Labor was the first price, the original purchase - money that was paid for all things. It was not by gold or by silver, but by labor, that all wealth of the world was originally purchased.
Adam Smith

The strongest bond of human sympathy outside the family relation should be one uniting working people of all nations and tongues and kindreds.
Abraham Lincoln

If capitalism is fair then unionism must be. If men have a right to capitalize their ideas and the resources of their country, then that implies the right of men to capitalize their labor.
Frank Lloyd Wright

The labor movement means just this: It is the last noble protest of the American people against the power of incorporated wealth.
Wendell Phillips