“If It Weren’t for the Union” Sheet Music (pdf).
“If It Weren’t for the Union” Karaoke (midi with lyrics).
Lyrics: Geoff Francis and Peter Hicks.
Tune: Geoff Francis and Peter Hicks.
Our union’s story is there to be seen.
We’ve won many vict’ries; we’ve suffered defeats.
But as I turn through the pages and look back through time,
There’s one simple 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?
It’s our union, our union that defends our rights,
But our union’s 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.
From its 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,
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’s 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.
Would you choose to go back, working twelve hours a day?
Would you choose to toil more and a pittance be paid?
Would you stand in the union against the new right?
Or do you think on your own you can withstand their might?
The answers are written in our history.
If it weren’t for the union, where would we be?
It’s our union, our union that defends our rights,
But our union’s 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.
They say we’ve got problems, and unions, they blame.
Well, Franco and Pinochet, they said the same.
If our union they weaken, our union they break,
Then where’s our defense 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’s 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.