If it weren’t for the Union

Our union’s story is there to be seen,

We’ve won many victories and we’ve suffered defeats,

But as I turn through the pages and look back through time,

There’s one single question stands out in my mind -

Today we may prosper, today we live free,

But if it weren’t for the union, where would we be?

From it’s humble beginnings our union has grown,

So no working person need struggle alone.

But no gain that’s been made has been made without cost,

And together we’ll see that no gain’s ever lost;

Take a look at those countries where workers aren’t free-

If it weren’t for the union, where would we be?

Would you choose to go back, working twelve hours a day,

Would you choose to toil more and a pittance be paid?

Will you stand in the union against the new right,

or do you think on your own you can withstand their might?

The answer is written in our history,

If it weren’t for the union, where would we be?

They say we’ve got problems, and the unions they blame,

Well, Franco and Pinochet they said the same.

If our union they weaken, if our union they break,

Then where’s our defence from becoming enslaved?

So would you choose bondage above liberty?

And if it weren’t for the union, where would we be?

It’s our union, our union that defends our rights,

But our union is as strong as our will is to fight,

For the union is you and the union is me,

So stand up and stand by our union.

                                                 - Peter Hicks and Geoff Francis.