Pope Leo XIII
Labor Day—the beginning of a new year. In so many ways, Labor Day marks both endings and beginnings—summer’s end, beginning of school year , cabin’s closure for the winter season, harvest, and the plentitude of fresh produce.
In a time gone by, this was the day on which men put aside the straw hat and white shoes and returned to brown or black shoes and felt hats.
This is the day on which we remember the ennobling quality of human work and the dignity of workers.
In 1891, Pope Leo XIII issued a letter to all Catholics on the condition of human labor and the dignity of work. This was the inaugural moment of what is now known as the “Church’s Social Teaching”.
The letter articulates the Church’s teaching on the rights and duties of labor and management. It calls for a level playing field to foster the rights of works to seek redress from management and the rights of management to the fruits of capital investment.
It calls for the establishment and promotion of labor unions and the workers right to collective bargaining. It deplores unbridled capitalism and the encroachment of socialism and communism.
John A. Ryan, a priest of the Twin Cities from Vermillion, Minnesota, is the one who, in promoting the teachings on labor, influenced the establishment of many principles of the Catholic social teaching in the “New Deal” of the Roosevelt Administration.
Out of the reflection on and commitment to the principles of Leo’s letter and the fostering of labor unions, there was established: the 40-hour work week, child labor legislation, the National Labor Relations Act, Social Security, the living wage, the right to strike, etc.
So much of what we take for granted in the work place is the fruit of the teaching of Leo XIII, the work of John A. Ryan and the fruit of labor unions. Labor Day is time to remember and give thanks for the work of the labor movement.
Father Steve Adrian
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