“Labor was marching toward the goal of industrial democracy and contributing constructively toward a more rational arrangement of our domestic economy.” GoalEconomyDemocracyLaborRationalArrangementsContributing Author:John L. Lewis
“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.” PeopleHumansStatesBeliefDemocracyRightsSpeechLaborElectionMethodTradeUnionsDemocraticHuman RightsRemoveAssociationRulersCreedsFreedom Of SpeechAssemblyLabor UnionTrade UnionsUnion SolidarityDemocratic Elections Author:George Meany
“If you can see, hear, feel, and think, you should know that King Dollar rules the United States, and that the workers are robbed and exploited in this country to the heart's content of the masters.If you are not deaf, dumb, and blind, then you know that the American bourgeois democracy and capitalistic civilization are the worst enemies of labor and progress, and that instead of protecting them, you should help to fight to destroy them.” IfsThinkingKnowsFeelsShouldHeartCountryStatesHelpingFightingUnitedEnemyUnited StatesDemocracyProgressWorstMastersKingsCivilizationLaborBlindDollarsWorkersDumbDeafBourgeoisWorst Enemy Author:Alexander Berkman
“I'm convinced after spending three weeks in China and Tibet, unless the United States gets its act together, our grandchildren will be living in a world dominated by the People's Republic. China is simply inexorable in its pursuit of wealth, growth and power. It cares little about human rights, democracy, labor protections, fair trade rules or the environment. It is relentless in advancing its national interests.” PeopleWorldHumansLittlesStatesCareTogetherThreeGrowthInterestWealthUnitedUnited StatesDemocracyEnvironmentRightsWeekFairsLaborTradeHuman RightsChinaProtectionSpendingConvincedPursuitRepublicGrandchildrenRelentlessAdvancingInexorableTibetNational InterestsFair TradePursuit Of Wealth Author:Mort Kondracke
“If we don't have workers organized into labor unions, we're in great peril of losing our democracy.” IfsDemocracyLosingLaborUnionsWorkersOrganizedPerilLabor UnionLabor Movement Author:Dolores Huerta
“The whole idea of a democracy is that we ourselves, the people, are supposed to make a path of our politics, and it is we who with our feet and our vote and our labors and our vigilance are supposed to shape our country.” PeopleIdeasCountryWholeDemocracyPathFeetShapesLaborVoteOur CountryVigilance Author:Eugene Jarecki
“Collective bargaining has always been the bedrock of the American labor movement. I hope that you will continue to anchor your movement to this foundation. Free collective bargaining is good for the entire Nation. In my view, it is the only alternative to State regulation of wages and prices - a path which leads far down the grim road of totalitarianism. Those who would destroy or further limit the rights of organized labor - those who would cripple collective bargaining or prevent organization of the unorganized - do a disservice to the cause of democracy.” StatesNationsCausesViewsDemocracyPathRightsMovementLimitsLaborOrganizationFoundationAlternativesOrganizedCollectivesRegulationWagesTotalitarianismAnchorsGrimCripplesBargainingBedrockDisserviceLabor MovementOrganized LaborCollective Bargaining Author:John F. Kennedy
“We have our difficulties, true; but we are a wiser and a tougher nation than we were in 1932. Never have there been six years of such far flung internal preparedness in all of history. And this has been done without any dictator's power to command, without conscription of labor or confiscation of capital, without concentration camps and without a scratch on freedom of speech, freedom of the press or the rest of the Bill of Rights.” YearsHas BeensDoneNationsDemocracyRightsSpeechSixLaborDifficultyBillsPressesCommandInternalsConcentrationCampsDictatorFreedom Of SpeechWiserScratchesBill Of RightsFreedom Of The PressPreparednessConcentration CampConscription Book:The Essential Franklin Delano Roosevelt Source: The Essential Franklin Delano Roosevelt
“As the only class distinction available in a democracy, the college degree has created a caste society as rigid as ancient India's. Condemning elitism and simultaneously quaking in fear that our children won't become members of the elite, we send them to college, not to learn, but to "be" college graduates, rationalizing our snobbery with the cliché that high technology has eliminated the need for the manual labor that we secretly hold in contempt.” NeedsChildrenEducationClassTechnologyDemocracyCollegeMembersDegreesLaborIndiaOur ChildrenAncientAvailableDistinctionContemptGraduatesElitesManualsCastesCollege EducationCondemningElitismSnobberyCollege DegreeCollege GraduatesManual LaborAncient IndiaClass DistinctionHigh Technology Book:Lump It Or Leave It Source: Lump It Or Leave It
“A serf-supporting and self-respecting democracy can plead no justification for the existence of child labor, no economic reason for chiseling workers' wages or stretching workers' hours.” ChildrenSelfReasonHoursExistenceDemocracyEconomicLaborWorkersJustificationWagesStretchingChild LaborSerfs Author:Franklin D. Roosevelt
“What created democracy was Thomas Paine and Shays Rebellion, the suffragists and the abolitionists and on down through the populists and the labor movement, including the Wobblies. Tough, in your face people... Mother Jones, Woody Guthrie... Martin Luther King and Caesar Chavez. And now it’s down to us.” PeopleFacesMotherDemocracyMovementKingsToughLaborIncludingRebellionYour FaceLutherWoodyPopulistAbolitionistLabor MovementPaineChavezShaySuffragists Author:Jim Hightower
“Syllogisms а la mode - If you are against labor racketeers, then you are against the working man. If you are against demagogues, then you are against democracy. If you are against Christianity, then you are against God. If you are against trying a can of Old Dr. Quack's Cancer Salve, then you are in favor of letting Uncle Julius die.” IfsMenTryingDiesChristianityDemocracyLaborCancerFavorsDrsUnclesJuliusWorking ManQuacks Author:H. L. Mencken
“Fascism is more of a natural state than democracy. To assume blithely that we can export democracy into any country we choose can serve paradoxically to encourage more fascism at home and abroad. Democracy is a state of grace that is attained only by those countries who have a host of individuals not only ready to enjoy freedom but to undergo the heavy labor of maintaining it.” CountryStatesHomeIndividualEnjoyNaturalDemocracyGraceReadyLaborAssumingHeavyHostFascismMaintaining Author:Norman Mailer
“Our society is connecting workers with the products people consume and recognizing workers for their contributions. It is important to do that, and to have organized labor - a middle class - to preserve our democracy.” PeopleImportantClassDemocracyMiddleProductsLaborWorkersPreservesOrganizedContributionMiddle ClassOur SocietyRecognizingConnectingOrganized Labor Author:Dolores Huerta