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Labor Union Quotes

Browse 115 quotes about Labor Union.

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Labor Union Quotes

“If you go to the city of Washington, and you examine the pages of the Congressional Directory, you will find that almost all of those corporation lawyers and cowardly politicians, members of Congress, and misrepresentatives of the masses - you will find that almost all of them 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, and not from the ranks.”

IfsWould BePoliticsTermCitiesPoliticianMembersMassClaimsCongressLawyerGladCorporationsAshamedDistinctionRepresentativesGlowingRisenCowardlyLabor UnionEminence
Author:Eugene V. Debs
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“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.”

MenDoneCharacterHumanityRaceHonestyLaborOrganizationTradeUnionsFaultsDevelopingAssociationDecencyBettermentLabor UnionLabor DayTrade UnionsOrganized LaborUnion Solidarity
Author:Clarence Darrow
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“Equality is the heart and essence of democracy, freedom, and justice, equality of opportunity in industry, in labor unions, schools and colleges, government, politics, and before the law. There must be no dual standards of justice, no dual rights, privileges, duties, or responsibilities of citizenship. No dual forms of freedom.”

HeartGovernmentSchoolFormLawOpportunityJusticeResponsibilityDemocracyRightsCollegeDutyIndustryDiversityStandardsLaborEssenceSocial JusticeUnionsPrivilegeCitizenshipLabor UnionDemocracy FreedomEquality Of OpportunityGovernment PoliticsJustice Equality
Author:A. Philip Randolph
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“The road to social justice for the farm worker is the road of unionization. Our cause, our strike against table grapes and our international boycott are all founded upon our deep conviction that the form of collective self-help, which is unionization, holds far more hope for the farm worker than any other single approach, whether public or private. This conviction is what brings spirit, high hope and optimism to everything we do.”

SelfHelpingFormSpiritSocialCausesJusticeSelf HelpApproachLaborOptimismSocial JusticeTablesWorkersInternationalConvictionStrikesCollectivesFarmsGrapesLabor UnionBoycottOptimism And Hope
Author:Cesar Chavez
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“...So they are trying to do something about it. They are not doing it by seeking charity. They are not begging at the welfare office. They are not, like many of their employers, lobbying the halls of Congress with their gold plated tin cups asking to be paid for not growing crops. They are trying to do it in the way that millions of other Americans have shown is the right way-organization, unionism, collective bargaining.”

WayTryingMillionsGrowingOfficeLaborGoldOrganizationPaidAskingCharityCongressSeekingCupsWelfareCollectivesHallsRight WayEmployersCropsBeggingTinBargainingLabor UnionLobbyingUnionismCollective BargainingTin Cup
Author:Cesar Chavez
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“We will have bigger bureaucracies, bigger labor unions, and bigger state-run corporations. It will be harder to be an entrepreneur because of punitive taxes and regulations. The rewards of success will be expropriated for the sake of attaining greater income equality.”

StatesRunningGreaterTaxesLaborBiggerHarderEntrepreneurUnionsRewardsSakeEqualityIncomeEntrepreneurshipCorporationsRegulationBureaucracyLabor Union
Book:The Battle: How the Fight Between Free Enterprise and Big Government Will Shape America's Future
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“Tariffs, government contracts, naval and military spending, nationalized industries, tax policy, social welfare, the legal privileging of labor unions were among the means at the disposal of the governing class to exploit the public at large for the benefits of its various clienteles.”

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Author:Ralph Raico
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“The conservative goal has been the Third Worldization of the United States: an increasingly underemployed, lower-wage work-force; a small but growing moneyed class that pays almost no taxes; the privatization or elimination of human services; the elimination of public education for low-income people; the easing of restrictions against child labor; the exporting of industries and jobs to low-wage, free-trade countries; the breaking of labor unions; and the elimination of occupational safety and environmental controls and regulations.”

PeopleHumansChildrenHas BeensCountryStatesJobsForceGoalUnitedPayClassUnited StatesGrowingPolicyIndustryTaxesLowsLaborThirdsSafetyTradeUnionsEnvironmentalConservativeIncomeForeign PolicyRegulationRestrictionEliminationFree TradePublic EducationLabor UnionLow IncomePrivatizationChild LaborExportingHuman ServiceUnderemployed
Author:Michael Parenti
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“The fight against Germany has now been waged for months by every Jewish community, on every conference, in all labor unions and by every single Jew in the world. There are reasons for the assumption that our share in this fight is of general importance. We shall start a spiritual and material war of the whole world against Germany. Germany is striving to become once again a great nation, and to recover her lost territories as well as her colonies. But our Jewish interests call for the complete destruction of Germany.”

