Editorial: Michigan's Right to Work Legislation Signed into Law. Class Warfare Fueled

By Keith A Fournier
12/13/2012
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

There appears to be an effort to turn this into a Union vs. anti-Union struggle in order to promote a political agenda more than protect workers.

Most Press reports present the matter as a struggle between those who support collective bargaining rights and those who do not. That is simply not true. The legislation the Big Union leaders oppose gives both government and private sector workers the right to make up their own mind about joining a union and having their union dues deducted from their paychecks. It does not outlaw collective bargaining.

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LANSING, MI (Catholic Online) - The reports out of the Capitol of Michigan, the home of the United States Automobile Industry, were depressing and distressing. The hostility between the leaders of the Big Labor Unions and workers and other citizens who support Michigan's Right to Work legislation reached a fever pitch on Tuesday, December 11, 2012.

Some Labor Union members tore down a tent where supporters of the legislation congregated to hear speeches, exercise their free speech rights and have refreshments. The tent was sponsored by an organization called Americans for Prosperity which supported the legislation the Union leaders and many members oppose. Some reports referred to the actions of some the union members as thuggery. The You Tube videos which have now gone viral lend credibility to the claim.

There appears to be an effort to turn this into a Union vs. anti-Union struggle in order to promote a political agenda more than protect workers.

The leadership of some Labor Unions has become increasingly politicized. They advocate agendas often associated with the "left wing" in today's political parlance. There is a growing concern among some workers - including faithful Catholics - that the dues collected from them, often against their will, is used to support candidates, causes and positions which directly contradict their deeply held religious and moral positions.

The legislation passed the Michigan legislature by a majority vote. It was signed into Law by Governor Rick Snyder on Tuesday evening. However, the struggle to oppose it now appears headed to the Courts. It also seems slated to be used by some left leaning political activists more interested in fueling a class warfare narrative than promoting and protecting the dignity of workers.

This kind of legislation is referred to as Right to Work legislation. It is often disparaged as anti-union, anti-collective bargaining and pro-republican. Some of those who support it are anti-Union - and that is unfortunate. Unions are mediating associations whereby workers govern themselves and legitimately protect their interests. They have played - and can continue to play - an important role in our social and economic order.

However, some leadership in some of the larger Unions resembles the bloated bureaucratic boss corporate leadership structure Unions were originally organized to oppose and contend with. Their claim to respect and protect the rights of their worker-members is also, at times, questionable. So too is their use of the funds extracted from the paychecks of their members without their consent.

It seems the fact that Michigan is a predominantly Democratic State has raised the ire of many in the leadership of the Union movement opposing this legislation. Sadly, the matter only fuels the growing divisions in the Nation. It is being used to spread a class warfare narrative reminiscent of past eras.

Catholic social doctrine supports labor unions as a form of participation which recognizes that the dignity of human work derives from the dignity of the worker. They are seen as an example of mediating institutions which can serve the common good. That support is succinctly summarized in the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church in paragraphs #305 - 309 from which I quote below.

However, these sections also issue warnings too rarely considered. Here is one: "Unions do not have the character of "political parties" struggling for power, and they should not be forced to submit to the decisions of political parties nor be too closely linked to them. In such a situation they easily lose contact with their specific role, which is to secure the just rights of workers within the framework of the common good of the whole of society; instead they become an instrument used for other purposes."

Here is another, "Properly speaking, unions are promoters of the struggle for social justice, for the rights of workers in their particular professions: This struggle should be seen as a normal endeavor 'for' the just good ... not a struggle 'against' others. Being first of all instruments of solidarity and justice, unions may not misuse the tools of contention; because of what they are called to do, they must overcome the temptation of believing that all workers ...

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1 - 10 of 24 Comments

David
4 months ago
fire...It is truely sad that you have such disdain and disrespect for a Bishop of the Church or for that matter the other Bishops that were in solidarity with him, no matter his or their thoughts and feelings on the topic...
American Firefighter
4 months ago
David, is this the same infallible bishop Gumbleton that is committed to a foux pax that B16 recently spoke of? Is this the same bishop that is not in solidarity with his own union boss? The key to it all, David is on the shoulders of his union boss. Listen and learn about true solidarity from him. You are only fooling yourself, and bringing others along for the ride.
David
5 months ago
firefighter, Grey and the rest of you, I read the opinion page in the Grand Rapids Press. In it was an opionion by a retired bishop from the Archdiocese of Detroit about RTW, read on... Oh and Grey, why is it so hard for you to think that I won't pray for you and the others?BY BISHOP THOMAS GUMBLETON

“We firmly oppose organized efforts, such as those regrettably now seen in this country, to break existing unions and prevent workers for organizing.”

My brother bishops and I wrote that more than a quarter-century ago in our 1986 letter "Economic Justice for All." Regrettably, it rings true still today.

The right-to-work legislation that was passed by the House and the Senate in Michigan just this month is designed to break unions. It is designed to prevent workers from organizing. And we must oppose it as firmly as we did during the 1980s.

As Catholics, we believe that if the dignity of work is to remain protected, then the basic rights of workers must be protected -- fair wages, freedom from discrimination and the right to organize and join unions. We believe in justice. We believe in the common good.

