Introduction
In the beginning God Created...
In those first
introductory words of Genesis, we learn that the creation of life
came about through an unconditional act of loving labor. Genesis
also teaches us that the weight of the labor involved was so
tremendous that even God had to rest at the end of shift.
The fruits of God’s
act of labor have been the focus of joy, celebration and praise by
peoples of faith. The oral traditions and sacred books of faith have
never ceased to remind each and every generation of its obligations
of stewardship for the welfare and enrichment of the fruits of God's
labors.
Once upon a time in
the ongoing story of the human experience, the act of labor was
something commonly held in high esteem and reinforced with praise
and gratitude. All forms of human labor were once considered as
bonding acts which collectively served as the driving engine
empowering the growth, happiness and welfare of a community. Working
men and women were considered being an
equal partner in the welfare of the community.
Since the earliest
days of the human experience there has also existed some form of
economic system. Before the invention of the coin, there was the
bartering system.
The Bartering System
was simply an equal exchange of goods and services between parties.
While no doubt that sometimes one of the parties might have gotten a
slightly better bargain in the trade - exploitation was rather kept
in check and societies flourished.
Since the period of
post Civil War Reconstruction in the United States, the dignity,
economic rights and social welfare of American Labor has suffered
from generations of unchecked corporate greed and exploitation,
political profiling, psychological rape and economic genocide.
Corporate Greed
and Exploitation
We do not know the
exact moment in time in which the Merchant Class began to look upon
the craftsmen and artisans with greed. Any student of economics
knows that the fervent prayers of any merchant are for opportunities
to buy goods cheap and to in turn sell for as much of a profit as
possible. While nobody wishes to deny merchants their opportunities
to earn a profit and to care for themselves and their families,
there is a fine line between ethical and moral business practices
and greed.
Greed is an addictive illness with grave moral consequences.
He that loveth
silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth
abundance with increase: this is also vanity. When goods increase,
they are increased that eat them: and what good is there to the
owners thereof, saving the beholding of them with their eyes?
(Ecclesiastes
5:10)
As their
addictions to greed consumed their ethics and morality, the merchant
class and later corporations lost their abilities to see the
humanity of the working class.
Hell and destruction
are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied.
(Proverbs 27:20) Working men and women were looked upon as dairy
cows to be milked and milked until they were dried out and then
discarded.
Since
Reconstruction, American Labor is suffered greatly from abusive
corporate greed, racism, gender and ethnic bias - all of which have
become part of the historical record of the United States.
◊
Political
Profiling
Maintaining our focus on the historical political record of the
United States, the political interest of the hourly working person
has been the one of the hallmarks of the Democratic Party and the
political interest of corporate business is the fiefdoms of the
Republican Party. In matters political and legislative, these two
parties have represented their respect constituents with energy and
dedication.
The needs and
interest of hourly working people have traditionally been better
served when the democratic party has an effective base elected to
the local, state and federal government. It is when hourly working
men and women fail to have enough of a representative base in
governments, that they become vulnerable to political profiling.
For the purpose of
this Pastoral, I am defining political profiling as:
the use of specific
characteristics, as members of a social class or distinction, to
make generalizations about a person, as whether he or she may be
engaged in legal activities or actions to protect their political
and economic welfare.
Those who represent
the political agenda of the corporate business coterie have
historically pursued an agenda punctuated with the mantra that
hourly workers are over compensated in salary and in benefits. When
we watch companies suffer from financial corporate mismanagement and
teeter on the brink of economic collapse, we see them turn to their
hourly workers and beg for "concessions" to bail them out of their
self-created mess.
We have also seen in
the past decade a recurrence in the campaign for "union-busting."
Union busting is a practice that is undertaken by an employer or
their agents to prevent employees from joining a labor union
or to disempower, subvert, or destroy unions that already exist.
We have some
individual states which have enacted laws crippling organized labor
from offering their services to hourly working men and women. We
have witnessed some states bringing foreign owned companies into
their states to operate with a hourly work force unprotected by
Unions. The ultimate goal of "union busting" would provide a blank
check to corporation to strip hourly workers of their rights.
◊
Psychological
Rape and Economic Genocide
All who labor desire
to take pride in all that they accomplish. Regardless if one mops a
floor or building a skyscraper - when any worker can look at what
they have accomplished with pride and gratification they become
self-empowered to continue to work well and to complete their tasks
at the very highest of standards.
When unprotected
hourly workers are subjected to verbal harassment, indifference or
denied the opportunity for advancement - these are the
characteristics of psychological rape within the work place. Sadly,
the titans of corporate American are blind to the fact that workers
who are subjected to repression and all other forms of psychological
rape are less able to perform their jobs at the highest possible
levels.
