John J. Sweeney: Exemplary Catholic Labor Leader (1934-2021)

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Prof. Joseph A. McCartin, Georgetown University

The CLN lost a loyal friend and the labor movement lost one of the great champions of its history when John Joseph Sweeney died on February 1 at the age of 86.  Labor leaders reared in Catholicism have played a disproportionately large role in the shaping of the American labor movement from Terence Powderly and Mother Jones in the 19th century to George Meany and Thomas R. Donahue in the 20th century, to Rich Trumka and Mary Kay Henry in the 21st.  Among them, Sweeney’s contribution was distinctive.  He was a bridge-builder who helped move labor beyond the Cold War, drew young people into the movement, transformed labor’s relationship with immigrants and the immigration question, welcomed women into top leadership, and revamped labor’s political operations.  In all of this, he drew generously from the values of his church and its social teachings.

Many obituaries have attested to John Sweeney’s remarkable story, from his birth to Irish Catholic immigrants in the Bronx, to his Catholic education from kindergarten through college, his involvement with the Young Christian Workers, his study with labor priest Phil Carey, S.J., his early work with the International Ladies Garment Workers Union, Read more

SEIU Members Rally, Demand Reinstatement of Fired Janitors at Office Building

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In the commercial janitorial industry buildings change contractors frequently and profit margins can be tight for employers as global real estate titans seek ways to trim costs. Last week the Catholic Labor Network supported janitors in Northern Virginia fighting to get their jobs back after a new contractor took over the contract and promptly fired the union workforce in order to bring in cheaper replacements.

SEIU (Service Employees International Union) Local 32BJ represents is a massive union representing janitors up and down the East Coast. In some markets such as Boston, New York, and Washington, DC, they represent more than 90% of commercial building janitors, enabling them to negotiate family-supporting wages and benefits. But often in the adjoining suburbs such as Northern Virginia much of the workforce remains unorganized, and union contractors face heavy pressure from nonunion competitors. It’s not unusual for a nonunion firm employing a part-time workforce to win work away from union firms taking a high-road labor approach, creating a race to the bottom.

That’s exactly what happened recently at 1950 Old Gallows Road in Vienna, Virginia. A large nonunion contractor, K&S, took over the cleaning contract from a union firm and immediately fired the existing cleaning staff. K&S has a history of labor problems – in 2019 the company was fined $1500 for firing workers who tried to organize and join the union. Other K&S workers have reported excessive workloads and late paychecks.

During the rally, union members demanded that K&S reinstate the fired workers and join the union’s master contract. After picketing the building, activists went to the K&S offices to deliver a petition but were blocked from meeting with management. The local plans to continue pressing the company to improve the treatment of their employees.

Courageous Google workers form Union

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On January 4, a courageous group of workers at internet search giant Google announced that they had formed a union. The Associated Press reported that approximately 225 workers took the important step, “creating a rare foothold for the labor movement in the tech industry.” A foothold, but a small one out of the roughly 200,000 Google workforce. What’s going on?

Ordinarily, workers form a union by winning an election – supervised by the National Labor Relations Board — showing they represent the majority of workers in a given “bargaining unit.” If they win, their union is certified as the representative of all the workers in the unit, and the employer is legally required to bargain with them toward a contract. But that’s not the only way workers can form a union.

This group of techs, sales reps and others decided to form a union even though they are a small group in a large workforce. They are a “minority union” – a group of workers who have chosen to band together to negotiate together about terms of employment. It’s a tough road to follow. Without being certified as the bargaining agent by election, they must persuade or force their employer to negotiate with them.

The Alphabet Workers Union (Alphabet is the parent company of Google) will depend on its ability to recruit additional members and on the support of the Communications Workers of America, the large union rooted in the telecommunications sector that is supporting the group. And it will be especially dependent on the solidarity of the rest of us – Google users who speak up if the company cracks down and tries to strangle this new union in the crib.

Like Gideon’s three hundred marching against Midian (Judges 7), these brave souls have stepped forward to stand against one of the nation’s largest corporations. May they find the same success!

 

Catholic Social Ministry Gathering 2021 – Register Now!

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Feb. 6-9, 2021

Each year the US Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Department of Justice, Peace and Human Development hosts a Catholic Social Ministry Gathering in Washington DC. The event brings together those motivated by their Catholic faith to fight for an end to poverty and exploitation, global warming, racism, the death penalty, war and other crucial social justice causes.

