Unionism Quotes

• 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”

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• 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

  Work, Independent, Labor Day

  Annual Message to Congress, 3 Dec. 1861

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

  Samuel Gompers

  Respect, Rights, Organization

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• ... it is the spirit of trade unionism that is most important, the service of fellowship, the feeling that the hurt of one is the concern of all and that the work of the individual benefits all.

  Rose Schneiderman

  Hurt, Feelings, Important

  Rose Schneiderman, Lucy Goldthwaite (1967). “All for one”

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• 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”

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• I am an organizer, not a union leader. A good organizer has to work hard and long. There are no shortcuts. You just keep talking to people, working with them, sharing, exchanging and they come along.

  Cesar Chavez

  Leadership, Hard Work, Talking

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• We draw our strength from the very despair in which we have been forced to live. We shall endure.

  Cesar Chavez

  Strength, Struggle, Commitment

  Cesar Chavez, Richard Jay Jensen, John C. Hammerback (2002). “The Words of César Chávez”, p.17, Texas A&M University Press

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

  Molly Ivins

  Heart, Giving, Deregulation

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• 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

  Labour Movement, America, Presidential

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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.

  Molly Ivins

  Heart, Giving, Salary

  "Labor’s Fight Is OUR Fight" by Dave Johnson, www.huffingtonpost.com. February 29, 2012.

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• Trade unionism is not socialism. It is the capitalism of the proletariat.

  George Bernard Shaw

  Socialism, Economics, Proletariat

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• 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

  Trust, Hate, Liars

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• The essence of trade unionism is social uplift. The labor movement has been the haven for the dispossessed, the despised, the neglected, the downtrodden, the poor.

  A. Philip Randolph

  Uplifting, Labour Movement, Essence

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• Labor is today the most vital and potential power this planet has ever known, and its historic mission of emancipating the workers of the world from the thraldom of the ages is as certain of ultimate realization as is the setting of the sun.

  Eugene V. Debs

  Labour Movement, Realization, Organized Labor

  "An Ideal Labor Press". The Metal Worker, May 1904.

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• The history of the labor movement needs to be taught in every school in this land. America is a living testimonial to what free men and women, organized in free democratic trade unions can do to make a better life. We ought to be proud of it!

  Hubert H. Humphrey

  School, Men, Land

  Address to the Minnesota State AFL-CIO Convention, 1977.

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• We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal.

  Elizabeth Cady Stanton

  Inspiring, Women, 4th Of July

  Declaration of Sentiments, First Woman's Rights

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• The first principle of non-violent action is that of non-cooperation with everything humiliating.

  Cesar Chavez

  Peace, Humanity, Principles

  Cesar Chavez (2008). “An Organizer's Tale: Speeches”, p.352, Penguin

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• 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

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• Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior ofcapital, and deserves muchthe higher consideration.

  Abraham Lincoln

  Independent Women, Dignity Of Work, Labor Day

  "Leadership Lessons of Abraham Lincoln: Apply the Principles of the Sixteenth President to Your Own Work and Life".

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• We are convinced that non-violence is more powerful than violence. We are convinced that non-violence supports you if you have a just and moral cause...If you use violence, you have to sell part of yourself for that violence. Then you are no longer a master of your own struggle.

  Cesar Chavez

  Peace, Powerful, War

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• As long as this great army of workers is scattered among so many craft unions, it will be impossible for them to unite and act in harmony together. Craft unionism is the negation of solidarity. The more unions you have, the less unity.

  Eugene V. Debs

  Army, Long, Unity

  "Class Unionism". Eugene V. Debs' speech in South Chicago (November 24, 1905), later published in Eugene V. Debs "Debs, His Life, Writings and Speeches: With a Department of Appreciations", 1908.

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• If capitalism is fair then unionism must be. If men and women have a right to capitalize their ideas and the resources of their country, then that implies the right of men and women to capitalize their labor.

  Frank Lloyd Wright

  Country, Men, Ideas

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• We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Life, Change, Happiness

  Declaration of Independence (1776).

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

  Franklin D. Roosevelt

  Work, Organized Labor, Unions

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• Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration

  Abraham Lincoln

  Independent Women, Dignity Of Work, Labor Day

  Annual Message to Congress, 3 Dec. 1861

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