US Bishops' Labor Day statement focuses on income inequality

(Vatican Radio) The growing disparity in the income of U.S. workers is the focus of the 2013 Labor Day Statement of Bishop Stephen E. Blaire of Stockton, California, chairman of the Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).

Labor Day is celebrated in the United States and Canada on the first Monday of September.

Speaking with Vatican Radio, Bishop Blaire said, “The labour day statement seeks to address this widening disparity between rich and poor by stressing the importance of work and how people need a job to realize their dignity as human beings, and to have work which provides adequate income for them to live in dignity as human beings.”

His statement echoed the teaching of the Popes, who have emphasized the necessity of putting the human person at the centre of the economy. “I think that is one of the most crucial messages that we have to get out there. And they have been so well expressed by Pope Benedict and Pope Francis: that we as a Church understand that the economy is for people. And when people are at the centre of the economy, it will help us go in the right direction.”

Listen to the full interview of Bishop Stephen Blaire with Christopher Wells:

In the Labor Day statement, Bishop Blaire quoted the words of Pope Francis, that “work is fundamental to the dignity of the person . . . it gives us the ability to maintain oneself, one’s family, to contribute to the growth of one’s own nation.”

He noted that individuals, the Church, businesses, government and community organizations all share the responsibility to create jobs that allow workers to support themselves and their families.

Bishop Blaire cited the importance of unions in helping workers participate in company decisions that affect them and noted that the rise in income inequality has paralleled the decline of unions in the United States.

Finally, Bishop Blaire also voiced support for immigrants, calling for policies that “bring immigrant workers out of the shadows to a legal status and offer them a just and fair path to citizenship, so that their human rights are protected and the wages for all workers rise.”

The 2013 Labor Day Statement is available online in English and Spanish on the USCCB website.