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PDF versionLabor Day: Bishops call for new 'social contract'
Sep. 02, 2010
Contractors for the Army Corps of Engineers build a flood wall in Harvey, La., in 2009. (CNS/Jim West)
WASHINGTON – "Workers need a new 'social contract,'" says the 2010 Labor Day statement of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
It compares the massive changes in today's global economy with the social upheavals of the 19th-century Industrial Revolution that led to Pope Leo XIII's famous 1891 social encyclical, Rerum Novarum, on capital and labor.
It suggests that Pope Benedict XVI's encyclical, Caritas in Veritate ("Charity in Truth") offers a similar 21st-century response to the challenges of globalization, putting the life and dignity of the worker at the center of economic renewal.
The millions of long-term unemployed and underemployed mark "a pervasive failure of our economy today," it says.
Bishop William F. Murphy of Rockville Centre, N.Y., chairman of the USCCB Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, wrote this year's statement, which was released two weeks before Labor Day. The five-page statement is titled "A New 'Social Contract' for Today's 'New Things'" – a reference to the Latin title of the 1891 encyclical.
Murphy said many believe "that this is a crucial moment in American history in which America is undergoing a rare economic transformation, shedding jobs and testing safety nets as the nation searches for new ways to govern and grow our economy."
In the 19th century, he said, Pope Leo found the ideologies of capitalism and socialism inadequate, and instead "insisted on the value and dignity of the worker as a human being endowed with rights and responsibilities. He commended free association or unions as legitimate and he insisted on a family wage that corresponded to the needs of the worker and family. He opened the way to humanize the Industrial Revolution" through Catholic principles about the person in society.
"That encyclical provided moral, and even spiritual, guidance for many of the great social reforms of the last century, including advances in public health, the banking system, public education, living wages, unions and income security" he said.
"Then as today, the church was concerned about the balance between capital and labor, between owners and workers, when new technologies … disrupt the balance and put economic justice and the social contract up for renegotiation," he said.
He said Pope Benedict's encyclical reminds people "that a key, perhaps the key, to overcoming the current economic situation is to unleash the creative forces of men and women. People, not things, must be at the center."
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He quoted from the encyclical: "Unemployment today provokes new forms of economic marginalization, and the current crisis can only make this situation worse. Being out of work or dependent on public or private assistance for a prolonged period undermines the freedom and creativity of the person and his family and social relationships. … I would like to remind everyone, especially governments engaged in boosting the world's economic and social assets, that the primary capital to be safeguarded and valued is man, the human person in his or her integrity."
"Pope Benedict links three interrelated components of society in a way that offers a hint at a new way or renewed way to think about a better future," Murphy said. "They are the market, the state, and civil society."
While most of the focus in today's economy is placed on the roles of government and the market, he said, "perhaps the most undervalued and overlooked sector in this framework is that of civil society."
"Could a reawakening and new development of the roles of intermediary institutions, including voluntary associations and unions, be a force to call the market to greater understanding of the centrality of the worker?" he asked. "Could they be a means to restrain, mediate or hold accountable both the state and the marketplace?"
"Pope Benedict believes this," he said. "He suggests that the various components of civil society can work, along with those in the market and the state, to introduce elements in favor of an economy of gift and gratuitousness."
Murphy explained that in introducing "the spirit of gift" into the equation of economic life, the pope was articulating "a Christian understanding that the world and all of creation is a gift from God" and suggesting that this "theological concept" should have a role in shaping deliberations about life in the marketplace.
He quoted from the encyclical: "Economic life undoubtedly requires contracts, in order to regulate relations of exchange between goods of equivalent value. But it also needs just laws and forms of redistribution governed by politics, and what is more, it needs works redolent of the spirit of gift."
The pope, Murphy said, regards economic life as a "multilayered phenomenon" and "believes that introducing a sense of fraternity and gift can become a humanizing and civilizing force for the common good and for greater justice and peace."
Murphy suggested that wage fairness might be a good starting point for a new social contract.
"In too many places across America, workers are not being fully paid for their labor," he said. He cited reports of factory workers whose time starts not when they arrive at work, but when the conveyor belt starts, waiters whose employers do not give them their tips, retail workers who have to clock out and then stay on to restock shelves or take inventory.