If cost and travel time have kept you from participating in the past, CSMG 2021 is your opportunity! Due to the pandemic, the event will be a virtual one this year, which will enable many more people to participate and exchange views. This year’s theme is “Make justice your aim (cf. Is. 1:17): Rebuilding Together.” The Catholic Labor Network has teamed up with Catholic Charities USA to hold a workshop on new models for worker organizing, and the entire event will end with a virtual lobby day on Capitol Hill where you’ll be able to testify for justice before your elected representatives.

Registration is only $50. CLICK HERE to sign up today!

From Mobilizing to Governance

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The Working Catholic: Mobilizing and Governing
by Bill Droel

The young adult activists who inspired the world this past summer now have the challenge of translating their fervor into practical reform. It is the transition from mobilizing to governance.
The founders of our country were more prepared for the transition to governance than other revolutionaries, argues Hannah Arendt (1906-1975). She compares France to the United States in her classic On Revolution (Penguin, 1963). By the time of their 1787 meeting in Philadelphia, our founders were able to craft a democratic system that endures to this day. Our system, as detailed in our glorious Constitution and in its Bill of Rights and 17 subsequent amendments, is obviously imperfect. It has suffered through rebellions, a Civil War, a tyrannical-like presidency and more. Yet ploddingly and with setbacks, our experiment in democracy inches toward its goal of full liberty and justice for all.
Back in France however, the 1789 revolution was followed by turmoil for a decade and by instability thereafter. Bastille Day was a triumph, but onto the next step the French revolutionaries “had no experience [of governance] to fall back upon, only ideals and principles untested by reality,” says Arendt. The French Revolution was “an intoxication whose chief element was the crowd.” The difference, Arendt concludes, is that the U.S. revolutionaries, in contrast to the French, had the experience of political assembly, long before 1776. Or as John Adams (1735-1826) said: The U.S. Revolution was well underway months and years before Lexington and Concord.
Again, assembly in our 13 North American colonies was imperfect; a right for only some. Black slaves could not initially enjoy that right and women could not vote for or serve in governing bodies. Yet our revolution was not the product of chaos. It was not an accomplishment of solitary heroics urging a rabble forward. For example, Paul Revere (1734-1818) and William Dawes (1745-1799) did not ride as strangers through towns at midnight, randomly knocking on doors. They had advance planning that allowed them to alert small mediating institutions. They knew the leaders of churches and other voluntary associations. Revere himself belonged to five clubs or lodges in the Boston area. Samuel Adams (1722-1803) belonged to the North Caucus, the Long Room Club and others. The same is true for the other founders. In their church committees, lodges, town halls and taverns our founders practiced the arts of governance—deliberation, compromise, balancing interests, public speaking, correspondence and the like.
Outsiders don’t always make for good insiders. Andrew Nagorski in The Birth of Freedom (Simon & Schuster, 1993) examines the monumental movements against communism in Eastern Europe, particularly the 1989 revolt in Poland. He describes the difficulty of transitioning from “dissidents into established politicians.” Lech Walesa’s problems as president were in part related to “the general difficulty of making the psychological switch from the politics of resistance to normal democratic politics,” Nagorski concludes.
The Arab Spring of 2011 was like the revolution in our country in that groups, not solitary individuals, led the way. Yes, Wael Ghonim launched a Facebook page to promote opposition to the Egyptian government. Yes, his and other internet sites helped plan actions. But the leaders came from small groups: lawyers’ circles, engineers’ clubs, the Arab Doctors Union, groups within the Muslim Brotherhood, Coptic churches, trade unions, alumni groups and soccer teams.
The Arab Spring was on the other hand unlike our U.S. revolution. Its leaders did not have prior training in the arts of governance. The young adults involved did use their friendships to temporarily smooth over their religious and ideological differences under the stress of the moment, reports Robin Wright in Rock the Casbah (Simon & Schuster, 2011). However before 2011, they had “limited—and largely unsuccessful—political experience,” she continues. In fact, their prior experience with the government was mostly limited to detention and jail. The Arab Spring was largely over by summer of 2012. External factors, including governments’ use of internet blocking and propaganda plus government counter-force, doomed the promise of the revolt. But internal factors played a major part in the demise, specifically the rebels’ lack of experience in governing.
Choices await the young adult activists in our country. They must decide: Is it better to go it alone; to start fresh? Or is it better to draw upon decades of experience from like-minded reform groups, including some labor locals, some churches, some professional associations, some civic organizations and more? Can our idealistic young adults employ sufficient arts of governing to really implement better policies and institutions?


