One of the things we do at the Catholic Labor Network is monitoring labor relations at Catholic institutions. There’s a reason for this. Church doctrine teaches that workers have the right to organize in unions to engage in collective bargaining, but who’s going to listen to us if Catholic institutions don’t respect that teaching with […]
A guest contribution from CLN Member Prof. Anna Harrison The cry for just employment practices is ringing out on the campus of Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California. Non-tenure-track (NTT) faculty went public in November, 2023 with their unionizing effort. And LMU Solidarity/Solidaridad—an umbrella organization of students, staff, and faculty—is pleading with the administration […]
Workers at another Catholic institution have formed a union! At the start of November, a majority of the nurses at Baltimore’s Ascension St. Agnes Hospital voted to join National Nurses United. The nurses were concerned with understaffing at the hospital. Ascension, a Catholic health care chain with hospitals and nursing homes across the country, has […]
Settlements end nationwide strikes The past few weeks have seen the resolution of two major national strikes by American workers. TV, movie and streaming actors walked off the job in July; auto workers employed by GM, Ford and Stellantis (formerly Chrysler) followed in September. Both groups of workers scored important victories, persuading their employers to […]
America’s Catholic Bishops have long published a set of Ethical and Religious Directives covering Catholic health care. The seventh of these “ERDs,” as they are known in the industry, instructs a Catholic hospital to “treat its employees respectfully and justly” including “recognition of the rights of employees to organize and bargain collectively.” So what’s the […]
It was a busy summer, and it seems the season for labor action has extended into fall. Inflation has substantially eroded wages over the past few years, and as contracts negotiated before the pandemic expire many workers are trying to catch up. Technological change is on the table too — autoworkers are trying to secure […]
America’s summer of strikes is reaching its crescendo with an industrial dispute in the US auto industry. The legendary United Auto Workers (UAW) union represents some 150,000 workers who build cars for General Motors, Ford and Stellantis (Fiat/Chrysler), and when their contract expired last week union members began striking selected plants. What’s the fight about? […]
Bishops’ 2023 Labor Day Statement Every year, the Chairman of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development issues a Labor Day statement. The statement reflects on conditions in the world in light of Catholic Social Teaching. The current chair of the committee is Archbishop Borys Gudziak of the Ukrainian […]
September 4 at 12pm ET The Catholic Labor Network is pleased to announce that Bishop David Toups, Bishop of the Diocese of Beaumont in Texas will celebrate our annual Labor Day Mass. Our Spiritual Moderator Fr. Sinclair Oubre, a member of the Seafarers International Union, will concelebrate. They will be assisted by Deacon Steve Oberneufemann, […]
For actors and hotel workers, the fight continues The Catholic Labor Network is pleased to report that UPS and the Teamsters have reached a tentative contract agreement. If ratified, the country will be spared a much-feared strike by more than 300,000 drivers and warehouse workers that would have snagged supply chains in every corner of […]