"Families struggling to make ends meet cannot have wage earners shortchanged on overtime or not get paid for all the hours they work," he said.
A new social contract for the common good of all humanity "begins by honoring work and workers," he said.
[Jerry Filteau is NCR Washington correspondent.]
As long as the bishops are
As long as the bishops are aligned with the Republican party, their statements on justice and the common good ring hollow.
Good job Bishop Murphy
Good job Bishop Murphy
The only way that we are
The only way that we are going to be able to fund all the social programs that are desired is with a roaring economy. We are now in the longest recovery from a recession in recent years. It clearly shows that what we have done does not work. We must release the power of the economy and of our people. That does not happen with more and more government and regulation and taxes.
Looks like a wonderful
Looks like a wonderful document - the Church should be an example of fair wages too.
Well, there would not be
Well, there would not be "millions of long-term unemployed and underemployed" in the US if we did not have 13 million illegal aliens soaking up millions of jobs and costing the US, particularly at the state and local levels, billions and billions in schooling, welfare and health costs. Those are not productive expenses and they detract measurably from the resources which could be used to educate and improve the lives of those legally in this country. Wake up and smell the coffee USCCB!
Wow. Does this mean that the
Wow. Does this mean that the bishops will stop doing things like union-busting at Catholic hospitals, imposing intrusive 'morals clauses' on its employees, refusing spousal medical insurance participation just to avoid the possibility of allowing a same-sex partner to participate, axing those who'd even broach certain taboo subjects, etc.? Does this mean that all lay church workers will be paid a just and living wage?
No?
I thought not.
Bishop, shrive thyself.
Wait a minute.... Are these
Wait a minute....
Are these the bishops that refuse to allow their teachers to organize to negotiate for decent wages? The bishops that set pay for the teachers in Catholic Schools at less 70% of what our poorly paid public schoool teachers make? Are these the bishops that fly first class and lay off diocesean employees when donations are down and they need to cut their budget?
My observations for thr bishops:
1. Lead by example.
2. Practice what you preach.
3. Actions speak louder htan words.
Where were the bishops when
Where were the bishops when workers needed national health care reform to pass??
The pope omits perhaps the
The pope omits perhaps the most critical single factor of economics and that is "ecologics", the natural ecology/environment. Meaningful "work" in the future has severe constraints. Don't look for the profligacy of human living to return any time soon — at least we should all pray that it doesn't return in the same way that it manifested in the past.
http://www.stockholmresilience.org/research/researchnews/tippingtowardst...
Paraphrasing Sarah
Paraphrasing Sarah Palin:
"How's that "new social contract" workin' out fer ya in your own backyard Bishop Murphy?
http://blog.beliefnet.com/deaconsbench/2010/01/rockville-centre-offers-b...
http://ncronline.org/news/accountability/rockville-centres-plan-ensure-f...
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/22/nyregion/after-cardinal-law-questions-...
http://www.bishop-accountability.org/news/2002-10-08-Breslin-CommentaryL...
Pope Benedict, The thoughts
Pope Benedict,
The thoughts expressed in this piece about Pope Benedict and his views are now far too little, and way far too late. You, Scalia, Bush, Cheney and the Republicans have done so much damage that it is just to late to try to reverse, to try to "pick up the pieces". Do you actually think you can repair the damages done to American families by YOUR Repubs? To be fully honest, I voted for some of them(DeWine, Voinvoich, LaTourette) up to and including the 2000 election, but no more, and not likely ever again!
But recall that you asked us to vote for those who reflect our values. As the Bush-Cheney admin revealed itself I realized that absolutely NONE of them reflected any my values. That, all of them, were mindless, lock step, Stepford Wives, Repub politicians. And full of hate for the average working American and his family, all because of crass money values rather than human values. In fact I still, largely and fully, question your values.
The damage, they and you caused, cannot be undone. WE have lost far too many lives, dollars and families to the Repub agenda of Trickle-down, unending worship of the Gospel of Prosperity and unending corporate greed.
Before John Paul and you got involved in our American politics, the American people controlled our politics/politicians, especially the totally avaricious Republican party, by moving our/us Independent votes from one party to the other whenever one of them went too far. Now that you and JPII have given the Repubs so much nearly total control over every dollar in our economy they are happy but "we the people" are nearly dead and very helpless, even as our economic and emotional and spiritual bones are being stripped bare. You say your going to attack secularism in Europe. The biggest purveyors of secularism values are the Repubs, right here in America, your Repubs.
