When a Good Faith Bargain is Abused by Politicians
In his Statement Regarding the Rights of Workers and the Value of Unions, Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome Listecki has rightly re-iterated the Church’s long held teaching on the rights of workers to organize into unions and associations and enter into collectively bargain agreements.
Governments, for reasons of economic utility, often limit the freedom or the negotiating capacity of labor unions. Hence traditional networks of solidarity have more and more obstacles to overcome. The repeated calls issued within the Church’s social doctrine, beginning with Rerum Novarum [60], for the promotion of workers’ associations that can defend their rights must therefore be honored 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. [#25]
Looking at the historic document, Rerum Novarum, the teachings of the Catholic Church are clear
Rerum 45
Let the working man and the employer make free agreements, and in particular let them agree freely as to the wages; nevertheless, there underlies a dictate of natural justice more imperious and ancient than any bargain between man and man, namely, that wages ought not to be insufficient to support a frugal and well-behaved wage-earner.
tempered with
Rerum 60
the condition of the working classes is the pressing question of the hour, and nothing can be of higher interest to all classes of the State than that it should be rightly and reasonably settled. But it will be easy for Christian working men to solve it aright if they will form associations, choose wise guides, and follow on the path which with so much advantage to themselves and the common weal was trodden by their fathers before them. Prejudice, it is true, is mighty, and so is the greed of money; but if the sense of what is just and rightful be not deliberately stifled, their fellow citizens are sure to be won over to a kindly feeling towards men whom they see to be in earnest as regards their work
So what happens when those being in “earnest as regards their work” turn out to be not so earnest? Say they want to retire at age 49, with full benefits and pension, so they can sit around the tavern and joyfully celebrate their lack of earnestness? Who is best in the position to judge and negotiate with the high number of formerly earnest who have decided that their earnest days are over?
In Wisconsin, and most other places, government entities negotiate with government unions. The Government entities consist of school boards, governors, and legislators who are elected and dependent upon the support of government unions for their election. We get ourselves in such a fix when we no longer have a adversarial relationship between employer and employed, but rather an adversarial relationship pitting employer and employed against the taxpayer, who pays the bills for both the employer and the employed.
Wisconsin Governor Walker has called for a partial end (benefits only) to collective bargaining for some Wisconsin Government Unions, not coincidentally the same Unions who financed his opponents in the Wisconsin Governor’s race. There is a level of political common sense here, (why should Governor Walker support the same people who are trying to defeat him?) that makes his efforts very clear.
However, the thornier question remains, people of good will, using the Catechism as their guide, support collective bargaining for workers. Collective bargaining fails when there is a financial crisis and participants decline to bargain in good will. How does the Catechism square with a typically sympathetic party (the wage earner) taking an abusive share of the employment bargain while taxpayers are literally pushed to the breaking point?
Re-reading Rerum, it does not seem directed at Government Unions. The bargaining power of politicians is very different than that of private employers. In a private employment contract, there is always the opportunity to opt-out if a stakeholder feels he is being abused by one party or another (prices too high for a Cadillac -> buy a Hyundai). However for a State employment contract, a major stakeholder is not given the opportunity to opt-out of the deal. If you don’t like your public school, you still have to pay for it, for example.
The Church’s teachings are timeless and comprehensive. Yet the application of the teachings needs further study in specific regard to Government Unions. Abp. Listecki is quite right to emphasize the teachings of the Church with regard to labor rights. However, it can certainly within reason to discuss, is it labor or a political squabble that in play here.
image Bel Canto Chorus at St. Josaphat’s Basilica, Milwaukee Wisconsin
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St. Paul Seminary at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota
