"The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations is an expression of the hopes and aspirations of the working people of America. We pledge ourselves to the more effective organization of working men and women; to the securing to them of full recognition and enjoyment of the rights to which they are justly entitled, to the achievement of ever higher standards of living and working conditions, to the attainment of security for all the people; and to the strengthening and extension of our way of life and the fundamental freedoms which are the basis of our democratic society. At the collective bargaining table, in the community, in the exercise of the rights and responsibilities of citizenship, we shall responsibly serve the interest of all American People. We shall combat resolutely the forces, which seed to undermine the democratic institutions of our nation and to enslave the human soul. We shall strive always to win full respect for the dignity of the human individual whom our unions serve."