Thou shalt not oppress
an hired servant that is poor and needy, whether he be of thy
brethren, or of thy strangers that are in thy land within thy gates:
At his day thou shalt give him his hire, neither shall the sun go
down upon it; for he is poor, and setteth his heart upon it: lest he
cry against thee unto the Lord, and it be sin unto thee.
(Deuteronomy
24:14-15)
For those
corporations saddled with the illness of greed, it is not surprising
to find their agendas, policies and practices causing economic
genocide for the hourly working class in America. People are now
working longer hours for less and many have been forced to take on
second low sub-paying jobs to keep their homes, put food on their
tables and clothes on their backs. All one has to do is to compare
the salaries of management vs. the hourly workers to see where greed
exists.
Saying, The scribes
and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat: All therefore whatsoever they
bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their
works: for they say, and do not. For they bind heavy burdens and
grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they
themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.
(Matthew 23:2-4)
We also see how the
corporate practice of "outsourcing of American jobs" has contributed
to the economic genocide for the hourly working class in America.
The illness of greed
has manifested itself within corporations to completely bypass the
American workforce to outsource American job to countries where
labor costs are not better than pocket change. These acts of
economic genocide against working class Americans will destroy
families and have a wide ranging devastating effect on local
communities.
◊◊◊◊◊◊
The Pastoral Call to
Action
Unions modeling the example
of
Jesus the Good Shepherd
This Pastoral is to
generate support for those who have been blessed with the vocation
to help, support and protect all hourly working men and women -
namely all Labor Unions and Professional Guilds. This Pastoral is
being offered at a time in which all hourly working men and women
are besieged with unprecedented threats to their welfare.
Hourly working men
and woman, once considered being equal partners in the growth and
welfare of the community, are again being used as the scapegoats for
the plight of America's current episode of economic recession and
they need to be protected by their adversaries. This is the
vocational role of Labor Unions and Guilds.
As the scope and
role of Labor Unions and Guilds evolved and developed in the United
States since World War II to today, their primary orthodoxy remains
the same on three historical issues:
1.
fare and just compensation for one's work.
2. job security and protection from subjective and arbitrary
managerial actions.
3. the role of worker's offering suggestions or ideas to improve
and/or enhance the quality of job goals.
These three issues
do not, in our opinion, represent any acts of greed on the part of
labor. Rather it is testament to Labor's commitment and stewardship
of their collective works.
As every man hath
received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good
stewards of the manifold grace of God.
(1 Peter 4:10)
Since
we have returned to a period in time in which the
pendulum has
returned to a period of anti-Unionism, the necessity for Labor
Unions and Guild to protect hourly working men and women are
paramount, for Unions are Guilds must lift the burdens of fear and
corporate intimidation from their minds.
I am not able to bear
all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me. And if thou
deal thus with me, kill me, I pray thee, out of hand, if I have
found favor in thy sight; and let me not see my wretchedness. And
the Lord said unto Moses, Gather unto me seventy men of the elders
of Israel, whom thou knows to be the elders of the people, and
officers over them; and bring them unto the tabernacle of the
congregation, that they may stand there with thee. And I will come
down and talk with thee there: and I will take of the spirit which
is upon thee, and will put it upon them; and they shall bear the
burden of the people with thee, that thou bear it not thyself alone.
(Numbers 11 13:17)
For once again, the hourly working men and women has become
vulnerable as lambs to corporate and political predators.
Every working person
must be afforded the opportunity to become members of Labor Unions
or Professional Guilds.
Employees shall have
the right to self-organization, to form, join, or assist labor
organizations, to bargain collectively through representatives of
their own choosing, and to engage in other mutual aid or protection.
{National Labor Relations Act 1935}
To deny or to impede
this right of workers is morally wrong and must be unconditionally
challenged at all levels.
The historical record shows that that most employers take full
advantage of the opportunity to tread on workers’ rights to a “free
choice” before a union representation vote. They do this by
aggressively intimidating, harassing, and coercing workers in an
effort to undermine union support. In a study published by the
American Rights at Work Committee, among employers
faced with organizing campaigns:
-
30% of employers fire pro-union
workers.
-
49% of employers threaten to
close a
worksite when workers try to form a union, but only 2% actually
do.
-
51% of employers coerce workers
into
opposing unions with bribery or favoritism.
-
82% of employers hire
high-priced
union-busting consultants to fight union organizing drives.
-
91% of employers force employees
to attend
one-on-one anti-union meetings with their supervisors.
This study also
confirms that union membership in the United States is not declining
because workers no longer want, need, or attempt to form unions.
Instead, the falling membership rate is related to employers’
systematic use of legal and illegal tactics to stymie union
organizing.
