Abraham Lincoln Quotes

Thank God we have a system of labor where there can be a strike.

I am glad to see that a system of labor prevails under which laborers can strike when they want to...I like the system which lets a man quit when he wants to and wish it might prevail everywhere.

Unions may also legitimately resort to strikes where this is the only available means to the justice owed to workers

Labor unions are the worst thing that ever struck the earth because they take away a man's independence.

We have reached the point where we must advise the miners … to either continue working under these unjust and tyrannical conditions or counsel a strike.

Here's the dilemma of the modern age: There used to be actions that workers could take, in the form of a strike. But now, that's being pre-empted by lockouts. They don't even have that leverage to protect their jobs.

I fight like a daggone wild man for labor unions.

My parents were both union members, and I grew up hearing how important it was to empower workers and have fair labor practices.

Labor organizations are formed, not to employ combined effort for a common object, but to indulge in declamation and denunciation, and especially to furnish an easy living to some officers who do not want to work.

I am always on the side of labor when there is any compromise to be made.

I will use the power of the government of the United States within my control to prevent the labor unions ... from destroying the open shop.

The labor movement was a reaction to capitalism.

We don't have unions in South Carolina because we don't need unions in South Carolina.

I believe in workers' rights when people are doing a good job.

Well, I'm not trying to get rid of the unions, but I am saying that they appear to be an antiquated concept in today's economy.

We make our own labor unions. We organize our labor into units of 300, and then the representatives of these 300 meet together every week. Then every fortnight they meet with the head men.

Give me a highly successful unionized industry.

The unions used to sell security. They can’t deliver any more.

Labor unions must have conflict in order to justify their existence.

Labor cannot on any terms surrender the right to strike.

The strikebreaker is the hero of American industry.

When labor is strong, America is strong.

The picket line is the best place to train organizers. One day on the picket line is where a man makes his commitment. The longer on the picket line, the stronger the commitment. A lot of workers think they make their commitment by walking off the job when nobody sees them. But you get a guy to walk off the field when his boss is watching and, in front of the other guys, throw down his tools and march right to the picket line, that is the guy who makes our strike. The picket line is a beautiful thing because it makes a man more human.

There are only two ways to bring about protection of the workers, however, legislation and unionization. So far the majority of the people in this country seem to favor unions as a more democratic and elastic method, though certain things must be dealt with by legislation

Modern trade unions understood that deciphering a balance sheet was more important than decoding Das Kapital.