“The labor protest we hear today spares none of those who have held positions of responsibility and yet neglected their trust. The wave of protest is breaking over employer, politician, and union executive alike. It is a resurgence of the rank and file working men and women of this nation.”
Our Quote of the Week feels relevant today in a moment when people across the country are fighting to redefine their notions of work in response to employment practices that don’t work for them.
In a 1972 speech entitled “The Resurgence of Labor —Workers and the Quality of Life in America,” Sargent Shriver addressed American workers, listing all of the issues facing labor at the time. This is one in a of a series of speeches that Shriver made on the campaign trail in 1972, when he ran for Vice President on the George McGovern ticket. He stressed the importance of having adequate employment and good wages, but added that these are not enough, that in order for people to thrive, it is the quality of their work that mattered. Focusing on job productivity, safety, and the rapid changes that technology was bringing, Shriver emphasized that there is much more to job satisfaction than merely being employed. It is in this context that he spoke of labor taking up “the cause of a moving, daring, progressive America”.
Many of the basic worker protections that define our lives today, the 40-hour work week, the eight-hour work day, the minimum wage, the right to overtime, were put in place thanks to the efforts of labor actions. Still, as a society, we have much further to go to protect our workers. Too many in the US work in unsafe conditions and go without health insurance, adequate vacation time, paid parental and sick leaves, and other benefits and protections. A 2023 OXFAM report on the state of work shows that of 38 countries surveyed, the United States ranks 32nd in workers’ ability to organize, 36th in the area of wage policies, and 38th (i.e., last) in the area of worker protections.
If the US is to continue to be seen as a world leader, we must make some dramatic changes in the area of work. As summer winds down and we make our way towards Labor Day, let us pause to recognize the protections and benefits that our labor force has secured over the decades. And let us consider what we all — workers, union members and leaders, employers, and legislators — can do to create a society in which the well being and dignity of all workers are protected.
See you after Labor Day!
Like this quote? Read the speech and browse through all of Sargent Shriver’s speeches.
