Labor Day 2008

Here in the United States, today is the Labor Day, a holiday created in recognition of the organized labor movement.

"Whatever their faults, unions have been the only powerful and effective voice working people have ever had in the history of this country."—Bruce Springsteen

"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."—Molly Ivins

"If hard work were such a wonderful thing, surely the rich would have kept it all to themselves."—Lane Kirkland

"Every advance in this half-century—Social Security, civil rights, Medicare, aid to education, one after another—came with the support and leadership of American Labor."—Jimmy Carter

"The labor movement is the last noble protest of the American people against the power of incorporated wealth."—Wendell Phillips