US bishops decry economic inequalities in Labor Day statement
August 30, 2013
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In their annual Labor Day Statement, the US bishops have linked persistent unemployment in America with economic inequalities.
“The only way to reduce the widening gap between the affluent and the poorest people in our nation is by creating quality jobs that provide a just compensation and enables workers to live in the dignity appropriate for themselves and their families,” says the statement, which is signed by Bishop Stephen Blaire of Stockton, California, the chairman of the US bishops’ committee on domestic affairs. The statement notes that unemployment and underemployment continue to trouble the American economy. The bishops’ statement strongly affirms the role of labor unions in society. “The Church, in accord with her principles on the life and dignity of the human person, wishes to collaborate with unions in securing the rights and dignity of workers,” the bishops say.
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Posted by: FredC -
Aug. 31, 2013 2:02 PM ET USA
Labor unions add to the economic inequality, pricing labor out of the market in favor of machines (e.g., check-out machines). Welfare also adds to the inequality. One analyst wrote that a person receiving $25,000 per year in welfare must earn $55,000 from a job -- just to break even. Everyone wants more jobs. Do the bishops have a plan that will generate more private-sector jobs, or do they want more taxes to pay for more government jobs?
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Posted by: Defender -
Aug. 30, 2013 3:53 PM ET USA
As long as the bishops don't allow their own workers to organize, whatever they say on this subject is irrelevant.
