Barack Obama Quotes

In our glorious fight for civil rights, we must guard against being fooled by false slogans, such as 'right-to-work.' It provides no 'rights' and no 'works.' Its purpose is to destroy labor unions and the freedom of collective bargaining…. We demand this fraud be stopped.

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

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

“Right to Work” is wrong for Kentucky. It’s just another word for union busting...

The right to organize is a fundamental right for American workers.

South Carolina is a 'right to work' state - a misnomer of a phrase, as the laws limits union representation of workers. It does does not guarantee workers a job or fair wages and conditions.

All the legislation ever secured for the ventilation or safety of mines, factory or workshop is the result of the efforts of organized labor?

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

A man’s right to his job transcends the right of private property.

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.

We want nothing about what is said about abolishing property rights, rather we respect them. But work is the only property of workers, and therefore we want laws to protect the only property of workers, his manpower

Labor: a man coins himself into his labor,—turns his day, his strength, his thought, his affection into some product which remains as the visible sign of his power; and to protect that, to secure that to him, to secure his past self to his future self, is the object of all government. There is no interest in any country so imperative as that of labor; it covers all, and constitutions and governments exist for that,—to protect and insure it to the laborer.

Dr. King's last campaign was a labor struggle. Many people are aware that King was assassinated in Memphis in the spring of 1968. Less well-known is what drew him there: solidarity with city sanitation workers, who, without the benefit of union representation, were rising up to protest humiliating pay and deplorable working conditions.

I believe if an individual wants to join organized labor and work under a union contract, they should have the legal right to do so. At the same token, a person who does not want to work under organized labor and wants to work should have the ability to do so without the threat of having to join and having to pay dues to organized labor.

For years, leaders in Columbus have launched an ideological attack on the working men and women of Ohio and their ability to collectively bargain for good wages and safe workplace conditions. That's wrong, and it has to stop.

Union membership should not be a condition for employment, and workers should have the freedom to exercise their right to determine how their hard-earned money is spent.

We must defend the rights of working people to bargain collectively for fair wages and safe working conditions.

Whenever the Republicans have an opportunity, they've tried to make New Mexico into a right-to-work state, and so I've been on the front lines fighting that for a long time.

It was a way to try and shut down what the unions were negotiating for, like better hours and pay. [Dalton] Trumbo and his friends joined the Communists mostly for these reasons.

Let's say loudly and clearly, Right to Work is wrong for workers and wrong for America.

Workers' rights should be a central focus of development.

It’s not about the budget; it’s about the power...So will the attack on unions succeed? I don’t know. But anyone who cares about retaining government of the people by the people should hope that it doesn’t.

Organized labor is the only way to have fair distribution of wealth...

The one thing that everyone knows about America is people will say, I know my rights. One of those rights is the right to organize. When workers do get together and organize and drive up their wages, they are much, much better off. I think this is one integral part of food policy. We can't talk about increasing the price of food without figuring out how working Americans are going to pay for that.

The labor movement has a great role to play in our country today.