Droel edits INITIATIVES (PO Box 291102, Chicago, IL 60629), a printed newsletter on faith and work.

Wins on Right to Recall in Baltimore, Philadelphia, Washington DC

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The pandemic has spurred a national worker justice campaign called “right to recall.” Its premise is simple: when employers reopen after a pandemic-driven closure they should offer their furloughed employees their old jobs back. The hotel workers’ union UNITE HERE has been leading efforts to promote “right to recall” laws in cities and states across the country, and victories are beginning to stack up, including recently in Baltimore, Philadelphia and Washington DC.

Why hotels? Workers in the hospitality industry – hotels and restaurants – were among the hardest hit by the pandemic. Business and leisure travel alike ground to a crawl, and dining establishments were shuttered for extended periods. Workers with years and even decades in the industry are hoping that as vaccine distribution enables their employers to scale up operations they will be recalled to work – but some firms are threatening to hire cheaper replacement workers instead.

That’s why UNITE HERE has asked city councils and state legislatures to enact “right to recall” laws, and the Catholic Labor Network is organizing solidarity with these workers in the Catholic community. The campaign first took off in California where cities such as Los Angeles, San Francisco and Oakland passed “right to recall” ordinances. Recently wins have been stacking up in the Mid-Atlantic region. On Dec. 7 the Baltimore City Council passed a right to recall bill, overriding a veto by outgoing Mayor Bernard Young. On Dec. 10 the Philadelphia City Council passed right to recall. On Dec. 15 the DC City Council unanimously passed a similar bill that is headed to the Mayor’s desk for signature.

Right to Recall has had a more difficult time at the state level. California Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed a state right to recall law despite appeals from Jesuits throughout the Western Province (Newsom is Catholic and was educated at a Jesuit university). Similar state efforts in Massachusetts and Connecticut have come up short.

We at the Catholic Labor Network believe every successful business enterprise is the result of a partnership between labor and management. Right to recall laws do not require employers to hire workers when they don’t need them, but justice requires that employers who are reopening after interruption by the pandemic offer available positions to the employee partners who helped them build their business in the first place. The Catholic Labor Network will continue to support this important movement as our economy recovers from this terrible illness and recession.

Senators: Vote Yes to COVID Relief Package

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Although the vaccines are at last moving, millions of workers, especially in hotels, restaurants and entertainment venues, remain unemployed. These sectors will not resume normal operations until the Summer, but the supplementary unemployment benefits that help them survive the interim expired at the end of July. The Catholic Labor Network and the US Conference of Catholic Bishops have been calling for a second round of covid relief for months.

We are pleased that a bipartisan group of Senators have put together a new covid relief proposal. Today the Catholic Labor Network addressed a letter to all 23 Catholic US Senators asking that they support the compromise package and urge the Senate leadership to bring it to the floor for a vote. The text of the letter is below…

Dear Senator,

This year’s pandemic has devastated working families, with millions of essential workers serving us in jobs that put them at risk of exposure to COVID, and millions more displaced from employment, facing poverty, hunger and homelessness.

In March, both political parties came together in an admirable show of unity to provide relief in the CARES Act, a measure that provided funds to fight the disease and also the economic hardship families faced as a result of pandemic-driven shutdowns. Unfortunately, much of this relief has already expired and the remainder soon will. This calls for renewed action.

“Earlier this year, the leaders of our government reached a bipartisan deal that provided significant relief to those suffering from the health and economic crises that we continue to experience,” observed Bishop Paul Coakley, Chairman of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development in September. “Today, I ask our leaders in Washington to once again set aside their differences in order to reach an agreement that prioritizes the poor and vulnerable…May God grant all those participating in negotiations a heart that eagerly responds to the cry of the poor.”

We in the Catholic Labor Network are pleased to see that – after much delay – a bipartisan group of Senators is proposing a new round of COVID relief. With millions of displaced workers facing an end to unemployment benefits and protections against eviction, we believe that this comes none too soon.

As fellow Catholic Christians, we ask you to appeal to the Majority Leader for a speedy vote on this new COVID relief package, and to support its passage when it comes to the floor.

Thank you for your consideration.

The Catholic Labor Network

ACT NOW to Support Right to Recall for workers in the nation’s capital

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The Catholic Labor Network asks our members and friends based in Washington DC to act NOW to support the Displaced Workers’ Right to Reinstatement and Retention Amendment Act of 2020, currently before the DC Council. This critical bill will be up for its first Council twice, on Dec. 1 and Dec. 15, before going to the Mayor for her signature.

