternity
and the harbinger of a better age--a more chivalrous time, when labor shall be
best honored and well rewarded.
-- Peter J. McGuire, Father of Labor Day
We
must elevate the craft, protect its interests, advance wages, reduce the hours
of labor, spread correct economic doctrines and cultivate a spirit of fraternity
among the working people regardless of creed, color, nationality or politics.
These principles are the foundation principles of our organization.
-- Peter
J. McGuire, Father of Labor Day
*
"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 |  |
Every
piece of progressive social legislation passed by Congress in the 20th century
bears a union label.
-- 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
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
For
it is an absurdity to call a country civilized in which a decent and industrious
man, laboriously mastering a trade which is valuble and necessary to the common
weal, has no assurance that it will sustain him while he stands ready to practice
it, or keep him out of the poorhouse when illness or age makes him idle.
-- H.L. Mencken
| *
"Our
motto is to work for peace based on social justice. Our mandate is to improve
the condition, health and safety of workers, and our mission is universal."
-- David A. Morse |
|
A Society
that gives to one class all the opportunities for leisure and to another all the
burdens of work condemns both classes to spiritual sterility.
-- Lewis Mumford
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