John Sweeney Quotations

Working people are under the worst attack in 80 years. Never has there been a stronger need for a stronger union movement.

Working people are not just fed up -- they are ready to get active to set our country in a different direction, one state at a time.

Working families need and deserve Supreme Court justices who understand and respect the importance of hard-fought rights and protections, not justices who take an unduly narrow view of the law.

We have put aside our anger and disappointment and we are doing everything in our power to get back together.

We can no longer allow multinationals to parade as agents of progress and democracy in the newspapers, even as they subvert it at the workplace.

McDonald's cannot afford to alienate millions and millions of working people in this country. But believe me that is the road we are headed down.

Politics is politics. We will expect a spirited campaign. I've had pretty solid majorities in this district.

If we have a completely different design that's different from anything else, we have a great opportunity to do well. So that's the key.

I am hopeful that new leadership can open the door for Amtrak to work closely with Congress to achieve meaningful reforms.

But it was also the best mistake I've ever made, because what it did was hopefully allow a whole new generation to make up their own minds about Scientology and for that I make no apology.

Bush reversed his decision after a public outcry and bipartisan opposition to his worker pay cut in the House and Senate.

I'm a little bit insulted. Don't say 'We're jeopardizing public safety.' That's not right and it's not accurate. All I'm asking for is answers.

I have a very understanding wife, and she understands this is part of the job.

From the suites of Davos to the streets of Seattle, there is a growing consensus that globalization must now be reshaped to reflect values broader than simply the freedom of capital.

Henry Ford was right. A prosperous economy requires that workers be able to buy the products that they produce. This is as true in a global economy as a national one.

We're opposed to permanent normal trade relations at this time. We support trade. We support the fact that globalization is here to stay, but we want to make sure it's working for working families.

Guest workers programs are a bad idea and harm all workers. They cast workers into a perennial second-class status and unfairly put their fates into their employers' hands, creating a situation ripe for exploitation.

Guest worker programs are a bad idea and harm all workers. They cast workers into a perennial second-class status, and ... encourage employers to turn good jobs into temporary jobs at reduced wages and diminished working conditions.

I was invincible, at least that's what I wanted you to think, and I wanted me to think it, too.

I think we will see a united labor movement again. When workers unite they're stronger. The same goes for unions.

I think we should just get a cat.

People actually get sponsors based on the merits of the Cup, not on the merits of the sailors.

Over the last several years, we've been able to find positions for all our graduates. Anyone who wanted a position got one, more or less.

Our task is not to make societies safe for globalization, but to make the global system safe for decent societies.

Maryland's working families have sent a clear message to local governments across the country and corporate America by demanding health care fairness -- and winning.

I wish I hadn't lost it, and for the rest of my life I can never again lose my temper on TV. The BBC could have sacked me and that would have been the end of my career on TV.

The 37.5-hour week is more of a minimum baseline these days. There is an expectation by many employers that you will give 5 to 10 percent above that to get the job done and to get ahead.

Wages are flat or falling. Health care costs for families with employer coverage shot up 79 percent from 1996 to 2003. Imagine the hit on families struggling to make it without job-based coverage.

We have had a reduction in staff and we have had to tighten our belts in some of the different programs.

We are not sure whether they are allowed to use this or not.

We depend a lot on the guy upstairs in dire times, in addressing our concerns and looking for help.

We basically work every day of the week, Saturday and Sunday.

The facts are clear. More funding goes to health care than any other part of the state's budget, and it is sad that the special interests would either ask taxpayers to pay higher taxes or that they would ask our education system or transportation system to receive less.

Why should a company like Wal-Mart - who made $10 billion last year alone - be able to force taxpayers to foot the bill for their health-care costs?

Why should a company like Wal-Mart -- who made $10 billion last year alone -- be able to force taxpayers to foot the bill for their health-care costs?

We've decided it's time for us to take a stand.

We have serious constitutional concerns about how the legislature drafted this portion of their budget. And I would not venture to speculate on whether the governor will veto this item.

This was a hard fought game on both sides. Jacobs showed great composure tonight the way he moved in and hit the ball with his head.

We have many unusual items for the silent auction, which will surely allow us to reach our goal of $40,000 from this event.

We will look to the lessons of the Maryland victory as we move forward with out 'Fair Share Health Care' initiative.

We will be working together at the UNI conference. Every single union, whether in the AFL-CIO or outside, should be heavily focused on organizing.

We all hope. We all love. We all dream. We all worship. We all work. We all have rights.

We cannot afford to stand by and wait for the federal government to take action. So we're going to take it on state by state.

We checked and he wasn't given any preferential treatment.

There had to be something else out there that would help me change. I wanted to live.

We had several good opportunities on goal in the second half. We played well tonight, but we see where we need to improve.

Employers are all too eager to exploit workers. This is no time to make that easier. What a double tragedy it would be to allow the destruction of Hurricane Katrina to depress living standards even further. Taking advantage of a national tragedy to get rid of a protection for workers the corporate backers of the White House have long wanted to remove is nothing less than profiteering.

There's more emphasis on what the person has achieved than there is on observing what time they're in in the morning or leaving at night.

I've been hearing more workers -- including former Enron workers -- say they now wish they'd had a union.

Compared to 10 years ago, individuals are now expected to live, on average, two years longer, and health care and other expenses have grown. ... We believe that we're assisting individual investors ... by reducing the possibility that Americans will outlive their hard-earned retirement savings.

