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he declared "Truth forever on the scaffold, wrong forever on the throne, yet that scaffold sways the future, and behind the dim unknown, stands God within the shadow, keeping watch above His own.."

We must get back to the difficult business of organizing, of creating coalitions, keeping watch above our own.

We can achieve grander victories -- but not wihtout greater efforts, keeping truth forever on the throne.

When I entered the labor force more than three decades ago, there were five workers making contributions into the Social Security System -- the public pension system -- for every retiree.

We can't tell who they were, but their names were likely Carl, Ralph, Bob, Steve, and Bill.

When I retire, there will be only three workers paying into the system for every retiree -- their names may well be Kwanza, Maria, and Jose.

America needs to insure - we need to insure - that they have the best futures, the best education, the best health care, the best jobs and schools we possibly can. -0-

1. Martin Luther King, Jr., Address before the Constitutional Convention, AFL-CIO, Bal Harbour, Fla., December 11, 1961. 2. Id. 3. Sweeney, John J., America Needs A Raise, p. 25, Houghton Miflin (1996).