The Feast of St. Joseph the Worker (May 1) is a day set aside to recognize two key insights: work matters and so do the conditions within our respective places of work. Some of us work in order to keep up with popular trends. Others work to have money so they can go out on the weekends. Yet work is more than just a way to get spending cash. It also gives us a sense of who we are, what we are good at, as well as the sort of society we create. We gain our identity through work. So what does it mean to live St. Joseph the Worker?
If work has the power to shape and transform our lives and society, the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker is a unique Christian way of inviting the world to pay attention to the importance of work in our lives. This is a day set aside to pray for all the working families around the world and redouble our efforts in this mission. And we need to first educate ourselves about the issue of workers rights in the Roman Catholic worldview.
Educate
Officially beginning in 1891 with Pope Leo XIII's encyclical The Condition of Labor , Catholics have engaged significant issues by applying Christian understandings to the realities of an ever-changing social order. In 2005 the Bishop of Broome in Australia released a pastoral letter that laid out three principles of the Catholic Social Tradition with such aims. He writes:
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Fair and Just Minimum Wage for Workers
Workers ought to be justly and fairly paid for the work that they do. This should not only be an agreement between the workers and the particular companies. The government also has a role to play in insuring that wages are adequate for the type and amount of work. A fair and just wage provides a foundation upon which society can be built. -
Wages Need to Provide for the Worker's Family
Many families have two working parents who work tirelessly and still have a hard time paying for rent, food, bills, medical insurance and other necessary expenses. Not only do companies have a role to play in addressing the plight of such people, the government also needs to provide working families with cost of living benefits. From the perspective of Catholic social thought, family values need to be grounded within a society that honors the family above unbridled capitalism and greed. -
Wages Provide Humans with a Comfortable Living
A minimum wage needs to be set at a figure that allows a person or a family to have enough to live comfortably. As every part of the world has different living expenses, there is not one single wage figure to achieve. What matters is that a family ought not be forced to move because the cost of living has risen while their wages remain stagnant.
The Chicago-based organization Interfaith Worker Justice will be hosting a conference in Chicago from June 16-19. Its statement of purpose: "Only through solidarity and effective coalition building can we make real progress in the journey to equity and dignity for all workers. The conference theme recognizes the call to demand justice for workers in low-wage jobs is collective and invites new partners to the work." Following the Chicago conference, from June 27-July 1st the US Social Forum will meet in Atlanta. Among the participants will be community organizers, trade unionists, students and youth, people of faith, NGOs, elected officials and many others.
Catholic Connection:
"The Church recognizes the importance of work for the personal formation and dignity of the individual worker. Work is vital in supporting family life and the life of the community. The Church teaches that work is an essential key to the whole social question about the just and proper function of society. If work is a key to this social question, then the adequacy of wages provides the measure by we judge the injustice of the entire socioeconomic system - a system that should always be at the service of its people."
A Pastoral Letter for the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker , by the Bishop of Broome (Australia)
Most Rev Christopher Saunders (1 May 2005)
Reflection Questions
In what ways has your Christian faith influenced your understanding of the rights of workers?
Join us in our Forum to discuss these questions!