-
Aided by a weak labor law system
that fails to protect workers’ rights, employers manipulate the
government-supervised union recognition process in a way that
allows them to abuse their power and significantly influence the
outcome of union representation elections.
-
In 91% of the union recognition
petitions filed with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)
in the survey, a majority of workers indicated they wanted a
union before the process began. In several cases, workers
demonstrated more than 80% support.
-
However, unions were victorious
in only 31% of the campaigns in which they filed a petition.
Given this period of
sophisticated corporate and political predation being waged against
hourly working men and women, it is essential for all Labor Unions
and Professional Guilds to renew and reclaim their vocational
orthodoxy to become the protective Shepherd of the Lambs of Labor.
We of this age and
time have forgotten the many examples of gains earned by Labor
Unions on behalf of the hourly workers. According to many
historians, the most recent period of labor growth and advancement
peaked and came to an abrupt stall in 1981 when Ronald Regan busted
the Air Traffic Controllers Union. Since that defining moment, many
labor unions and their members began to see the gains they had
earned fade away and many hourly workers had their faith and
confidence in their Unions severely diminished.
One of the reasons
attributed to the gains labor unions and guilds were able to provide
for their members prior to the 1980s was found in the unbreakable
fidelity and confidence that members had with their unions and
guilds. For when those times came in which unions and guilds had to
call upon their members to man the picket lines - union members were
on the streets in full force and with pride and determination in
their cause. Corporate predators could seldom prevail when faced
with a work force prepared to stand up for their rights.
We have chosen the
model and example of Jesus the Good Shepherd for two simply reasons.
The first is the model of unconditional commitment to the flock and
the second is the willingness of Jesus to lay down his life for his
flock.
Jesus the good
shepherd is referenced in the book of John, chapter 10. In His own
words, Jesus tells us in verse 11: “I am the good shepherd.
The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” And in
verses 14-15: “I am the good shepherd. I know my own sheep,
and they know me just as my Father knows me and I know my Father.
And I lay down my life for the sheep.”
Jesus is the good
shepherd to His believers just as the shepherds were of their
livestock. A shepherd tended his flock day and night. He would
gather the sheep into a sheepfold at night for their protection. The
sheepfold was a pen, a cave, or an area backed by stone walls. Since
there were no doors, the shepherd would often sleep or sit in the
opening, ready to guard his sheep from harm. Given this moment in
time, it is incumbent for all labor unions and guilds to be "ready
to guard their sheep from all harm." - day and night. This role of
leadership will also require those in position of labor leadership
to be ready to take any and all steps necessary in protecting their
members from any and all form of predation.
The single most
important qualification for protective shepherds is unconditional
and single-minded fidelity to the flock in their care. A distracted
shepherd risks the welfare of their flock. Unions and Guilds that
permit themselves to become distracted from either external or
internal influences cannot effectively shepherd those in their care
through difficult times. One of the most severest forms of
distraction that can undermine a union or guild is the perception
that a union or guild is in "the pocket" of corporate management.
Unions and guilds must avoid any perception of a conflict of
interest or diminished independence.
Hourly workers once again have powerful forces working against them
and they do not need any of their predators working against them in
the guise of a unionist.
This Pastoral calls for a renaissance within the Labor movement - a
renaissance that refuses to surrender the rights and needs of hourly
workers through unjust "givebacks" and re-negotiations which refuses
to permit the hourly workers to be made the scapegoats for corporate
corruption and greed.
This Pastoral calls
also for a renewal of commitment in the relationship between Unions
and Guilds and their members. This Pastoral calls upon those who
hold positions of leadership within Unions and Guilds to strive to
make labor a just and equal partner in the all workplaces.
And finally, this
Pastoral calls upon all corporations and businesses to respect the
rights and dignity of the hourly worker, for it is their labor that
fuels the success of all corporations and businesses are dependent
upon. The exploitation of any worker for any reason is immoral and
unjust.
Let us Pray,
Loving Father,
creator of
all that is just and good,
we give you thanks for Your loving act of creation.
Your labor of love is the model which we strive to follow
as stewards and caretakers of Your creation.
We place in your care the needs of all who labor.
We ask You to protect them from all forms of exploitation.
We ask You to convert the hearts of all those who engage in labor
exploitation.
We ask You to send Your Holy Spirit into our hearts to renew our
commitment to justice.
and
We ask You to guide, strengthen and give wisdom to those whom
You have called to serve and protect the needs of all who labor.
for
Blessed are those who labor
for their works maintains Your gift of creation.
Respectfully Yours in Christ,
Evangelical Catholic
Bishop for
the Diocese of the Northwest
Chicago Illinoia
January
1st, 2009
The Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God