D.Duck wrote:
"HK" wrote in message
m...
...whose lives are easier now because of the labor movement:

Labor is the great producer of wealth: it moves all other causes.
Congressman Daniel Webster, 4/2/1824


With all their faults, trade unions have done more for humanity than any
other organization that ever existed. They have done more for decency, for
honesty, for education, for the betterment of the race, for the developing
of character in man, than the other association of men.
Clarence Darrow, The Railroad Trainman, 1909


Without labor nothing prospers.
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The history of America has been largely created by the deeds of its
working people and their organizations. Nor has this contribution been
confined to raising wages and bettering work conditions; it has been
fundamental to almost every effort to extend and strengthen our democracy.
William Cahn, labor authority and historian



We insist that labor is entitled to as much respect as property. But our
workers with hand and brain deserve more than respect for their labor.
They deserve practical protection in the opportunity to use their labor at
a return adequate to support them at a decent and constantly rising
standard of living, and to accumulate a margin of security against the
inevitable vicissitudes of life.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt, fireside chat, 1936



If I were a worker in a factory, the first thing I would do would be to
join a union.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt



The first thing a dictator does is abolish the free press. Next he
abolishes the right of labor to go on strike. Strikes have been labor's
weapon of progress in the century of our industrial civilization. Where
the strike has been abolished ... labor is reduced to a state of medieval
peonage, the standard of living lowered, the nation falls to subsistence
level.
George Seldes, Freedom of the Press, 1935


The right to join a union of one's choice is unquestioned today and is
sanctioned and protected by law.
President Harry S. Truman


Only a fool would try to deprive working men and women of the right to
join the union of their choice.
President Dwight Eisenhower (1953-1961), general and Allied Supreme
Commander in World War II



There's 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 Reuther


In light of this fundamental structure of all work... in light of the fact
that, labor and capital are indispensable in any social system ... it is
clear that even if it is because of production in any social system ... it
is clear that even if it is because of their work needs that people unite
to secure their rights, their union remains a constructive factor of
social order and solidarity, and it is impossible to ignore it.
Pope John Paul II



The history of the labor movements needs to be taught in every school in
this land. America is a living testimonial to what free men and women,
organized in free democratic trade unions can do to make a better life.
... We ought to be proud of it!
Vice President Hubert Horatio Humphrey, Jr. (1865-1969), Lyndon Johnson
Administration


Our labor unions are not narrow, self-seeking groups. They have raised
wages, shortened hours, and provided supplemental benefits. Through
collective bargaining and grievance procedures, they have brought justice
and democracy to the shop floor.
President John F. Kennedy, 1962


The AFL-CIO has done more good for more people than any (other) group in
America in its legislative efforts. It doesn't just try to do something
about wages and hours for its own people. No group in the country works
harder in the interests of everyone.
President Lyndon Johnson, 1965

Here's some reading on the "job bank" program. Granted it's an agreement
entered into by both management and labor.

Sure doesn't /didn't help the cost of cars.




The problem with American cars hasn't been their cost, but their quality
and lately their gas mileage, and, of course, the fact that U.S.
automakers pay for the health insurance of their workers. In most other
countries, that cost is borne by all taxpayers.