George Meany

“You can't do business with Hitler.”

“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.”

“No union leader came out of a college classroom.”

“The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out for himself.”

“The right to strike is basic. Take it away from us and you take away our freedom.”

“We have no party here. We are not a political party. We are a trade union movement.”

“The American trade union movement is a movement of practical men and women, not of theorists and dreamers.”

“We are for a free press. We are for free speech. We are for a free pulpit. We are for free assembly.”

“Economics is the art of spending money without getting any fun out of it.”

“The American worker has no bond with the worker of any other country. He is an American.”

“The worst crime against working people is a company which fails to operate at a profit.”