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
Labor
Quotes
