NCRegister: Unions and the Church

Catholic auto workers listening to lecture
by priest in 1945 in Detriot, MI

This week, as union protests spread from Wisconsin to Ohio and Indiana — and, possibly, Oklahoma and Tennessee — Bishop Stephen Blaire of Stockton, Calif., chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, also issued a statement of “support for and solidarity” with the Wisconsin bishops’ statement on the rights of workers.

Bishop Blaire’s letter, released on Feb. 23, seemed to give additional weight to the rights of workers, within the framework of Catholic social teaching.

But the day after his letter was released, Bishop Robert Morlino of Madison also issued a statement that made a point to describe the Wisconsin bishops’ position as “neutral.”

“Should one support or oppose the legislation which regulates union procedures? The Wisconsin Catholic Conference (WCC) has chosen a neutral stance because the present dilemma comes down to either a choice for the common good, of sacrifice on the part of all, at times that pose immense economic threats, both present and future on the one hand, and on the other hand, a choice for the rights of workers to a just compensation for services rendered, and to the upholding of contracts legally made,” wrote Bishop Morlino in a Feb. 24 column in his diocesan paper, The Catholic Herald.

“As Catholics, we see both of these horns of the dilemma as good, and yet the current situation calls many of us to choose between these two goods. Thus the WCC [Wisconsin Catholic Conference] has taken a neutral stance, and this is the point of Archbishop Listecki’s recent statement, which I have echoed,” said Bishop Morlino.

Union activists had embraced Archbishop Listecki’s statement as an endorsement of their cause. That view was echoed by The New York Times, which characterized the statement as a rebuke to Republican lawmakers, who contend that the partisan alliance of Democratic legislators and public-employee unions has resulted in untenable contracts that have busted state budgets during an era of declining tax revenues.

Last year, the Pew Center on the States underscored the scope of the problem: As of 2008, there was a $1 trillion shortfall between promised payouts by state governments to public employees and the funds actually available to cover pensions and benefits.

Julie Wolf, a spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, disputed the notion that the archbishop had taken sides in the standoff, describing his statement as non-partisan and “balanced. It reiterated Catholic social teaching on the rights of workers and asks for everyone to work for the common good.” But Wolf noted that her office had been fielding angry calls from “both sides” of the political divide.

 A good writeup.  The whole thing at NCRegister

Photo

Anyone who reads the WCC statement can see it clearly takes a neutral stance. 

....... Okay, one possible scenario how this played out.  WCC comes to Listecki with the statement minus the bit about labor unions are not always in the right.  WCC spreads the word about the bishops are coming out supporting the rights of the public labor union in play in Wisconsin right now.  Listecki properly interpreting Church teaching inserts the bit that "rights" of unions must be in accord with the common good.  Statement goes to press and nobody in the main street media ever takes the time to actually read the statement.  ..... that's one possibility.  I'm not sayin that's the way it definitely went down.  But it might have.