BY MIKE SEAVEY
Below is the inaugural “Faith & Labor” column by Maine AFL-CIO Faith and Labor Liaison Mike Seavey.
The recent Maine AFL-CIO COPE Convention in late June gave me the opportunity to provide updates on Faith and Labor projects. I focused instead on missed opportunities of advocacy, when labor unions and faith communities are not connected. Some controversial issues might not seem to have any connection to workers and folks locked in generational poverty. Such is the case in Louisiana weeks ago, when Governor Jeff Landry signed legislation requiring the Ten Commandments to be placed in every public-school classroom.
Most news media reduced this issue to how extremes on either side view this through the narrowness of their lens. But, if faith and labor had their act together, a profound opportunity for advocacy becomes apparent. In Louisiana, the poverty rate for women is 20 percent and the child poverty rate is 27 percent. 13 percent of all Louisiana citizens live in extreme poverty. Other statistics are equally disturbing for a state rich in fossil fuels and refineries.
As a Roman Catholic, I examined the social justice teachings found in The Catechism of the Roman Catholic Church. The Catechism is a large volume presenting teachings the Catholic Church has held, developed, and taught for over two millennia. The teachings themselves did not surprise me, but the location where these are found in The Catechism was a great surprise.
For example, paragraph #2434: “A just wage is the legitimate fruit of work. To refuse or withhold it can be a grave injustice. Renumeration for work should guarantee man the opportunity to provide a dignified livelihood for himself and his family…”
That paragraph isn’t found in a chapter on “social justice”. Rather it is found within the chapter for “The Ten Commandments” under The Seventh Commandment: Thou Shall Not Steal. In other words, as far as God is concerned, underpayment or exploitation of workers is “stealing.”
Another paragraph (#2288), “Concern for the health of its citizens requires that society help in the attainment of living conditions that allow them to grow and reach maturity: food and clothing, housing, health care, basic education, employment, and social assistance.” This is also located in “The Ten Commandments” chapter under The Fifth Commandment: Thou Shall Not Kill. The Catholic Church teaches that societies denying citizens elements for basic human existence and flourishing are in a real way “killing” them.
Finally, under The Tenth Commandment: Thou Shall Not Covet thy Neighbor’s Goods, brings an example of “coveting” (greed and the desire to amass earthly goods without limit). “Merchants who desire scarcity and rising prices…those who hope that their peers will be impoverished in order to realize a profit.” Economic systems offering “profits without limit” find condemnation.
With the above moral authority, faith and labor would challenge the entire Louisiana power structure. Using the same Ten Commandments proposed as a scale of morality, they would demand shameful patterns of injustice be replaced with a more just system including labor rights, taxation reform, and social services. Faith and labor are significant voices of advocacy.
Together, we are powerful!
Mike Seavey is a life-long Maine resident and was an active Roman Catholic priest for 37 years. For the past few years, he has combined his love for God and his heart felt support for unions as the volunteer Faith/Labor Liaison for the Maine AFL-CIO. His opinions are his own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Maine AFL-CIO.