Category Archives: Ronald Reagan

Ronald Reagan: “Where Collective Bargaining Is Forbidden, Freedom Is Lost”

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Flashback #1

   Well,well, well.. here's a "Dutch" treat.

After all the moronic and self-serving blather that conservatives have spewed about Ronald Reagan and unions in the past month, look at what turns up.  Now just imagine how they will twist themselves into balloon animals trying to spin this little historical artifact.  Wait for it.

In the meantime, please retweet the living crap outta this gem, willya?  Hit that tweet button below. 

Thanks to @wajobu for find and passing this bit of magic on to me.

Partial Transcript

But restoring the American dream requires more than restoring a sound, productive economy, vitally important as that is.  It requires a return to spiritual and moral values, values so deeply held by those who came here to build a new life.  We need to restore those values in our daily life, in our neighborhoods and in our government’s dealings with the other nations of the world.

These are the values inspiring those brave workers in Poland. The values that have inspired other dissidents under Communist domination.  They remind us that where free unions and collective bargaining are forbidden, freedom is lost.  They remind us that freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.  You and I must protect and preserve freedom here or it will not be passed on to our children.  Today the workers in Poland are showing a new generation not how high is the price of freedom but how much it is worth that price.

Labor Day Speech at Liberty State Park, Jersey City, New Jersey,  September 1, 1980
Full Transcript

Flashback #2

Labor Movement History

The labor movement in the United States grew out of the need to protect the common interest of workers. For those in the industrial sector, organized labor unions fought for better wages, reasonable hours and safer working conditions. The labor movement led efforts to stop child labor, give health benefits and provide aid to workers who were injured or retired.

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