Labor-Religion Coalition, at 25, still pressing for worker justice

In 1980, a group of volunteers from across New York State asked religious leaders, labor-union presidents, churchgoers and workforce activists this question: Shall we work together?

"The answer was a resounding yes," said Brian O'Shaughnessy, who is president of the New York State Labor-Religion Coalition.

He believes that the success of the organization, which is marking its 25th anniversary, is a testament to the ongoing assent of its supporters.

Issues of concern

In 1980, labor leaders and their religious counterparts were concerned with upstate plant closings, the rights of migrant farmworkers, the movement towards a global economy and healthcare issues.

Twenty-five years later, much of the fight remains the same, according to Bishop Howard J. Hubbard: advocating for farmworkers' rights and an increase in the minimum wage; educating young people about the ill effects of globalization; and helping believers link the social teachings of their faiths to action that upholds human dignity.

Bishop Hubbard is one of the founding members of the Coalition and its chairperson.

Forging a link

Bishop Hubbard said the Coalition has been instrumental in restoring a partnership between faith and labor, a partnership that began at the start of the 20th century but disintegrated after World War II.

"That's one of the things that the Coalition has been able to do: re-forge the bonds that had been weakened," he said. "We have a common concern -- the dignity of the human being, and the rights of workers to be able to receive a just wage, work in safe conditions and have a voice in their working situation.

"That has long been a part of Church social teaching, and is also part and parcel what the labor movement is all about. So many of our values and principles are the same."

Key values

"Both labor and religion are rooted in the same key, shared values," said Mr. O'Shaughnessy. "At the base is the dignity of the person. At the heart of our American tradition is that all human beings have a worth. Labor has held up that value."

Over the years, volunteers have championed such causes as the Sweatfree Schools Campaign to eliminate sweatshop-made athletic goods from schools.

Said Bishop Hubbard, "We were able to get schools to commit to only buying clothing and equipment that was made under what we called a basic ethical code of labor."

Albany diocesan Catholic schools are among those that follow the code.

Global view

With an increasing trend toward globalization affecting workers and labor conditions in New York State, Mr. O'Shaughnessy said the Coalition felt it was important to provide a way to see what is happening in other countries.

Thus, in 1997, the Coalition began providing interested parties with the chance to travel to Mexico and the U.S. border to "experience the global factory in a microcosm, and see, reflect on and pray about" that situation, he said.

The trip teaches pilgrims about the "responsibility we have to what is happening beyond our state borders and how we are benefiting at the expense of workers," Bishop Hubbard explained. "We have been successful in calling attention to some of the byproducts of globalization."

Health care

The Coalition also continues to work on a statewide level in the fields of healthcare, the treatment of migrant workers and advocacy for those Mr. O'Shaughnessy calls "the least among us."

"To have a healthcare system that excludes millions of citizens is unnecessary and immoral," he said. "There are solutions."

He pointed to a victory the Coalition supported: the anticipated passage of a law in Suffolk County that would require employers to pay for health care for workers who previously were disqualified.

Farmworkers

The plight of farmworkers is another focus of the Coalition.

"We have been able to get some improvement in their conditions," Bishop Hubbard noted, "but that basic right [to organize] has not materialized for them. We must make sure that they get a day off, that they have sanitary conditions in their place of employment and that they have adequate housing."

The Coalition argued for an increase in the minimum wage that occurred last year, but Bishop Hubbard is still concerned it will not be enough for the working poor to make ends meet.

"There have been changes, but they do not keep pace with the cost of living," he said.

More to do

Coalition leaders have high hopes for the future.

"There is a need for helping people at the parish level to understand the challenges facing the contemporary worker," said Bishop Hubbard. "I would like this to become not just a diocesan or a statewide effort, but one that has grassroots involvement.

"We are all made in the image and likeness of God, and work is a gift from God to be used for one's self-esteem and self-fulfillment, and for the benefit of other people. Solidarity as members of the human family is a core teaching of our Church; to the extent that we can promote the dignity of human labor, we are fulfilling God's vision for the world.

"In the Coalition, we have been able to support people being able to have their human dignity respected and to create an environment that tries to ensure that everyone has their basic human needs met."

(Members of the Coalition include labor unions, such as the New York State United Teachers, Local 1199/SEIU, United University Professions, the New York State Nurses Association and the Public Employees Federation, as well as seven of the eight Catholic dioceses in the state, the New York Board of Rabbis, Unitarian churches, the Islamic Da'wah Educational Alliance, the Evangelical Lutheran Church and the Albany United Methodist Society.)

(10/20/05) [[In-content Ad]]