Lane Kirkland

thumb|Portrait Joseph Lane Kirkland (March 12, 1922 – August 14, 1999) was an American labor union leader who served as president of the AFL-CIO for over sixteen years. Quotes The skills and productivity of American Workers, not to mention the taxes they pay, are the greatest economic resource our country has. To condemn large numbers of them to unemployment, to deprive the Treasury of their tax contributions and to force them to live on unemployment at public expense is the most expensive luxury any society ever chose to buy. Cited in The AFL-CIO American Federationist, Vols. 84-86 (1977), p. 4. The plain truth is that labor is the chief representative force that keeps the real special interests from dominating American political life. Cited by Arthur B. Shostak, Robust Unionism: Innovations in the Labor Movement (1991), p. 190. External links Category:Activists from South Carolina Category:Politicians from South Carolina Category:American labor union leaders Category:1922 births Category:1999 deaths Category:United States presidential candidates, 1984 Category:Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients Category:Georgetown University alumni