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.— Clarence Darrow
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
My friends, it is solidarity of labour we want. We do not want to find fault with each other, but to solidify our forces and say to each other: We must be together; our masters are joined together and we must do the same thing. – Mother Jones
The problem with unions today is that there is not enough of them. – Martin Johns
If hard work were such a wonderful thing, surely the rich would have kept it all to themselves.— Lane Kirkland
The labour movement means just this: It is the last noble protest of the American people against the power of incorporated wealth. – Wendell Phillips
What does labor want? We want more schoolhouses and less jails; more books and less arsenals; more learning and less vice; more leisure and less greed; more justice and less revenge; in fact, more of the opportunities to cultivate our better natures, to make manhood more noble, womanhood more beautiful, and childhood more happy and bright. – Samuel Gompers
Our labor unions are not narrow, self-seeking groups. They have raised wages, shortened hours, and provided supplemental benefits. Through collective bargaining and grievance procedures, they have brought justice and democracy to the shop floor.—John F. Kennedy
We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately. – Benjamin Franklin
Where trade unions are most firmly organized, there are the rights of the people most respected.—Samuel Gompers