St. Mary’s Peace & Justice Council puts Catholic Social Teaching into action by creating opportunities for parishioners to learn, advocate and contribute to a peaceful, loving and just world.
Labor Day Speakout – August 30-31, 2008
This weekend, in honor of work and labor, we are pleased to participate in the 10th annual “Labor in the Pulpit” program which is sponsored by the Interfaith Council of Working Partnerships, USA. The Diocese of San Jose is a partner in this effort.
You may recall last year’s campaign on behalf of the contract cafeteria workers and janitors. That appeal throughout the Valley resulted in over 8000 signed pledges for fair treatment of those workers. While much more needs to be done, several high Tech leaders are considering this issue and the City of Sunnyvale Council has passed a resolution in support of it. Last year, over 300 St. Mary’s parishioners put their faith into action by signing pledge cards. Thank you. You are making a difference.
This year’s campaign, called “Hospitality with Dignity”, supports hotel workers in their quest for fair working conditions, dignity and respect.
One of the Catholic social teachings, the dignity of work and the rights of workers, leads us to believe that the economy must serve people, not the other way around. Work is more than a way to make a living; it is a form of continuing participation in God’s creation. If the dignity of work is to be protected, then the basic rights of workers must be respected.
With this in mind, let’s consider the conditions of hotel workers. When we stay at a hotel, we expect clean rooms, good service and everything in good working order. Hotel employees work hard to make this happen. They do important work that is often physically difficult and sometimes unappealing. They often do work that other people don’t want to do. Most are happy to do the work and take pride in doing it well.
But millions of workers across the nation have no voice on the job. They face many indignities. For example:
- Hotel housekeepers have one of the highest on the job injury rates for working women.
- Wages average only $8.00 per hour.
- Workers are typically asked to pay heath care premiums of $300 per month for a family, effectively putting insurance out of reach for many.
- Gratuities left by many of us are routinely taken by the hotels.
These people need our help. They are becoming part of the “working poor”. These are people who are working fulltime, or sometimes more than fulltime, but are living below the United States poverty line. They are in danger of losing their homes. They are unable to get healthcare for their children. They are made to choose between food, rent or medicine.
This year we are again asking you to put your faith into action by signing a petition calling on hotel corporations to become partners in ensuring that all workers earn enough to provide for their families basic needs and are treated with justice and dignity. Please stop by the tables after Mass on August 30-31 and sign a card. Your action will again make a difference.
Reflections on Labor Day
On Labor Day weekend, we pause to experience the last moments of summer. In this holy rest, this Sunday we also reflect upon our common economic life, and we honor work and labor. For God calls us to view work as more than a way to make a living, but a way for humanity to continue to participate in God’s work of creation.
In our diocese and in our parishes, social justice is one of the top three priorities. This includes economic life and labor. Our Church teaches us to protect human life and human dignity and promote the common good.
This Sunday, we hear Jesus words “For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.” How do we respond to the Gospel’s call for social and economic justice in our community?
First we see and pay attention. Many workers, and in particular hotel workers, janitors and food service workers, experience a dual struggle: to be treated with dignity by employers and to earn adequate wages and health care. Many of these workers, often immigrants, look to their faith and to our faith to stand with them and to support them.
Second, we find ways to join hands with our sisters and brothers. The Gospel requires that we open our hands and lose our grip on a life that clings to “me only.” We let go of actions, rules policies and mindsets that may profit the few, at the expense of the many.
Then, the Gospel tells, we will find God’s vision for our lives. When we lose our “self-seeking” lives, we discover a new life in loving community. Our eyes now see working people in Santa Clara: food service workers who wash dishes in our corporate cafeterias, janitors who tend to our workplaces, and hotel workers who clean hotel rooms as we travel.
We see workers who are paid wages that cannot support them and their families. We see workers whose families have little or no access to healthcare. We see workers who are not treated with dignity in the workplace.
Finally, we join in the chorus of Christians of all ages who say, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds.” With eyes opened to God’s vision, we join hands, hearts and voices. We act.
Are we our brothers’ and sisters’ keeper? Let us offer our bodies – hands, hearts, minds and feet– as a living sacrifice to and say “yes!”
This reflection was written by Fr. Bill Leininger, board member and Rev. Rebecca Kuiken, director of the Interfaith Council on Religion Race, Social and Economic Justice
Labor Day Message Calls For Action On Just Economy, Dignity, Workers’ Rights
An American Catholic tradition, the U.S. bishops’ 2008 Labor Day statement calls for “renewed vigor as we seek to build together a society that cares for its own, reaches out to the poor and vulnerable, and offers true hope to all.”
Bishop William Murphy of Rockville Centre, New York, Chairman of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, issued the statement to highlight the needs of the nation’s workers, economic inequalities and the responsibilities of all citizens to help improve working conditions.
Read a summary or the full statement.
