Happy May Day, aka International Workers’ Day. Celebrated in many countries around the world and inextricably wound up with the workers’ movement in the United States through the eight-hour day campaign and the incidents leading up to the Haymarket Massacre, the day is largely ignored here.
To mark the day here at the pond, I present to you the comments of several of our presidents regarding labor. Make of them what you will.
Thomas Jefferson
A wise and frugal government, which shall leave men free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor and bread it has earned — this is the sum of good government.
Abraham Lincoln
If any man tells you he loves America, yet hates labor, he is a liar. If any man tells you he trusts America, yet fears labor, he is a fool.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
No business which depends for existence on paying less than living wages to its workers has any right to continue in this country. By living wages I mean more than a bare subsistence level –I mean the wages of decent living.
Harry Truman
It is time that all Americans realized that the place of labor is side by side with the businessman and with the farmer, and not one-degree lower.
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Only a fool would try to deprive working men and working women of their right to join the union of their choice.
John F. Kennedy
The American Labor Movement has consistently demonstrated its devotion to the public interest. It is, and has been, good for all America.
Lyndon B. Johnson
For those who labor, I propose to improve unemployment insurance, to expand minimum wage benefits, and by the repeal of section 14(b) of the Taft-Hartley Act to make the labor laws in all our States equal to the laws of the 31 States which do not have tonight right-to-work measures.
Richard M. Nixon
On Labor Day we pay tribute to the working men and women to whom America owes so much. On this day, we also give thanks for the fact that in our free society–more than anywhere else on earth–the laborer can enjoy’ the results of his labor and the freedom to choose where and how he will apply his skills. By working together, labor, management and government in America have achieved a standard of living and a climate of opportunity and individual rights unequalled in the history of man.
But in a competitive world, no matter how great our past achievements, we must not fall victim to complacency. The soul and sinew of American labor must continue to be a force for progress and productivity. The continuing vitality of our economy and, through it, of our entire way of life, rests in large measure on the willingness, understanding and cooperation of the working men and women of America. They have not failed us before and they will not fail us now.
Jimmy Carter
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.
Ronald Reagan
America’s workers continue to display the spirit, ingenuity, and adaptability to new conditions that labor and employers alike need if our economy is to continue to grow. This willingness to meet every challenge speaks volumes about the health and vitality of our way of life. Let us always remember that so much of what we are, we owe to working men and women. God gave us this land, but, under His good graces, the labor of our people has helped it flourish and pour forth its plenty for ourselves and the world.
William Jefferson Clinton
Workers are the heart and soul of our nation. Yet, we will only see wages grow and the number of jobs steadily increase for those workers if we emphasize education and training, partner-ship between labor and management, and responsibility by all for improving the quality of the goods and services we produce.
George W. Bush
Today, on Labor Day, we honor those who work, and we honor those who work because, in so doing, we recognize that one of the reasons why we’re the economic leader in the world is because of our work force. And the fundamental question facing the country is, how do we continue to be the economic leader in the world? What do we do to make sure that, when people look around the world next year, and 10 years from now, they say, the United States is still the most powerful economy in the world? I think that’s an important goal to have, because when we’re the most powerful economy in the world, it means our people benefit. It means there’s job opportunities. That’s what we want. We want people working.