It's a sad thing that you are just now beginning to "get it". It's nice that you did finally "get it", but your way-far to late. Now, that you and Scalia and his/your SCOTUS enacted Citizens United v The Federal..., our democracy has been fully and completely turned into a Fascist nation, using what can only be described as NAZI-LIKE PROPAGANDA, replete with lies and mischaracterizations, inuendo and character assassinations, as in "Thou shalt not bear false witness". Surely, we have finally become a killing machine for corporate profits. You may recall that USMC Gen. Smedley D. Butler(in the 1930s) and Ike Eisenhower(in the 1950s) clearly warned us about the military industrial and congressional complex. You, Dear Holy Father, clearly were NOT heeding their warnings.
Now you talk about the balance of power or lack thereof, between the GOP BIG corporations and the workers. Well DUHHH!!!
I'm sorry if I seem somewhat disrespectful but you clearly "missed the boat", and a long time ago. I, totally doubt that you can fix this mess. Do you actually think you can stop the daily hate and rancor coming from the Repub party and their voters. It's on the radio and on Fox News every minute of every day. Do you actually think you can stop all of the Catholics at Fox, like O'Reilly, Hannity, Van Susteren, Cavuto, etc, ad nauseam. You have unleashed the BEAST, it will consume us. I learned from the good nuns that: one must never align with evil, no matter how noble your cause. Nothing good ever comes from evil, ever! Truly, evil just begets more evil. Hate begets hate. Viciousness begets more viciousness!
JPII/you, Rev. Falwell and St. Reagan(the patron saint of endless corporate greed, deregulation/no regulation(BP oil leak, diseased eggs, etc) and Trickle-down) having now turned America into a Fascist nation are well along the way of turning America into a Theocracy, not unlike Iran. Sarah Palin, Jeb Bush, Newt Gingrich or Romney will next complete the process of turning us into a Theocracy. Watch for it to happen.
Our nation is now beset with unending hate from your friends in the Repub party and they are NOT going to stop that which you have albeit unwittingly(I'll give you that much, but you may have done this wittingly/willfully) helped them start.
So pray all you want, but so often the evils that men do, cannot be undone. That's exactly why one does not do those evils in the first place. I learned that from the good nuns you must never have learned from. Or to put it another way, in the words of the man coming out of ST. Charles Church one Sunday morning and talking to a reporter: "there is a heck of a lot more to Pro-life than just the fetus". If the living and their families aren't cared for, the fetus doesn't have a chance. Pro-life extends ALL the way or it doesn't really exist! OR, to put it another way, you may have done the Catholic thing, but you have NOT done the Christian, Christ-like, thing. OR, iow, pounding people into a mold that defies the natural order of things may not really help your cause, but only alienate! Any therapist can tell you that. Any one who has had course work in pastoral counseling can tell you that. OR, iow, what good does it do, to pound a person into a hole, of your choice (called your version of Pro-life and Family Values, which is so totally inconsistent) but lose them forever, in the fog of hate. Or, iow, if it doesn't make sense to us, then you had better either rethink or reframe your message.
There is something very wrong; very, very wrong!
God isn't the problem, religion is the problem.
I have been scandalized and radicalized by the Repub party AND my religion, or what is left of it.
Frankly, I do not think there is such a thing as Pro-life, it is really just a construct created by the Repub party(God, gays, guns, abortion and GREED; the last most of all) and their 1% super rich for their benefit of their own EXXXTREEEME GREED!!! So now what? Your actually trying to propose to help us, the other 99% of us, and our families.
NOT LIKELY!
Speaking of contracts on
Speaking of contracts on Labor Day, this would be a perfect day for American Catholics to cancel their bishop's contract with their diocese, ask him to step down, and have priests and laity decide by secret ballot if their bishop should be reappointed.
The only things US workers
The only things US workers are going to get are wage cuts and termination notices. American business has pretty much decided that workers are just "inputs" and not entitled to anything more than the bare minimum. Business owners will get plenty of encouragement to do more of the same when Republicans take over congress. This will be an extended "dark time" for labor and for families.
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