In the historic first-ever registered nurse strike at a Baltimore hospital – from 7 a.m. on July 24 to 6:59 a.m. on July 25, 2025 – the Maryland Catholic Labor Network (MdCLN) ensured a continual Catholic presence alongside the striking nurses of Ascension St Agnes, offering solidarity rooted in Catholic Social Teaching. Nurses represented by National Nurses United went […]
The Maryland Catholic Labor Network is here today to say loud and clear: we stand with the nurses of Ascension St. Agnes. Your courage, your conviction, and your commitment to patient care are a witness to justice—and we are proud to stand beside you. For us, solidarity with workers—especially those who care for the sick—isn’t […]
The Catholic Labor Network, as an association of the faithful dedicated to promoting Catholic Social Teaching on labor and work, has seldom ventured to speak about other policy domains. Immigration has been a partial exception, mainly because the Church and the American labor movement – for different but related reasons – have often partnered to […]
The first week of May saw operations at the University of San Diego interrupted by a two-day strike. In June 2024, non-tenured faculty at the Catholic university voted for representation by SEIU 721, but the two sides have not reached a first contract. (At colleges across the country, private and public, a growing share of […]
The Catholic Labor Network (CLN) joyfully welcomes the election of Pope Leo XIV, formerly Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, as the 267th Bishop of Rome. As the first American-born pontiff, Pope Leo XIV brings a unique blend of pastoral experience, theological depth, and a profound commitment to social justice that resonates deeply with our mission to […]
Dear Mr. President, The Catholic Labor Network (CLN) is a Catholic nonprofit and private association of the faithful in the United States that unites clergy, religious, laity, and people of goodwill to advance the principles of Catholic Social Teaching on the dignity of work and the rights of workers through prayer, education, and action. We […]
Three Catholic institutions have made the news recently for their mistreatment of workers. St Clare’s Hospital in Schenectady NY doesn’t want to pay the pension benefits it owes to retired nurses. Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Superior in Wisconsin doesn’t want to pay Unemployment Insurance taxes for its workers. Marquette University does not want […]
Modern Catholic Social Teaching began with Pope Leo XIII’s encyclical letter Rerum Novarum reflecting on injustices against workers in the modern industrial economy and, importantly, defending their right to organize in trade unions for collective bargaining. We in the Catholic Labor Network have been deeply alarmed that President Trump has begun his term with significant […]
In November 2024, Fr. Brian Jordan OFM – a New York City labor priest and good friend of the Catholic Labor Network – dedicated a Workers’ Chapel at St. Francis of Assisi parish in Manhattan. Attending the dedication Mass, along with assorted local political leaders and union officers, was New York City AFL-CIO President and […]
Among all workers in US, farmworkers probably suffer the most exploitation and abuse. Often undocumented immigrants, they toil for long hours at poverty wages harvesting the food we eat. In one of the great inequities of the American economy, most of us enjoy access to produce at unsustainably low prices, subsidized by the low cost […]