Unions Quotes

• It is one of the characteristics of a free and democratic nation that it have free and independent labor unions.

  Franklin D. Roosevelt

  Independent, Organized Labor, Characteristics

  33 Copy quote

• We know what unions have done for other people. We have seen it and we have studied and we have cherished the idea of unionism. We have seen the history and development of unions in this country and we tell the growers that we want nothing more, but that we want our own union and we are going to fight for it as long as it takes.

  Cesar Chavez

  Country, Fighting, Ideas

  12 Copy quote

• One thing that corporations do not do is give out money out of the goodness of their hearts.

  Molly Ivins

  Heart, Giving, Deregulation

  76 Copy quote

• It’s not about the budget; it’s about the power...So will the attack on unions succeed? I don’t know. But anyone who cares about retaining government of the people by the people should hope that it doesn’t.

  Paul Krugman

  Government, People, Who Cares

  61 Copy quote

• The labor movement was the principal force that transforme­d misery and despair into hope and progress.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Progress, Despair, Movement

  Martin Luther King (Jr.), Michael K. Honey (2011). “All Labor Has Dignity”, p.101, Beacon Press

  32 Copy quote

  Show source

• Only a fool would try to deprive working men and working women of their right to join the union of their choice.

  Dwight D. Eisenhower

  Men, Choices, Democracy

  Dwight D. Eisenhower, Alfred Dupont Chandler, Louis Galambos (1978). “The papers: The chief of staff”

  71 Copy quote

  Show source

• When you have people together who believe in something very strongly - whether it's religion or politics or unions - things happen.

  Cesar Chavez

  Believe, People, Community

  13 Copy quote

• Finally, it was about how people treat one another. It was about human dignity. We forced the employers to treat us as equals, to sit down and talk to us about the work we do, how we do it, and what we get paid for it. And I believe that the principles for which we fought in 1934 are still true and still useful. Whether your job is pushing a four-wheeler, or programming a computer, I don't know of any way for working people to win basic economic justice and dignity except by being organized into a solid, democratic union.

  Harry Bridges

  Jobs, Work, Believe

  38 Copy quote

• The best customer of American industry is the well paid worker.

  Franklin D. Roosevelt

  Working Conditions, Labor Union, Wells

  Roosevelt, Franklin D. (1938). “Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: F.D. Roosevelt, 1936, Volume 5”, p.504, Best Books on

  62 Copy quote

  Show source

• History is a great teacher. Now everyone knows that the labor movement did not diminish the strength of the nation but enlarged it. By raising the living standards of millions, labor miraculously created a market for industry and lifted the whole nation to undreamed of levels of production. Those who attack labor forget these simple truths, but history remembers them.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Teacher, Simple, Labour Movement

  Speech to the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL - CIO), December 11, 1961.

  87 Copy quote

  Show source

• A basic assumption shapes most Americans’ mindset about labor: the belief that the death of unions isn’t my problem because I’m not in a union. That assumption is wrong. Even if you aren’t a member, your pay is influenced by the strength or weakness of organized labor. The presence of unions sets off a wage race to the top. Their absence sets off a race to the bottom.

  Eric Liu

  Race, Shapes, Organized Labor

  50 Copy quote

• Labor is not fighting for a larger slice of the national pie-labor is fighting for a larger pie.

  Walter Reuther

  Struggle, Fighting, Pie

  The New Republic, Vol. 114, 1946.

  38 Copy quote

  Show source

• No king on earth is as safe in his job as a Trade Union official. There is only one thing that can get him sacked; and that is drink. Not even that, as long as he doesn't actually fall down.

  George Bernard Shaw

  Kings, Jobs, Fall

  8 Copy quote

• 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

  Rights, Support, Presidential

  United States. President (1977-1981 : Carter), Jimmy Carter (1980). “Jimmy Carter”

  40 Copy quote

  Show source

• 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

  Sympathy, Peace, People

  Abraham Lincoln (2012). “The Life and Writings of Abraham Lincoln”, p.868, Modern Library

  10 Copy quote

  Show source

• 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

  Self, Justice, Presidential

  31 Copy quote

• Where trade unions are most firmly organized, there are the rights of the people most respected.

  Samuel Gompers

  Respect, Rights, Organization

  82 Copy quote

• The only thing workers have to bargain with is their skill or their labor. Denied the right to withhold it as a last resort, they become powerless. The strike is therefore not a breakdown of collective bargaining-it is the indispensable cornerstone of that process.

  Paul Clark

  Struggle, Skills, Lasts

  13 Copy quote

• It is essential that there should be organization of labor. This is an era of organization. Capital organizes and therefore labor must organize.

  Theodore Roosevelt

  Aquariums, Organization, Essentials

  Theodore Roosevelt, Eugene Thwing (1919). “Newer Roosevelt messages: speeches, letters and magazine articles dealing with the war, before and after, and other vital topics”

  66 Copy quote

  Show source

• There's a direct relationship between the ballot box and the bread box, and what the union fights for and wins at the bargaining table can be taken away in the legislative halls.

  Walter Reuther

  Taken, Fighting, Winning

  Proceedings of the Constitutional Convention of the United Auto Workers, Vol. 22, 1970.

  81 Copy quote

  Show source

• In our glorious fight for civil rights, we must guard against being fooled by false slogans, such 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.

  Fighting, Rights, Labor Laws

  78 Copy quote

• 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.

  Barack Obama

  Inspirational, Family, Retirement

  Daily Labor Report, Issues 169-189, Bureau of National Affairs, 2010.

  61 Copy quote

  Show source

• 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

  Future, Thoughtful, America

  52 Copy quote

• Gentlemen, comrades, do not be concerned about all you hear about Glasnost and Perestroika and democracy in the coming years. They are primarily for outward consumption. There will be no significant internal changes in the Soviet Union, other than for cosmetic purposes. Our purpose is to disarm the Americans and let them fall asleep.

  Mikhail Gorbachev

  Fall, Years, Nwo

  90 Copy quote

• If I went to work in a factory the first thing I'd do is join a union.

  Franklin D. Roosevelt

  Work, Organized Labor, Firsts

  17 Copy quote