This important legislation directs employers who are reopening after pandemic-driven closures to offer furloughed employees their old jobs back before hiring replacement workers. It promises a lifeline to workers laid off as hotels, restaurants, sports arenas and entertainment venues shut down in the early months of the pandemic, a hope that as their employers resume normal operations they will be able to resume their service.

If you represent an organization based in the District of Columbia, we ask that you add your organization’s name to the Sign-On Letter in Support of Right to Return to Work. CLICK HERE to read and sign the Letter!

If you are an individual living in Washington DC or represent a DC-based organization, and are willing to contact your local elected officials directly in support of this important bill, please contact me ASAP at [email protected]. No experience necessary! I will provide additional information about the issue and the legislation, as well as any assistance needed to prepare and submit your comments.

Thank you for your support for DC workers displaced by the pandemic!

The UFCW and the Grocery Industry

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The right of workers to organize in unions is one of the earliest and most basic premises of Catholic Social Teaching. In most of the United States, every time you shop for groceries you have an opportunity to choose between shopping at a supermarket whose employees have the protection of a union contract, and one that doesn’t. That’s because the United Food and Commercial Workers union (UFCW) represents more than 800,000 supermarket clerks, cashiers, stockers and other employees at many of the nation’s leading grocery store chains – but they face tough competition from nonunion competitors in every community, competitors that offer substandard health care benefits and little retirement security.

At one time, the supermarket industry was largely organized, and UFCW members represented most of the industry’s employees. However, large new non-union actors entered the scene, such as Wal-Mart and Whole Foods, and successfully beat back efforts by their workers to form unions.

Want to support union workers and the right to organize? Look for these names:

  • Albertsons
  • Kroger
  • Ralphs
  • King Soopers
  • Fred Meyer
  • Albertsons
  • Safeway
  • Jewel-Osco
  • Stop & Shop
  • Giant

The UFCW is one of the nation’s largest unions, reporting 1.3 million members. Outside of the grocery chains, they represent cashiers and clerks at many drugstores and workers at meatpacking plants, as well as other segments of the economy.

UFCW 400: How a union saved retirement for thousands of Mid-Atlantic grocery workers

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Two weeks before the COVID-19 crisis, 25,000 workers at Giant and Safeway grocery stores in the Greater Washington DC area overcame a push by the companies to end their pension plans and curtail health benefits. The members of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW) endured months of difficult negotiations and settled excellent contracts before facing a pandemic crisis.

Giant and Safeway are among the largest chains in the Washington-Baltimore region, but the rest of their competitors like Harris Teeter and Walmart are largely nonunion. At one time, grocery stores were heavily unionized and offered decent middle-class jobs with benefits for blue collar workers. Over time, the retail sector has become increasingly part-time low wage and insecure jobs and the unionized companies face stiff competition from retailers like Walmart, which constantly seeks to drive down labor costs by pushing part time workers to do more work with less help.

While workers in unionized grocery stores can face similar challenges, a union contract makes these jobs more secure with much better benefits than the nonunion chains. Though wages are comparable between union and nonunion grocers, the union contracts give workers healthcare and retirement as well as a voice in decisions by the company. Jean St. Louis, a Catholic UFCW member in Maryland, appreciates the protection and support being a member gives her and her coworkers at Safeway.

Jean, who was part of the negotiations team, saw early on that Giant and Safeway wanted big concessions including dismantling the pension plan altogether. Holding onto the pensions became the number one issue immediately for Jean and her fellow members. She and other members were worried about the members that already retired, many of whom are disabled, and could not go back to work. Jean wondered how she could make up for 28 years in a pension plan that would be suddenly gone.

Pensions have become increasingly rare because companies do not like to have liabilities on their books and prefer to push retirement savings entirely on the shoulders of workers. Mark Federici, president of UFCW Local 400, pointed out that this system of retirement is a big problem for hourly workers because they can see decades of savings erased in a day (as we just experienced) and then put off retirement or simply retire without enough to live in dignity.

UFCW members did months of talking to their coworkers and building their union in preparation for a potential strike in order to preserve their benefits. Ultimately, the members reached an agreement with Giant and Safeway that preserved their pension plan.  The settlement also included raises and minimal healthcare increases. Jean St. Louis and President Mark Federici both expressed pride in the new contracts and President Federici believes it is the best the local has negotiated in decades.