Despite the same, tired old scare tactics of the special interests, under the governor's budget New York will continue to spend more money than any other state on providing quality health care to its citizens. If the special interests want the taxpayers to spend even more than the record amounts they already provide, then the special interests need to say which tax they would raise or what other area of the budget they would cut.

A record 53 percent of nonunion workers say they'd join a union tomorrow if given the chance - that's the highest percentage in 20 years. It is our job to reach out to them.

The bottom line is that our health care system is broken, but it didn't just split open. Big companies like Wal-Mart are pulling it apart and profiting at taxpayers' expense.

The budget also proposes bringing the total annual state spending on education to nearly $17 billion, or 72 percent higher than when (Pataki) took office. As a result, today New Yorkers spend more than $12,000 per pupil to support public education - virtually the highest amount in the nation.

This is a result of federal clarifications regarding Medicaid's reimbursement of providers for emergency services to illegal aliens.

A lot of people are talking, saying the sophomore class is the one that is going to get us back to where we were. But hard work is the only thing that is going to get us there. ... Our talent alone isn't going to get us very far.

They had taken me to an exhibit called 'Psychiatry: Industry of Death' on Hollywood Boulevard, where a Scientologist told me psychiatrists set up the Holocaust. I feared I was being brain-washed. And then I lost it - big time.

There is such a thing as offensive momentum. Goals you do get tend to come in bunches because you have a rhythm.

There's a mean spirit behind some of these initiatives that are going on, and ergonomics is a classic example. This has never been done with occupational safety and health.

A core part of the global market is what might be called the 'Nike Economy' - footloose companies that play countries against one another while seeking subcontractors with the lowest wages and cheapest conditions.

For globalization to work for America, it must work for working people. We should measure the success of our economy by the breadth of our middle class, and the scope of opportunity offered to the poorest child to climb into that middle class.

It's not these locals' fault that their national unions left the A.F.L.-C.I.O., and it's not working people's fault. They shouldn't have to bear the brunt of a decision by their leadership. Solidarity charters will allow unions to work together and let working people still benefit from a united grass-roots movement.

It may be that he's so inundated with things that he needs someone who can structure, control and manage it.

Eight years of Clinton-Gore haven't been enough to repair the damage of 12 years of Reagan and Bush. Al Gore is running for president as the champion of working families and unions.

The AFL-CIO needs a strong and united Teamsters union, and it needs the involvement of Jim Hoffa. I look forward to sitting down with him at his first opportunity.

I want to tell stories powerful people don't want you to tell. It's not worth getting out of bed otherwise.

In its current form, globalization cannot be sustained. Democratic societies will not support it. Authoritarian leaders will fear to impose it.

I mean, we're trying to protect the interests of working families and these attacks in several different areas have been directed at workers.

I know the guys are excited. We have talked for a long time about putting this program among the elite in Onslow County. I'm not saying that this win seals it, but it's important to be able to play with (Swansboro).

I'm a passionate man and a passionate reporter. I've also got a loud voice.

In the 'Nike Economy,' there are no standards, no borders and no rules. Clearly, the global economy isn't working for workers in China and Indonesia and Burma any more than it is for workers here in the United States.

The Bush administration staunchly opposed legislation which would preserve overtime pay for all workers.

There is a growing consensus that Globalization must now be reshaped to reflect values broader than simply the freedom of capital.

Clearly, the Global Economy isn't working for workers in China and Indonesia and Burma any more than it is for workers here in the United States.

We can no longer allow multi-nationalists to parade as agents of progress and democracy in the newspapers, even as they subvert it at the workplace.

Safety is a basic human need. People with a sense of security and belonging are stabilized for learning, creating, innovating. A group of wonderfully cared for, confident individuals will generate great ideas.

I think the greedy corporate owners have to be confronted with the fact that they are ignoring their most powerful resource - their workers.

Because of GLHR's crusades... we're beginning to learn the awful truth about workers around the world who are slaving away their lives in sweatshops, who are denied the right to join or form a union in order to fight back and provide a better life for their families.

The church acknowledges some Scientologists choose to sever communications with family members who leave. The church says it is a fundamental human right to cease communication with someone. It adds disconnection is used against expelled members and those who attack the church.

The BBC can be infuriating at times but I love it with a passion.

I was invincible, at least thats what I wanted you to think, and I wanted me to think it, too.

It's bad form to mention money-laundering. Instead, you talk about asset-management structures and tax beneficial schemes.

As it has over the decades, the union movement stands for the fundamental moral values that make America strong: quality education for our children, affordable health care for every person-not just some-an end to poverty, secure pensions and wages that enable families to sustain the middle-class life that has fueled this nation's prosperity and strength. Union members and other working family activists don't just vote our moral values-we live them. We fight for them, day in, day out. Our commitment to economic and social justice propels us and everything we do.

Hard-working immigrant workers in this country deserve a real path to citizenship as a part of comprehensive immigration reform...We will continue to work with the immigrant rights community and our allies in Congress to devise a truly comprehensive model that places immigrant and workers' rights at the head of the line.

When fewer workers have unions, the standard of living falls for everyone and the gap between the rich and poor grows.

A long-term strategic grass-roots campaign will follow in each state in the coming weeks and months.

America's workers deserve a clean vote on a $7.25 increase, with no strings attached. Such an increase helps everyone and hurts no one.

American workers, ... fervently support rights to protect economic security, equal opportunity and reasonable working conditions but they see real gaps.