UK paper: the Catholic archbishop of Wis. has spoken out in support of trade union rights

While the US Catholic church traditionally sides with Republican interests in promoting a pro-life agenda, the archdiocese of Milwaukee threw its support behind the unions in the ongoing Wisconsin-based protests against the erosion of workers' bargaining rights.

While Archbishop Listecki acknowledges that not every claim made by a worker or their union is valid, he affirms the validity of unions by quoting Pope John Paul II, who wrote in 1981: "[A] union remains a constructive factor of social order and solidarity, and it is impossible to ignore it."

According to John Huebscher, executive director of the Wisconsin Catholic Conference, this statement does not represent a shift in Catholic teaching. "The bishops are merely reminding everybody of the teaching of the church, over the last century or more, of the dignity of work and the appropriate place for unions without giving them carte blanche to have everything they want."

Schultz observes: "Contrary to what you might be seeing on the nightly news, ordinary people here are not bitterly divided over the situation. We don't all agree, but hey, this is Wisconsin. We don't get too excited about it." Rabbi Bauer agrees there's unity around this cause. She proclaims, "The amount of support and effort that people have expended into this cause tells me that something is happening bigger than the bill."

During the 1960s, the University of Wisconsin-Madison gained a reputation as one of the nation's most radical campuses. But time will tell if this spiritual capital will morph into a bona fide grassroots movement that like the civil rights and anti-war movements of the 60s will actually bring about lasting social change.

The Guardian