A Labor Day Homily by Fr. Sinclair Oubre, Catholic Labor Network Spiritual Moderator In the Spring of 1995, Road Warriors from the United Paperworkers Union came to the Sabine Area Central Labor Committee meeting at the Oil Workers Union Hall in Port Arthur, Texas. They shared with us how the A.E. Staley Company had locked […]
A Labor Day Reflection from CLN Spiritual Moderator Fr. Sinclair Oubre “Cause if it’s always level on the floor where you’re working and your telephone is OSHA approved When you tell me how much you’re spending on safety, pardon me if I’m not moved. Ever since 1970 the law has been on my side. […]
New this year: Non-Tenure Track Faculty at Santa Clara University Happy Labor Day! Readers of this newsletter know well that for more than 130 years the Catholic Church has taught that workers have the right to organize in unions. This is no less true of workers at Catholic institutions than those at secular and for-profit […]
Church, Unions Mobilize in Support The United Farm Workers are on the march! In California members of the UFW set out from Delano on foot in the Summer heat August 3. They will arrive in Sacramento on August 26. What do they want? The right to vote by mail in union elections. A history lesson: […]
A Guest contribution by Mary Entoma, UNITE HERE Local 11 In the early hours of August 11th, Unite Here Local 11 members and community allies joined the United Farm Workers in their march to urge Gov. Gavin Newsom to sign AB 2183. Worker power filled the streets. Moved by their faith to join in, these […]
Window on National Campaign to Raise Standards for Airport Employees Thousands of airport employees in Northern Virginia, ranging from wheelchair attendants to aircraft cabin cleaners, lack paid sick days and regularly must work ill or injured. The Catholic Labor Network met some of those workers recently at a meeting organized by SEIU 32BJ, which represents […]
We’ve often heard it said that Catholic Social Teaching is the Church’s best-kept secret. The Church’s social doctrine offers a radical critique of today’s institutions that the US Conference of Catholic Bishops has broken into seven major themes, such as “Life and Dignity of the Human Person” and “Option for the Poor and Vulnerable.” Recently […]
Planning your Mass for Labor Day weekend? Consider these prayers of the faithful found on the US Conference of Catholic Bishops’ web page of Labor Day Resources. We pray for a renewal of spirit for the men and women who must work in jobs that ignore the dignity of their personhood. We pray to the […]
Parishes that choose an electrical upgrade or a solar installation by PRO Lighting & Solar may find themselves putting a parishioner to work. That’s because of a unique partnership between an area Catholic high school and IBEW Local 212. High school students at Cincinnati’s Elder High School have an opportunity to get a jump on […]
Inspired by Laudato Si, a growing number of Catholic parishes are reducing their use of fossil fuels by investing in energy efficiency and sometimes installing solar panels to meet their energy needs. That’s important, but in a construction industry marked by widespread wage theft and high workplace injury rates, what are they doing to make […]