Join the Catholic Labor Network at Catholic Social Ministry Gathering (CSMG)!
Each February, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops invites Catholic social ministry leaders and social justice activists from across the country to Washington DC for several days of fellowship, learning, prayer, and activism – and the Catholic Labor Network, as a partner in the Catholic Social Ministry Gathering (CSMG), holds its annual meeting and luncheon. I hope you will join us for one or both of these events in February 2019 at the UNION Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington DC!
The Catholic Labor Network annual meeting opens at 8am on Saturday, February 2. In the morning, we’ll hear Catholic labor leaders, clergy and lay social justice activists share how their faith has informed their witness for the working poor and struggles to change society. Our special guest speakers will include United Airlines food service employees who waged a successful organizing campaign this fall to join the union UNITE HERE, and are bargaining with the airline for living wage jobs with health care coverage. We will also hear farmworker activists from the Coalition of Immokalee Workers tell us how they won a workplace code of conduct in Florida’s tomato fields. Afterward, at the luncheon, CLN will announce a major new initiative to connect labor leaders and Church leaders in order to promote worker justice and defend our immigrant neighbors.
CSMG 2019 will open that afternoon and continue through Tuesday, February 5. This year’s theme is Let Justice Flow (cf. Amos 5:24): A Call to Restore and Reconcile. Speakers and workshops will cover major topics in Catholic Social Teaching, from global peace to environmental protection to economic justice. (Our good friend Brian Corbin from Catholic Charities will be discussing Just Wages: Living Well from the Fruits of One’s Labor!) In a special conference highlight, Bishop Shelton J. Fabre of Houma-Thibodaux, Chair of the Bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism, will lead a panel discussion on Open Wide our Hearts: The Enduring Call to Love (the bishops’ new pastoral letter against racism) and its implications for Church and society.
To register for either or both of these important events,