The basic goal of labor will not change. It is - as it has always been, and I am sure always will be - to better the standards of life for all who work for wages and to seek decency and justice and dignity for all Americans.

It is impossible to bargain collectively with the government.

The basic goal of labor will not change. It is - as it has always been, and I am sure always will be - to better the standards of life for all who work for wages and to seek decency and justice and dignity for all Americans.

Every piece of progressive social legislation passed by Congress in the 20th century bears a union label.

One cannot have a trade union or a democratic election without freedom of speech, freedom of association and assembly. Without a democratic election, whereby people choose and remove their rulers, there is no method of securing human rights against the state. No democracy without human rights, no human rights without democracy, and no trade union rights without either. That is our belief; that is our creed.

Anybody who has doubts about the ingenuity or the resourcefulness of a plumber never got a bill from one.

The most persistent threat to freedom, to the rights of Americans, is fear.