There's a direct relationship between the ballot box and the bread box, and what the union fights for and wins at the bargaining table can be taken away in the legislative halls.
Walter ReutherRead
Labor is not fighting for a larger slice of the national pie-labor is fighting for a larger pie.
Interpretation
Labor advocates for the creation of more opportunities rather than just a bigger share of existing ones.
This quote emphasizes that the role of labor is not merely to negotiate for a larger portion of the wealth that already exists, but rather to strive for an expansion of the overall economy and opportunities available. It highlights the importance of growth and development in the workforce, advocating for initiatives that increase prosperity for all rather than just redistributing current resources.
In practice
This quote can be used in a labor union meeting to motivate members to advocate for economic growth.
There's a direct relationship between the ballot box and the bread box, and what the union fights for and wins at the bargaining table can be taken away in the legislative halls.
If you're not big enough to lose, you're not big enough to win.
There is no power in the world that can stop the forward march of free men and women when they are joined in the solidarity of human brotherhood.
Little girls and boys, barefooted, walked up and down between the endless rows of spindles, reaching thin little hands into the machinery to repair snapped threads
The important role of union organizations must be admitted: their object is the representation of the various categories of workers, their lawful collaboration in the economic advance of society, and the development of the sense of their responsibility for the realization of the common good.
Workers do not strike every day, they cannot do that the way they function in the capitalist economy. The way they have to live by selling their labor power makes that impossible.
There is nothing a worker resents more than to see some man taking his job. A factory can be closed down, its chimneys smokeless, waiting for the worker to come back to his job, and all will be peaceful. But the moment workers are imported, and the striker sees his own place usurped, there is bound to be trouble.
Why should the railroad employees be parceled out among a score of different organizations? They are all employed in the same service. Their interests are mutual. They ought to be able to act together as one. But they divide according to craft and calling, and if you were to propose today to unite them that they might actually do something to advance their collective and individual interests as workers, you would be opposed by every grand officer of these organizations.
Although it is true that only about 20 percent of American workers are in unions, that 20 percent sets the standards across the board in salaries, benefits and working conditions. If you are making a decent salary in a non-union company, you owe that to the unions. One thing that corporations do not do is give out money out of the goodness of their hearts.
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