Estelle Morris Quotes

Instead of focusing on attacking unions and the labor movement, we need to find ways to strengthen and empower workers so we can put more money in the pockets of middle class families.

I think there are a lot of policies that have been unfriendly to workers' wages.

If you look at the future of the Democratic Party, things like raising the minimum wage - Democrats need to get behind raising the minimum wage and be clear on where we stand on trade deals.

In a sensibly organised society, if you improve productivity, there is room for everybody to benefit.

At times you feel like you're the only voice speaking out to improve the working conditions of people, whether it's to be able to collectively bargain, to get adequate pay, to know that you can come home safe out of a coal mine.

So why am I facing a recall election? Simple: the big government union bosses from Washington want their money. They don't like the fact that I did something fundamentally pro-worker; something that's truly about freedom.

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.

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

You can't be pro-labor and anti-business.

I think unionization is good public policy. I think when families secure their economic future, that's good for everyone.

If there is to be peace in our industrial life let the employer recognize his obligation to his employees - at least to the degree set forth in existing statutes.

I don't pay good wages because I have a lot of money; I have a lot of money because I pay good wages.

The union movement has been the best middle class job creating program that America has ever had, and it doesn't cost the government a dime.

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.

A mutual arrangement, I repeat, is the only satisfactory medium whereby the present system can be carried on with any degree of satisfaction, and in such an arrangement the employers have more to gain than the 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.

In the U.S. the powerful critics of austerity such as Paul Krugman and Robert Reich rightly identify the decline of 'labor' as a problem, and renewing trade unionism part of the solution. Our opportunity is to make the same case in the UK.

If every other store in town is paying workers $9 an hour, one offering $8 will find it hard to hire anyone - perhaps not when unemployment is high, but certainly in normal times. Robust competition is a powerful force helping to ensure that workers are paid what they contribute to their employers' bottom lines.

Public employees should have the right to bargain for better wages and working conditions, just like all employees do.

Labor also wants shorter hours and a say in how work shall be done.

I would love to see McDonald's pay more money.

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.

Then came a big strike. About 100 girls went out. The result was a victory, which netted us - I mean the girls - $2 increase in our wages on the average.

I am one of those men who believes that the best workingman ought to have the best pay.

Union members not only earn higher median wages; they are more likely to have paid sick leave, short-term disability, and employer-provided child care. Giving people a voice at work - the ability to organize and negotiate for their fair share of the value they helped create - is absolutely essential to a growing, vibrant middle class.