continue at Regnum NovumIn the context of the Wisconsin recall vote on Tuesday, Michael Sean Winters over at the National Catholic Reporter brings up, as many others have, the importance of labor unions in the tradition of the Catholic Church’s social teaching. While Mr. Winters has a point that the Church has been in support of unions, what he and many others fail to note are the parameters which the Holy Fathers have given for that support. There are limits, and these limits are almost always ignored.
Pope Leo XIII supported unions...up to a point.
The news out of Wisconsin yesterday morning was in some places headlined “Unions Lose.” Whether or not that’s true, it certainly betrays the perception that at the heart of the political angst in Wisconsin are the questions of public unions, collective bargaining and the closed shop rules that dominate. A “closed shop” means that you cannot work at the “shop” unless you belong to the union. Wisconsin public schools are a closed shop.
Because of the historic support for unions, many Catholics are lamenting the lack of support that the bishops are giving the Wisconsin unions. How dare they not use their pulpits, suggests Mr. Winters, to rally Catholic action against Governor Walker and his GOP hoods. But then looking at the actual social teaching ought to help us decipher the situation.
Let’s start with Pope Leo XIII, the founder of modern social doctrine, and his Rerum novarum which says:
A very good read. Sadly, the Church's social teaching has got a reputation of being "bad" because so many on the left continue to misrepresent it. The Church defines the teaching, not a particular political party.