quotations about labor unions
Union is power; the most attenuated thread, when sufficiently multiplied, will form the strongest cable. A single drop of water is a weak and powerless thing; but an infinite number of drops united by the force of attraction will form a stream; and many streams combined will form a river; till rivers pour their waters into the mighty ocean, whose proud waves defying the power of man none can stay but He who formed them.
HENRY GEORGE SALTER
The Book of Illustrations; or, Scripture Truths Exhibited by the Aid of Similes
Today the labor union stands recognized by the best thought of the world as the foremost instrument for the good of the working people. Slavery, with its religious intolerance, which denied to the toiler even the possession of a soul and placed him on a level with the beasts of the field, has passed away. Serfdom, which tied the worker to the titled lord and made him a part of the estate without right to go even beyond the boundaries of the lord's domain and held him to pass with the title to the land, is now no more. The evils of our present industrial system, such as child labor, the exploitation of women, and excessive hours of labor and insanitary working conditions, are in a fair way of being solved. Social reform is everywhere the order of the day and human rights are about to be given due consideration. Because of union labor's persistent efforts it has come to this that no legislative body, state or national, in this great land of ours, is considered to be in accord with the spirit of the times if it does not concern itself with measures beneficial to the welfare of the working people.
A. A. BABLITZ
"The Struggle Upward", American Federationist: Official Magazine of the American Federation of Labor
Men don't and can't live by exchanging articles, but by producing them. They don't live by trade, but by work. Give up that foolish and vain title of Trades Unions; and take that of Laborers Unions.
JOHN RUSKIN
Fors Clavigera: Letters to the Workmen and Labourers of Great Britain
Just as there can be little doubt that labor unions are a significant political force, neither can there be much question that this political force is a by-product of the purely industrial activities that unions regard as their major function.
MANCUR OLSON
The Logic of Collective Action
A labor union is the banding together of workers in an attempt to arm wrestle the employer to do what is right. The understanding is that if the union demands are not met, then the entire work force goes on strike. The employer can't get his product or service completed and so is forced to concede to the union demands. What starts as a morally right and good creature begins to have a life of its own, and turns into a monster. Greed, one of the seven deadly sins, creeps onto the scene. The labor union leaders begin to feel their inherent power. Now when the labor union attempts to make gains (under the guise of helping the poor workers), what they are really doing is creating the rules themselves, and so control the work force just as the employer once did. "If you want to work, you must pay the labor union membership fees or you're out. Do what we say or you don't have a job here anymore."
MIKE ZIGAN
Ignition
We thus see that a thousand years before the dawn of the Christian era labor unions afforded the toiler protection and advancement; that the union has been his chief means of defense and offense during that great historic cycle of time ushered in by the coming of Christ; and in the mighty labor unions of our day the workers have that which gives them the greatest encouragement and help on the road to industrial freedom.
A. A. BABLITZ
"The Struggle Upward", American Federationist: Official Magazine of the American Federation of Labor
From the beginning of civilization the toiler has incessantly striven to free himself from the degrading conditions which resulted from man's enslavement by man; and it is in itself an evidence of man's divine origin that he has never foregone the struggle, nor lost the hope of ultimately attaining the undisputed right to life, liberty and equality of opportunity.
A. A. BABLITZ
"The Struggle Upward", American Federationist: Official Magazine of the American Federation of Labor
Unions are not philanthropic organizations that exist in the spirit of "giving." We already "give." We give our labor to an organization for a previously agreed upon wage and under previously agreed upon terms. The true focus of a union is actually to shield workers from the seemingly unending "taking" at the hands of employers. As all of us who labor know, organizations have the tendency to take until nothing is left. Everyone deserves protection from that. Everyone.
SAMANTHA SZCZUR
"Why I voted no on EIU faculty salary deferrals", The State Journal-Register, April 1, 2016
Adam and Eve were the first of all unions to defy management.
EVAN ESAR
20,000 Quips & Quotes
A wise and frugal government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned -- this is the sum of good government.
THOMAS JEFFERSON
Inaugural Address, Mar. 4, 1801
When labor forges strong connections with other unions and social justice groups -- from low-wage fast-food workers to Black Lives Matter -- they can still be a force for progressive change in American society. And reinvigorate democracy in the process.
LOIS WEINER
"The CTU's Strike for Democracy", Jacobin, April 1, 2016
You know, when I was in college, there was a big debate: Do unions raise wages? Well, with regard to industrial unions, there were arguments back and forth -- international competition. It is now clear, I think, that whether or not you think unions raised wages 50 years ago, the absence of unions and their weakness that is inflicted by anti-union public policy depresses wages. The fact is that people who are not represented, in the service industries in particular, are the victims of policies which depress their wages.
BARNEY FRANK
speech, Jan. 3, 2007
The proper business of a labor union is to get higher wages, better hours and good shop conditions for the workmen. But when labor en masse plunks its vote for its own party, then the spirit of party loyalty begins to obscure labor's objectives -- high wages, short hours, decent shop conditions. Thus class-conscious labor leaders become more interested in their party welfare than in the fundamental objectives of the labor unions. So we shall have the class-conscious political worker trading his vote not for the immediate objective of wages, hours and shop conditions, but for power for his political labor boss.
WILLIAM ALLEN WHITE
speech, Sep. 20, 1937
For those without personal wealth or political authority a trade union card and a ballot paper are the only two routes to political power.
TONY BENN
Arguments for Democracy
Management and union may be likened to that serpent of the fables who on one body had two heads that fighting each other with poisoned fangs, killed themselves.
PETER DRUCKER
The New Society
The labor unions are group efforts in the direction of democracy. Like the political efforts in the same direction, they become many times stultified and lead up blind alleys. But the effort creates power. While the economic gains are themselves important and are measures of strength, the significance of the labor union is its assertion of the manhood of labor.
HELEN MAROT
American Labor Unions
Our movement is of the working people, for the working people, by the working people.... There is not a right too long denied to which we do not aspire in order to achieve; there is not a wrong too long endured that we are not determined to abolish.
SAMUEL GOMPERS
The Samuel Gompers Papers: The American Federation of Labor at the height of progressivism, 1913-17
These attacks on public sector unions are ideological. With the middle class dwindling, it is more important than ever to have strong public sector unions representing the working class and fighting back against hedge fund billionaires ... who are able to apply their clout financially. One person shouldn't have more of a say than the very people who keep our state running. Public employees deserve a voice in Illinois politics. Unions are that voice.
TONY JOHNSTON
letter to the editor, "Attacks on public worker unions were misleading", Chicago Sun Times, March 10, 2016
The entire history of labor relations demonstrates that unions are the strongest catalyst for better wages and working conditions.
SHERMAN E. KATZ
"Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal includes some surprisingly pro-labor provisions", Cleveland, April 1, 2016
Yes, there have been corrupt unions and yes, some state employees have secured overly lavish benefits. But strong unions have always been workers' main protection. Countries that have maintained strong unions have less inequality, stronger safety nets and a more secure middle class.... The idea that allowing corporations to treat workers as they please will somehow result in an abundance of good, well-paying jobs is a dangerous pipe dream, but one very popular with the current crop of corporate oligarchs.
JANICE L. TRECKER
letter to the editor, "Unions Are Workers' Best Protection", Hartford Courant, March 29, 2016