Quote of the Week: Bobby Kennedy

It is from numberless diverse acts of courage such as these that the belief that human history is thus shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.

...

Few men are willing to brave the disapproval of their fellows, the censure of their colleagues, the wrath of their society. Moral courage is a rarer commodity than bravery in battle or great intelligence. Yet it is the one essential, vital quality for those who seek to change the world which yields most painfully to change.

Robert F. Kennedy, speaking at the University of Capetown on June 6, 1966.

I have seen this quote many times, but had never read the entire speech until today. It is a remarkable call to action. You can find it at the JFK Presidential Library web site.

Quote of the Week: Andrew Jackson

One man with courage makes a majority.

Andrew Jackson

Why post this here? As advocates for employees in wage and hour cases, we sometimes have the good fortune to represent people who want to help not only themselves, but also their co-workers. The decision to stand up for other people can be difficult to make. Our clients know that class actions can take years to prosecute and that they will have to provide information, documents, and a deposition, and be available at every step along the way. They also know that their current or former employer may be tempted to retaliate against them for standing up for themselves and their co-workers. The people who ultimately choose to be class representatives are those who trust the courage of their own convictions. One person with courage makes a majority.

Quote of the Week: The Seventh Amendment

In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.

Seventh Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America.

Why post the Seventh Amendment? Too many companies and employers are forcing their customers to waive their right to jury trial by imposing mandatory arbitration schemes that work to protect the companies' and employers' short-term interests, but subvert the interests of justice. People far too often forget that the right to jury trial is not trivial. It is a fundamental, core principal of American democracy. If it was important enough for our country's founders to put in the Bill of Rights, it is important enough for us to fight to protect.

Quote of the Week: MLK

All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Quote of the Week: FDR

No business which depends for existence on paying less than living wages to its workers has any right to continue in this country. By living wages I mean more than a bare subsistence level -- I mean the wages of decent living.

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1933, urging the passage of federal minimum wage legislation.

Quote of the Day: Leviticus

Do not unjustly withhold that which is due your neighbor.
Do not let a worker’s wages remain with you overnight until morning.

Leviticus 19:13

Some employers complain about California wage law being too strict, but at least we don't have to pay wages every night!

Quote of the Day: Deuteronomy

From time to time, I am going to post some of my favorite quotes. No better place to start than this:

Do not withhold the wages due to your poor or destitute hired hand, whether he
is one of your brethren or a proselyte living in a settlement in your land.

You must give him his wage on the day it is due, and not let the sun set with him
waiting for it. Since he is a poor man, and his life depends on it, do not let
him call out to God, causing you to have a sin.

Deuteronomy 24:14-15.