“The struggle of working people, of the poor” is not primarily a “social or political question. No! It is the Gospel, pure and simple,” according to bishops in the US.
Bishop Frank J. Dewane of Venice, Florida, USA, made his comments in a Labor Day Statement made on behalf of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Labor Day is a public holiday in the US, dedicated to the social and economic achievements of workers, and is always on the first Monday in September.
In the statement Dewane questioned whether the recent economic news and data reports “give an entirely accurate account of the daily lives and struggles of working people, those who are still without work, or the underemployed struggling with low wages?”
He noted that while it is “encouraging that poverty has gone down”, it still remains the case that “almost one in three persons have a family income below 200 per cent of the federal poverty line.”
Dewane added that “there are many families who, even if they have technically escaped poverty, nevertheless face significant difficulties in meeting basic needs. Wages for lower income workers are, by various accounts, insufficient to support a family and provide a secure future.”
Dewane pointed to the results of a recent study, which “examined whether a minimum wage earner could afford an average two-bedroom apartment in their state of residence". Shockingly, he wrote, all 50 states, the answer was no.
“Taking into account inflation and the rising cost of living, workers at the lower end of the income spectrum have seen their wages stagnate or even decrease over the last decade,” said Dewane.
Bishop Dewane also brought attention to “the continuing disparities in median incomes between different racial and ethnic groups and between women and men.” He argued that, ”no examination of our economy, in light of justice, can exclude consideration of how discrimination based on race and sex impacts the just distribution of wages.”
Dewane said that every worker has “a right to a just wage according to the criterion of justice, which St. John XXIII described as wages that, ‘give the worker and his family a standard of living in keeping with the dignity of the human person’.”
He added that “St. John Paul II elaborated on the systematic implications of just wages, describing them as ‘the concrete means of verifying the justice of the whole socioeconomic system'.”
Dewane said: “When a society fails in the task of ensuring workers are paid justly, questions arise as to the underlying assumptions of that system. A society that is willing to exclude its most vulnerable members, Pope Francis suggests in Evangelii Gaudium, is one where ‘the socio-economic system is unjust at its root.’ Pope Francis warns that absent a just response, these disparities can lead to deep societal divisions and even violence.”
“The economy must serve people, not the other way around,” Dewane said. “Work is more than a way to make a living; it is a form of participating in God’s creation. If the dignity of work is to be protected, then the basic rights of workers must be respected, including the right to productive work, to decent and fair wages, to organising and joining unions, to private property, and to economic initiative.”
Part of this obligation, said Dewane, “is to pay a just wage, which provides a dignified livelihood for workers and their families to meet their basic needs.” Whether or not a wage is just must be evaluated “in the context of the well-being and flourishing of the individual, the family and society”.
According to Dewane, the Christian’s task is threefold. Firstly, we are “to live justly in our own lives whether as business owners or workers. Secondly, we are called to stand in solidarity with our poor and vulnerable brothers and sisters. Lastly, we should all work to reform and build a more just society, one which promotes human life and dignity and the common good of all. We also need to recognize the gifts and responsibilities that God has entrusted to each of us.”
He recalled the words of Pope Francis in Gaudete et Exultate: “Do you work for a living? Be holy by labouring with integrity and skill in the service of your brothers and sisters…Are you in a position of authority? Be holy by working for the common good and renouncing personal gain.”
Dewane said society should give “due consideration for what justly ensures security for employees to establish and maintain all significant aspects of family life, and care for family members into the future.”
He added: “As Christians, we believe that conflict or enmity between the rich and the poor is not necessary or inevitable. These divisions are in fact sinful. But we live in the hope that our society can become ever more just when there is conversion of heart and mind so that people recognise the inherent dignity of all and work together for the common good.”