Right-to-work laws go against everything we believe.

.Economists tell us that right-to-work laws devastate economic justice. They lower wages for all workers. They lessen benefits for all workers. They increase poverty for all people.

Workers tell us that these laws decrease cooperation, collaboration, love and solidarity.

This legislation should not just offend Catholics, but all Christians and members of all faith traditions. At the core of Christianity, Judaism, Islam and all great religions are the values of dignity and respect, values from which economic justice and the right to organize can never be separated.

Gov. Rick Snyder’s Presbyterian tradition “affirms the rights of labor organization and collective bargaining as minimum demands of justice.” Similar statements have been made by the United Methodist Church, the United Church of Christ, the Union for Reform Judaism and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, to name but a few.

However, we do not need statements from on high to understand what we know to be true on the ground. Right-to-work laws do not help the least among us. Rather, they profit those who already hold more power and wealth than is their fair share. They foster extreme inequality, inequality that can only lead to extreme disparities and extreme division.

In the book of Isaiah, the prophet proclaims, “Woe to those who make unjust laws.” Indeed, woe to those in the Michigan state legislature who voted in favor of these laws. Woe to Gov. Snyder whose pen is at the ready to sign these bills.

Just as Catholic bishops united in 1986 to speak against organized efforts to break unions, it is now time for Michigan citizens of all faiths to unite against an unjust law, passed in great haste, which will do great damage to our state. Each of us must take responsibility for speaking out and taking action to prevent a terrible injustice from occurring in Michigan.

Bishop Thomas Gumbleton is a retired auxiliary bishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit.
judy claar
5 months ago
WoW! This board indeed is a place for public opinion! Stephanie, American Firefighter, Bob, Larry, to name a few. My thoughts are out there with you. I certainly have not hooked up with the borg as yet! Nor does this Independent voter's Catholic Social Justice thinking intend too either! Blessings...
Debbie
5 months ago
The actions of union leaders and workers in MI and WI for that matter are beyond acceptable. Destruction of property, assaulting those with opposing views, and verbal threats of, "Civil War", are the actions of thugs.

No wonder people want to opt out of paying union dues. I would not want my money going to support such behavior.
Robert Toy
5 months ago
My Friends,
This struggle, unfortunately, is not about workers freedom of associations. Nor is it about anti-union legislation. This is about one thing: Money and you my friends are being played. States like this law because it lessens the big internationals grip on labor. Open shop states are more cost effective. Ergo businesses like to relocate to these states since they are more profitable. More profitable companies tend to pay their workers more just to keep unions out. For both of these reasons states tax revenues climb. Unions hate it because union dues are the only real source( at least on the surface) of revenue they have. And money has a way of becoming personal which is why you see outside union activities usually bused in from any where in the country. The bottom line is if unions are an attractive proposition to the workers, the workers will gladly join. From the looks of it unions act they don't have very strong case.
vance
5 months ago
This is long overdue. The Marxist Democrat Party has received Billions of dollars from dues money to finance their campaigns and elections. This has been a 'Money Laundering' racket. Time to end it.
starzec
5 months ago
The bible talks about a fair day's wage for a fair day's work. How does a Catholic and Catholic Online ignore that?? "Masters, treat your slaves justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven" (Colossians 4:1). "A worker’s wage is credited not as a gift, but as something due" (Romans 4:4). "Come now, you rich, weep and wail over your impending miseries. Your wealth has rotted away, your clothes have become moth-eaten, your gold and silver have corroded, and that corrosion will be a testimony against you; it will devour your flesh like a fire. You have stored up treasure for the last days. Behold, the wages you withheld from the workers who harvested your fields are crying aloud, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.(James 5:1-4)

AMarek, the unions did not pick up the steel industry and move it overseas. The unions did not pick up the other factory jobs and move them overseas. The unions did not destroy the auto industry; in fact American Auto industry is doing quite well. You want to blame unions but the middle class in this country grew from the 1930's to 1980 and why? Unions provided families the means to escape the cities into the suburbs by making sure dad had decent salary so he could afford the house with the white picket fence and the new Edsel. Unless you built your own home, most likely a union carpenter and union electrician worked on it. Your streets were built by union workers. The car you are driving, even the gas it uses produced by a union worker. If you that anti union, take a stab at using something not made by a union worker.
Stephanie
5 months ago
Unions used to be great things 100 years ago because they would protect workers' rights. Now we have laws against unsafe work conditions, minimum wage requirements, employers are required to pay on time, child labor laws, etc. Unions are no longer needed because we have reformed our legal system.

The real reason they're upset is because that means no more free money for the Democratic Party. People are required to join unions as a condition of being hired and then the unions use the dues to donate to far-left causes. Now if you look at the last election, 30% of America voted for Obama, 29% voted for Romney, and 40% disliked both candidates and parties so much that they did not vote at all. Time to stop the theft donating to causes that only 30% of the people support. Now I can understand a blue state where 60% of the votes went to Obama. But I heard that (in California) 98% of union dues go to the Democratic Party. Obama did not get 98% of the vote, and the 60% that went to Obama doesn't count the people who didn't vote at all.
KarlVDH
5 months ago
...how come they only throw around the phrase, "Class Warfare" when the working class starts standing up for itself?

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