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Staying on Message: The Need of the Catholic Church and the Labor Movement to Stay Focused on their Saving Visions
Fr. Sinclair Oubre, J.C.L.
August 31, 2003
Rare is an organization that calls
its members, and the greater society to raise its head from individual
self-centeredness, and see all people as brothers and sisters. Such
calls do not move people only to dream about what could be done to
create a more loving and life-giving world, but also to recognize a
responsibility that each man and woman has for the well being of each
and every person.
The Catholic Church, for more than two thousand years has made this
affirmation by spreading the proclamation of Jesus Christ. Through
centuries of missionaries traveling from their homelands to far, and
often dangerous new lands, the church spread the words of Jesus, and
the good news of his Father’s love for all people. In addition, these
words of Jesus were manifested in very concrete ways. Schools were
built which have educated millions of young men and women. Hospitals
were constructed which offer healthcare for people from Dol Dol, Kenya
to midtown Manhattan. Finally, the Catholic social justice teachings
have offered a seamless vision of human dignity that respects and
honors the human person in society and the workplace.
The American labor movement, especially the member unions of the
American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations,
has a message that has proclaimed the intelligence, skill and diligence
of working men and women. There is no better expression of this vision
than the two spectacular mosaics which adorn the lobby of the AFL-CIO
building in Washington, D.C. In this vision, the American working man
or woman teaches the young, heals the sick, builds great ships to sail
over the oceans, and construct rocket ships to fly to the stars.
The vision of the American worker is also promoted in very concrete way
by organized labor’s social agenda. A quick check of the AFL-CIO’s web
site shows that the federation is active in issues ranging from civil
rights to immigrant worker rights. Many of the issues (i.e., minimum
wage, reduction of workers classified for overtime and prescription
drug benefits) will have a greater effect on those workers outside the
labor movement than those in it. This is because many of these
legislative initiatives are already covered in the contract or
collective bargaining agreement between a union and its employer.
At the 1989 AFL-CIO’s Constitutional Convention, a resolution was
submitted to have the federation take a pro-choice stand regarding
abortion. Lane Kirkland, president of the federation at that time,
referred the resolution to a special committee to consider whether the
AFL-CIO should take a position. On July 31, 1990, the executive
committee of the federation overwhelmingly endorsed a neutral position
on the issue of abortion. This position was binding on the AFL-CIO, its
state federations and the local central labor councils. However, it was
not binding on the individual international unions that make up the
federation.
In 1986, the Catholic Bishops of the United States issued their
groundbreaking pastoral letter: Economic Justice for All. In it, they
laid out the essential goals that must be respected, preserved and
promoted in our American capitalist system. One of these goals was the
right of workers to organize into unions, and to participate in
collective bargaining.
This goal was not limited to the private sector. Rather, the U.S.
Catholic bishops explicitly included themselves, and Catholic
institutions as sharing the same responsibilities as other employers.
They wrote:
“353. All church institutions must also fully
recognize the rights of employees to organize and bargain collectively
with the institution through whatever association or organization they
freely choose. In the light of new creative models of collaboration
between labor and management described earlier in this letter, we
challenge our church institutions to adopt new fruitful modes of
cooperation. Although the Church has its own nature and mission that
must be respected and fostered, we are pleased that many who are not of
our faith, but who share similar hopes and aspirations for the human
family, work for us and with us in achieving this vision. In seeking
greater justice in wages, we recognize the need to be alert
particularly to the continuing discrimination against women throughout
Church and society, especially reflected in both the inequities of
salaries between women and men and in the concentration of women in
jobs at the lower end of the wage scale.”
In the last few years, both the Catholic Church and the AFL-CIO has
allowed external values to seep into its organization, and has had the
effect of driving members and potential new members away. Specifically,
the Catholic Church in many of its diocese has failed to actively carry
out its social justice teaching, and in its place, instituted classic
market principles that have brought about hostile battles between the
church as employer, and its workers who wished to exercise the church’s
teaching regarding unions.
On the other hand, the AFL-CIO has been donating money to organizations
and PAC’s which have abortion rights as their primary goals in their
agendas. Also, though the executive committee’s 1990 position was not
binding on individual unions, it appears that the AFL-CIO has done
little to spread its neutrality policy to individual member unions.
In the last four years, the Catholic Church has witnessed a number of
ugly, and painful organizing drives. In some of these drives, the union
was not able to organize the Catholic facility, in others, the union
did win collective bargaining rights. However, in both instances, the
viciousness, and acrimony that developed between Catholic employees and
their Catholic employers not only damaged the church’s credibility in
proclaiming its social justice gospel, but in too many cases, caused
Catholics to lose their faith, and leave the church.
If the church has a special role in the salvation of people, then for
her to be the cause of such hardship that Catholic employees leave the
church is more than just a scandal. The church may be the means
by which a Catholic employee loses his or her faith, and therefore
eternal life.
This type of situation is going on in the Diocese of Brownsville as I
write this Labor Day column. There four parishes signed union contracts
with the United Farm Workers. Subsequently, some of the pastors have
been replaced, and the new pastors have fired the union staffs. It is
too complicated of a story for this column, but one can read more in
the August 1, 2003 edition of the National Catholic Reporter, in their
article “Turmoil in Texas”
(http://www.natcath.com/NCR_Online/archives2/2003c/080103/080103a.php).
At the same time, the AFL-CIO and its affiliated unions have contributed to Emily’s List. As its web site describes:
“EMILY’s List is the nation’s largest grassroots
political network, raising campaign contributions for pro-choice
Democratic women candidates running for the House, the Senate and
for governor; helping women candidates build strong, winning campaigns;
and helping mobilize women voters.”
According to information gathered from the Federal Election Commission
by the Democrats for Life, the AFL-CIO Political Contributions
Committee gave $5,000 in 2002 to Emily’s List. In addition, the
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Committee on Political
Education gave $5,000, and the American Federation of State County
& Municipal Employees (AFSCME) - PEOPLE, Qualified gave $5,000. The
Democrats for Life also report that AFSCME donated another $5,000 as a
cosponsor for the upcoming April 25, 2004 March for Choice in
Washington, D.C.
As a Roman Catholic priest who is committed to his church, an active
union member of the Seafarers International Union, and committed to
workers’ efforts to organize unions, the ever greater presence of
non-institutional principles is very troubling. Too often, I read and
hear of instances where my church has either ignored, circumvented or
actively replaced Catholic social teachings with hardball, laissez
faire capitalist principles. On the other hand, the only legitimate
workers’ organization in our country gave a wink and a nod to its
neutrality position, and actively participated in organizations that
have as primary goals the right to kill the unborn.
As a pastor, I see too many people buying into the culture of death.
This is a culture that is characterized by consumerism, narcissism and
greed. Instead of the church actively witnessing to the vision of
Christ, it has too often bought into the gospel of the marketplace. So
when people come looking for something different to give their lives
meaning, they find too much of the same thing.
As a supporter of unions, I have participated in a number of organizing
drives. Many of these have been decided by the slimmest of margins one
way or the other. I wonder how many Catholics, Baptists or other
pro-life workers voted against the union because their employers
pointed out that the union supports abortion.
On this Labor Day, my prayer is that both my beloved church, and labor
movement will recommit themselves to their core values, drive out
extraneous ideologies, and focus on their life-giving visions that see
the image of God in every person, and dignity in every worker.
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