The Catholic case for labor unions — it’s ‘faith in action’
For many archdiocesan parishioners who work in the service industry, making a fair wage to keep their families above the poverty line and access to healthcare and paid vacations is something they only dream about, said Father Tim Graff, Secretary of Parish Mission and Vitality and Director of the Social Concerns Office at the Archdiocese of Newark.
Because social justice is at the heart of Catholic teaching, many Catholics have supported the labor movement, Father Graff told Jersey Catholic.
“It is a sign of our faith in action when we recognize the dignity of all workers and support their rights in their fight for justice. This includes the right to organize, the right to a livable wage, the right to family leave, and the right to health care benefits. It is a sign of our faith in action when we recognize the dignity of all workers and support their rights in their fight for justice,” said Father Graff, who is also Cardinal Joseph Tobin’s Liaison to Labor.
On Monday, Dec. 19, when meeting with the Italian General Confederation of Labor, Pope Francis said protecting the dignity of workers and promoting dignified jobs are the essential roles of a labor union.
“There is no union without workers, and there are no free workers without a union,” the pope said.
Father Graff joined Lisa McAllister, Organizing Coordinator for Service Employees International Union (SEIU), to speak to about 70 Seton Hall students on a rainy Saturday morning in December at a forum on how the teachings of Jesus Christ match the labor movement’s mission.
Fast-food, childcare, home care, airport, cleaning services, and nursing home workers seek help through SEIU to form unions to negotiate livable wages, access to healthcare, and paid sick days and vacations.
“We have a particular affection for SEIU because so many of their members are immigrants and members of the parishes in the Archdiocese,” Father Graff said.
The Archdiocese of Newark has worked with SEIU for years fighting for workers’ rights to a fair wage at the airports and as residential cleaners, 32BJ SEIU Vice President and NJ State Director Kevin Brown said.
In 2018, 9,000 airport workers formed a union with 32BJ-SEIU and won a $19 wage floor for 40,000 airport workers who were making $7.25 an hour. At the time, it was the highest minimum wage in U.S. history, Brown said.
Desmond Grant, a wheelchair assistant at the airport, said at the time of the win that it meant he would not have to take on a second job.
Single mother and ticket checker Mabel Richards said the raise meant she could better meet the needs of her children.
Father Graff said most of the students were familiar with unions as their parents were union members.
“The right to organize, the right to a liveable wage, the right to be on family leave, the right to health care benefits — this is all so that they can advance the lives of their children,” Father Graff said. “It is probably because of the union that they were able to fulfill the dream of sending their children to college.”
Timothy J. Hoffman, Seton Hall’sDirector, Center for Community Research & Engagement and Political Science & Public Affairs professor, said unionized careers advance social justice and equity in the workplace.
Hoffman said the forum was the first of many the school hopes to have in the future. Seton Hall and the Archdiocese are collaborating on an Immigration initiative to bring services to the parish level.
In August the “Gaudium et Spes Labor Report” issued by the Catholic Labor Network reported that the number of Catholic institutions in the U.S. where at least some of its employees have union representation has grown to more than 600.
Most of these workplaces are concentrated in the healthcare and education fields, according to the report.
At the Dec. 19 audience, the pope said at a time when justice for workers seems threatened or about to disappear, the job of unions is to emphasize the “value of work as a place of encounter” between an individual’s personal vocation and his or her role in the family, the community and society.
In a Labor Day statement this year, Bishop Paul S. Coakley, Archbishop of Oklahoma City and Chairman of the Bishops’ Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, said “there is much work that can be done locally to advance the dignity of work.”
Labor unions helped union workers fare better during the pandemic than non-union workers, as they were more likely to maintain their pay and their jobs,” Bishop Coakley said.
“To this end, the Catholic Campaign for Human Development supports organizations that work on low-wage workers’ rights and training, in an effort to eliminate labor trafficking and related workplace abuses such as wage theft.”
Catholic News Service contributed to this article.
Featured photo: In this 2013 file photo, fast-food workers and their supporters demand higher wages during a rally in New York’s Union Square. Advocating for fair pay is part of what it means to “hunger and thirst for righteousness.” (CNS photo/Gregory A. Shemitz)
