U.S. bishops call for renewed respect for the workers
August 14, 2012: People of faith stand with people who've been left behind and should
seek economic renewal that makes workers and their families a central concern, according
to the annual Labor Day Statement from the Committee on Domestic Justice and Human
Development of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. "Millions of Americans
suffer from unemployment, underemployment or are living in poverty as their basic
needs too often go unmet. This represents a serious economic and moral failure for
our nation," wrote the committee's chairman, Bishop Stephen E. Blaire of Stockton,
California, in the statement, Placing Work and Workers at the Center of Economic
Life. Bishop Blaire cited the 12 million Americans officially unemployed, the
millions more who are underemployed or who have given up looking for work, 10 million
"working poor" families, and 46 million people, including 16 million children, living
in poverty as a sign of a broken economy. He cited the words of Pope Benedict XVI,
who said poverty often "results from a violation of the dignity of human work," either
because of a lack of job opportunities or because, in the words of Pope John Paul
II, "low value is put on work and the rights that flow from it." According to Bishop
Blaire, the "terrible human costs" of a broken economy include workers being exploited
or mistreated, stagnant or falling wages, and stress on families. As a result, "many
employees struggle for just wages, a safe workplace, and a voice in the economy, but
they cannot purchase the goods they make, stay in the hotels they clean, or eat the
food they harvest, prepare, or serve." "An economy that allows this exploitation
and abuse demands our attention and action," wrote Bishop Blaire. He noted that the
bishops work to provide hope and help to exploited workers through programs such as
USCCB Migration and Refugee Services and the Catholic Campaign for Human Development,
but said that "everyone and every institution" in society—businesses, government,
unions and private institutions—should collaborate to support workers and create an
economy "that serves the person rather than the other way around." "This Labor
Day, millions of working people and their families have urgent and compelling needs,"
Bishop Blaire concluded. "I ask you to join me in a special prayer for them and all
workers, especially those without a job struggling to live in dignity. May God guide
our nation in creating a more just economy that truly honors the dignity of work and
the rights of workers."