Labor - Employment

 

Through the combination of social and economic change, trade union organizations experience greater difficulty in carrying out their task of representing the interests of workers, partly because Governments, for reasons of economic utility, often limit the freedom or the negotiating capacity of labour unions. . . . The repeated calls issued within the Church's social doctrine, beginning with Rerum Novarum, for the promotion of workers' associations that can defend their rights must therefore be honoured today even more than in the past, as a prompt and far-sighted response to the urgent need for new forms of cooperation at the international level, as well as the local level.

-- Pope Benedict XVI, Caritas in Veritate, 2009.  

Current Advocacy Position

The Catholic bishops of the United States have long held that the most effective way to build a just economy is to make decent work at decent wages available for all those capable of working. When the economy fails to generate sufficient jobs, there is a moral obligation to protect the life and dignity of unemployed and underemployed workers and their families.

Click here to learn more.

Legislative Documents, Letters, and Statements

Letter to Congress on Unemployment Insurance
Bishop Stephen E. Blaire
December 11, 2011

Comments to National Labor Relations Board on Union Elections
Carlos Ortiz Miranda
August 22, 2011

Letter to Senate about JOBS Act and Unemployment Benefits
Bishops Stephen E. Blaire
June 28, 2011

Letter to House about JOBS Act and Unemployment Benefits
Bishops Stephen E. Blaire
June 20, 2011

Letter to Archbishop Jerome E. Listecki of Milwaukee in Support of His Statement on the Rights of Workers
Bishop Stephen E. Blaire|
February 23, 2011

Letter to Senate on Extending Unemployment Insurance and the National Housing Trust Fund
Bishop William F. Murphy
July 19, 2010

Letter to Senate on Housing Trust Fund and Unemployment Insurance
Bishop William Murphy
March 5, 2010

For information from 2009 and earlier, see our labor archives.

Annual Labor Day Statements

Placing Work and Workers at the Center of Economic Life | En Español
 Bishop Stephen E. Blaire
September 3, 2012

Human Costs and Moral Challenges of a Broken Economy | En Español
Bishop Stephen E. Blaire
September 5, 2011

A New "Social Contract" for Today's "New Things" | En Español
Bishop William Murphy
September 6, 2010

For statements from 2009 and earlier, see our Labor Day archives.

Primers, Backgrounders, and Educational Materials

Background on Protecting the Rights of Workers in a Globalized Economy
February 2013

Primer on Labor in Catholic Social Thought
2011

Background on Paid Sick Leave
April 2006

Background on Minimum Wage
April 2006



By accepting this message, you will be leaving the website of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. This link is provided solely for the user's convenience. By providing this link, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops assumes no responsibility for, nor does it necessarily endorse, the website, its content, or sponsoring organizations.

cancel  continue