"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.
"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
Jimmy Carter: 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.
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. —Speaking on
right-to-work laws in 1961
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.
"The labor movement was the principal force
that transformed misery and despair into
hope and progress. Out of its bold
struggles, economic and social reform gave
birth to unemployment insurance, old-age
pensions, government relief for the
destitute and, above all, new wage levels
that meant not mere survival but a tolerable
life. The captains of industry did not lead
this transformation; they resisted it until
they were overcome. When in the thirties the
wave of union organization crested over the
nation, it carried to secure shores not only
itself but the whole society."
Martin Luther King Jr. —Speech to the state convention of
the Illinois AFL-CIO, Oct. 7, 1965
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.
"Negroes are almost entirely a working people…. Our needs are identical
with labor's needs: decent wages, fair working conditions, livable
housing, old-age security, health and welfare measures, conditions in
which families can grow, have education for their children and respect
in the community. That is why Negroes support labor's demands and fight
laws which curb labor. That is why the labor-hater and labor-baiter is
virtually always a twin-headed creature, spewing anti-Negro epithets
from one mouth and anti-labor propaganda from the other mouth."
MLK JR —Speaking to the AFL-CIO on Dec. 11, 1961
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.
"All that serves labor serves the nation. All that harms
is treason. If a man tells you he trusts America, yet fears labor, he is a
fool. There is no America without labor, and to fleece the one is to rob the
other."
The
books at the left are recommended resources for those who want
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click at left. The Writers Harbrace Handbook is a basic guide and
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writing, including students from non-English based learning environments. contact
Tim@WritingResource.org/
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