The labor movement was The principal force that transformed
misery and despair into hope and progress. Out of its bold struggles,
economic and social reform gave birth to unemployment insurance, old-
age pensions, government relief for the destitute, and, above all, new wage
levels that meant not mere survival but a tolerable life. The captains of
industry did not lead this transformation; they resisted it until they were
overcome. When in the thirties the wave of union organization crested over
the nation, it carried to secure shores not only itself but the whole society.
Civilization began to grow in the economic life of man, and a decent life
with a sense of security and dignity became a reality rather than a distant
dream.
It is a mark of our intellectual backwardness that these monumental
achievements of labor are still only dimly seen, and in all too many circles
the term “union” is still synonymous with self-seeking, power hunger,
racketeering, and cynical coercion. There have been and still are wrongs
in the trade union movement, but its share of credit for triumphant
accomplishments is substantially denied in the historical treatment of
the nation’s progress.
Speech given to the Illinois State AFL-CIO
SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS, OCT. 7, 1965

Fight for $15 Launches National Protest on April 4

This also significant that it took place in Ferguson. Where voter turnout is abysmal in the black community...even after a year of activism this was the result...

"Demonstrations gave way to increased civic activism with 29% of eligible voters casting more than 3,700 ballots. That's more than double the 12% of eligible voters that came out for last April's mayoral election."

29% WTF and they are bragging...29...seriously?

Ferguson voters make history and increase turnout