Will Rogers Quotes

In the ten years I was president of the Teamsters, I had raised the membership from eight hundred thousand to more than 2 million and made it the largest single labor union the world.

Over the past several years, I've been more in a managerial role.

My job is to represent working people.

Marvin Miller, I suspect, is the most effective union organizer since John L. Lewis.

I don't expect to get a standing ovation from businessmen when I call for higher wages.

In 1972, I signed a union card for SEIU. And for the last 38 years, 14 as president, it's been my life. I've seen the most miraculous, spectacular things. But there's a time to learn, a time to lead and a time to leave.

Now, if we look at the way in which the labor movement itself has evolved over the last couple of decades, we see increasing numbers of black people who are in the leadership of the labor movement and this is true today.

Well, my transition into being a captain was easy.

It took me 35 years of being involved at a decent level of football to become manager at a great club like Celtic.

I hadn't grown up always aspiring to be a CEO.

I will never apologize for standing up for my fellow Teamsters and all American workers.

I remained a member of the section till 1947, becoming Director in 1946.

Arthur Scargill's leadership of the miners' strike has been a disgrace. The price to be paid for his folly will be immense. He will have destroyed the N.U.M. as an effective fighting force within British trade unionism for the next 20 years. If kamikaze pilots were to form their own union, Arthur would be an ideal choice for leader.

Teacher unions are an interest group that acts in defense of their own interests, which means the union bosses' interests, not the members.

Hey, I'm a former union president myself and also an attorney that represented a lot of unions.

The reason I became a manager was to have full control over training. If you are a coach, you are bound by what the manager wants you to coach. The other reason is that I just like the company of football people.

It's an American worker's right to unionize for sure, but that being said, don't expect me not to point out when or if union leadership takes advantage of union members.

[William Z.] Foster was a trade union organizer without a peer. In each case, however, his work was permitted and controlled by other forces which Foster had to serve....

The task is before us. We have a labor movement that is completely discouraged and demoralized. We have an organized labor movement that is unable on any front to put up an effective struggle against the drive of destruction organized by the masters….the labor unions of America are being broken up because there is not sufficient unified understanding, because there is not sufficient leadership to save them.

One bright and energetic [Communist] party member working as an educational director or editor in a strong local union is worth a dozen members occupied with the lesser duties of settling grievances …. Such a spot gives a party member an outlet through which to pour a steady stream of Communist propaganda.

The teamsters union is as free of corruption as any great institution.

We back Solidarity [the Polish trade union], and bust our unions.

Duty of the Catholic Worker to Join Organized Labor

The weapon of political action. That is going to be the main fighting weapon of all labor, international as well as national, if we are going to do those things that we are in business to do as a labor union

Going from reporter to anchor is like going from wide receiver to quarterback. As anchor, you're running the plays and having the feel of the show - and knowing when to be more upbeat or slow down.