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Catholic-Labor Network Mass and BreakfastSunday February 22, 2004Five members of the
Catholic-Labor Network attended Mass at St. Aloysius Parish on North
Capital in Washington, D.C. It was a pleasure to worship with such a
vibrant parish community, which is so involved in the local D.C.
community activities and social justice. After a challenging homily on
loving one’s neighbor, which seemed all too appropriate for our
gathering, the Jesuit priest who celebrated the Mass showed us the
upper church that was more than 150 years old, and had been beautifully
restored in 1994.
After Mass, we went to the Dubliner, only to discover that it were closed. After waiting a moment to see if anyone else was coming, we went off to Bread & Chocolate near Eastern Market for breakfast. Though there was no Guinness and eggs, the bagels and locks were wonderful, and the cappuccino was rich and hot. During the breakfast, Bob Miller (Texas) shared two concerns with us, and suggested that the C-L Network web page could be developed to better cover these issues. Bob first talked about the upcoming free trade agreement for the Americas. He is very concerned that if this passed it will be like “NAFTA on steroids.” It would lack the labor and environmental protections that are sorely lacking in NAFTA, but establishing a free trade zone from Canada to Chile. Fr. Sinclair suggested that if there were some statements from U.S. and Latin American bishops or conferences on free trade, these would be very essential for inclusion in the C-L Network web site. Bob’s second concern was the ongoing strike with Safeway and other stores in the West. He felt that this was a battle on two fronts. First, it is a battle over whether there will remain healthcare coverage for workers in the retail industry. Bob felt that if United Food and Commercial Workers lost their health care plans, the effects on labor and workers would be as dramatic and as devastating and the President Reagan’s firing of PATCO workers. “We should anticipate employer after employer hard bargaining with their unions to transfer large parts of healtcare costs back to their employees.” Second, Bob felt that there is a real effort on the behalf of Safeway not only to reduce healthcare costs, but also break their union. After further discussions, the gathering was adjourned until it regathered at the Hyatt Regency for the Catholic-Labor Network for the Catholic Social Ministry Gathering lunch. (At the end of the day, Fr. Sinclair spoke with Mackenzie Baris (D.C. Jobs with Justice) and Laura Brown (HERE Local 25) about holding Mass and Breakfast next year. It was suggested that since the Catholic-Labor Network now has its first chapter in D.C., that they could host the event at St. Aloysius. The tentative plans for next year is: 8:30 bagels and coffee breakfast, followed by Mass at 10:00. St. Aloysius is only five or six blocks from the hotels that are used by the Catholic Social Ministry Gathering.) Other Catholic Social Teachings General Articles of Interest |