WorldWellsWarReasonWholeSpiritualFightingLostNationsInterestCommunityShareMaterialsMonthsLaborDestructionImportanceUnionsStriveJewWhole WorldGermanyAssumptionTerritoryConferencesColonyGreat NationsLabor UnionJewish Community
Author:Ze'ev Jabotinsky
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“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.”

WellsRealConditionsIndustryAdvantagePaidUnionsWorkersCustomersImprovementProducersPresidentialCooperationMerchantsLabor UnionWorking Conditions
Book:Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: F.D. Roosevelt, 1936, Volume 5
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“From the moment the organizer enters a community he lives, dreams... only one thing and that is to build the mass power base of what he calls the army. Until he has developed that mass power base, he confronts no major issues.... Until he has those means and power instruments, his tactics are very different from power tactics. Therefore, every move revolves around one central point: how many recruits will this bring into the organization, whether by means of local organizations, churches, service groups, labor Unions, corner gangs, or as individuals.”

MeanDifferentMomentsDreamMovingIndividualCommunityChurchIssuesOne ThingGroupsMajorsMassLaborOrganizationArmyInstrumentsUnionsCornersLocalsTacticsGangRecruitOrganizerLabor UnionRules For RadicalsLife DreamLiving The DreamChurch Service
Author:Saul Alinsky
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“The important role of union organizations must be admitted: their object is the representation of the various categories of workers, their lawful collaboration in the economic advance of society, and the development of the sense of their responsibility for the realization of the common good.”

ImportantCommonResponsibilityRolesEconomicObjectsDevelopmentLaborOrganizationUnionsWorkersVariousRealizationCategoriesCollaborationRepresentationCommon GoodBargainingLabor UnionOrganized LaborCollective BargainingUnion Solidarity
Author:Pope Paul VI
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“Markets are interested in profits and profits only; service, quality, and general affluence are different functions altogether. The universal, democratic prosperity that Americans now look back to with such nostalgia was achieved only by a colossal reigning in of markets, by the gargantuan effort of mass, popular organizations like labor unions and of the people themselves, working through a series of democratically elected governments not daunted by the myths of the market.”

PeopleLooksDifferentGovernmentEffortQualityMassLaborOrganizationUniversalFunctionUnionsDemocraticSeriesProfitProsperityMythLibertarianNostalgiaAffluenceColossalLabor UnionQuality Service
Author:Thomas Frank
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“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.”

IfsGivingHeartCompanyOne ThingConditionsGoodnessBenefitsStandardsPercentLaborUnionsWorkersCorruptionLibertarianCorporationsBoardsDecentOrganizeSalaryLabor UnionAmerican WorkersOrganized LaborUnionismUnion SolidarityWorking Conditions
Author:Molly Ivins
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“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.”

ChildrenPersonsEndsCareAmericaValuesFightingStrongNationsSocialJusticeQualityMoralClassPovertyEconomicMiddleMovementMembersCommitmentLaborVoteOur ChildrenSocial JusticeFundamentalsUnionsProsperityDecadesSecureHealth CareMiddle ClassActivistWagesAffordablePensionMoral ValuesLabor UnionQuality EducationLabor MovementUnion SolidarityAffordable Health CareMiddle Class Life
Author:John Sweeney
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“Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.”

PoliticalFreedomLibertyPowerDemandTyrannyOppressionAfrican AmericanCorporationsTyrantsOppressedDissentFreedom And LibertyFreedom LibertyCivil LibertiesAgitationHuman FreedomRights And FreedomsLabor UnionAbolitionistEternal VigilancePower StruggleHuman PowerPrice Of FreedomSlavery In AmericaBig CorporationsInjustice And OppressionDemocracy And Human RightsAmerican PowerCorrupt PowerPower And CorruptionStruggle For FreedomAuthority And Power
Author:Frederick Douglass
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“The labor movement is people. Our unions have brought millions of men and women together, made them members one of another, and given them common tools for common goals. Their goals are goals for all America - and their enemies are the enemies for progress. The two cannot be separated.”

PeopleMenMadeTwoTogetherAmericaGivenGoalCommonEnemyMillionsProgressMovementMembersMen And WomenLaborToolsUnionsLabor UnionLabor MovementCommon GoalUnion Solidarity
Author:John F. Kennedy
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“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.”

KnowsWholeRememberNationsSimpleForgetLevelsMillionsTeacherMovementIndustryStandardsLaborUnionsProductionsDiminishGreat TeacherLabor UnionSimple TruthsLabor MovementOrganized LaborLabour Movement
Author:Martin Luther King, Jr.
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