Franklin D. Roosevelt Quotes

Workers have kept faith in American institutions. Most of the conflicts, which have occurred have been when labor's right to live has been challenged and denied.

The Bush administration staunchly opposed legislation which would preserve overtime pay for all workers.

We have tried voluntary codes and we have tried free markets, but they have not worked, so we need to try something else. Legislation is not a panacea for all the inequalities in the workplace, but it will go a long way towards stopping them. Effective employment legislation is needed

To the ordinary working man, the sort you would meet in any pub on Saturday night, Socialism does not mean much more than better wages and shorter hours and nobody bossing you about.

They only ask for a fair day’s wages for a fair day’s work.

The Church fully supports the right of workers to form unions or other associations to secure their rights to fair wages and working conditions.

There can be no distress, there can be no hard times, when labor is well paid. The man who raises his hand against the progress of the workingman raises his hand against prosperity.

I will only stop defending the rights of workers when I die.

What the labor movement did in this country is to make sure that capitalism worked.

We can afford to pay workers fairly, and it is the right thing to do. We also need equal pay for equal work.

We're the party that's fought for increased wages, fought for the union movement, fought to make sure that collective bargaining is not eviscerated, it's strengthened. And when we communicate those messages, we succeed.

Food service workers, home care workers, farm workers, and other low-wage workers log long hours. They come home tired after providing services and producing goods that make our country stronger. They deserve fair treatment from their employers, and they deserve a voice in collective bargaining.

We've always been in favor of improved wages for workers. When you have a strong middle class, they want to buy more stuff at Costco.

Workers organized and fought for worker rights and food safety, Social Security and Medicare - they fought to change government. And they won.

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

And I think we understand we cannot make social change for all workers until we have enough strength, membership strength, and at the same time having membership strength and only making change for a limited group of workers is not what our country really needs for people that work.

It was the labor movement that helped secure so much of what we take for granted today. The 40-hour work week, the minimum wage, family leave, health insurance, Social Security, Medicare, retirement plans. The cornerstones of the middle-class security all bear the union label.

Wage theft, worker rights and workplace discrimination should not be swept under the rug. The United States cannot have a functional economy where all the gains go to the corporate class while all the pain goes to regular workers.

The owners have the right to pay you whatever they want to. They don't have to pay you if they don't want to.

If we are going to reverse the race to the bottom, workers must have the right to engage in collective bargaining.

The backwoodsmen are muttering about making Britain's draconian union laws - already among the toughest in Europe - harsher still. And parts of the media will continue to attack public service pensions, as if school meals staff, refuse collectors and healthcare workers have no right to a decent retirement.

To fulfill the promise of economic opportunity, we must remain true to the principle that collective bargaining is a cornerstone of a free society and indispensable to a strong middle class.

When we talk about the minimum wage, we have to ask ourselves what it is that we owe both our workers and employers. I think clearly we owe them fairness.

Were the workers who sweated to put food on my table paid at least minimum wage? Did they get health benefits? Overtime? Were they unionized? Protected from pesticide exposure?

The global economy shall not run without the consent of the workers….We demand fair trade, not free trade.