Celebrating Labor Day

Every year around this time, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops issues a letter reflecting on labor and work, looking at current challenges through the eye of faith. This year, Archbishop Wenski of Miami, who chairs the USCCB Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, reflects on the global economic forces burdening the worker and the family in 2016, and calls for renewed solidarity. “Simply put, we must advocate for jobs and wages that truly provide a dignified life for individuals and their families, and for working conditions that are safe and allow for a full flourishing of life outside of the workplace.”

Not long ago America was a place where anyone who graduated from high school and was prepared to work hard could expect to earn a salary sufficient to support a family. There are a lot of reasons that this has changed, but one of them is the decline of unions – a shift that has reduced the bargaining power of the worker vs the other economic actors in society. The economists tell us that today’s free market economy, unencumbered by unions, is more efficient. Be it so: is efficiency the only criteria by which we judge an economy? Or is it worth paying a few dollars more for your smartphone, car or movie ticket if it enables one-third of our nation’s men and women a vocation and life with dignity? (Catholic Labor Network)

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