What Do the Catholic Bishops Point to as Examples of Subsidiarity? Labor Unions!
The thoughtful 2012 USCCB Labor Day Statement "Placing Work and Workers at the Center of Economic Life" gently admonishes the current generation of politicians, noting that "In the current political campaigns, we hear much about the economy, but almost nothing about the moral imperative to overcome pervasive poverty in a nation still blessed with substantial economic resources." And at a time when some wish to invoke "subsidiarity" as a justification to attack the social safety net, Bishop Blaire, writing for the USCCB, points out that "Unions are a sign of subsidiarity." Blaire continues, "Like other institutions, including religious, business and civic groups, unions sometimes fall short... when labor institutions fall short, it does not negate Catholic teaching in support of unions and the protection of working people... indeed, economic renewal that places working people and their families at the center of economic life cannot take place without effective unions."
Read the Bishops full statement here: http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/human-life-and-dignity/labor-employment/labor-day-statement-2012.cfm
And a happy and blessed Labor Day.
1 comment:
Let's not forget Pope John II's emphasis on the PRIORITY of labor in his encyclical Laborem Exercens.
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