Once again, the Catholic hierarchy, this time in the person of Scranton, PA, Bishop Joseph Martino, is a model of hypocrisy. Implored by Catholic school teachers to have the Scranton Diocese Association of Catholic Teachers [PDF] recognized as their collective bargaining unit, Bishop Joseph Martino issued a resounding "no."
According to Michael Milz, president of the Scranton Teachers Association, until last year the Association represented teachers in 26 of the area's 42 schools, all operated independently. "We negotiated hundreds of contracts over the last 30 years on behalf of those schools," he said. Then came restructuring. The diocese centralized control, setting up four regional boards. "We were told... that our bargaining rights would remain intact," explained Milz. They didn't.
In response to Bishop Martino's fiat, hundreds of students and teachers, supported by labor representatives from the Teamsters to pipe fitters, electricians to machinists to the Scranton Fire Department, rallied last month in front of St. Patrick's Cathedral in Scranton.
Speaking from the back of a pickup truck, Mitz castigated the bishop for depriving Catholic teachers of their basic right to organize, in the face of literally centuries of Catholic encyclicals and pastoral letters in support of workers' rights to form unions. They range from the Papal encyclical Rerum Novarum of 1891 to last November's statement [PDF] of approved political positions issued by the U.S. Bishops' Conference. It included support for "the right of workers to choose whether to organize, join a union and bargain collectively and to exercise those rights without reprisal."
Yet, reprisals are the name of the game for these workers, says Milz. "I'd like to tell you that this type of attitude is isolated to just here, but it's not," he added, blaming the crop of extremely conservative bishops appointed in the recent past. "I'm the vice-president of the National Association of Catholic School Teachers. I'm not speaking from one little square corner of Northeastern Pennsylvania. I've met with these [bishops] and I've been around the country to see what's starting to happen."
What is especially galling to him is that "they use the worst kind of tactics" to discourage unionizing, "which is fear." In another diocese, he reports, teachers who supported the development of a union were threatened with firing--which can be done because in nearly every state Catholic school teachers are not protected by the National Labor Relations Act.
"They take advantage--and it's a disgrace--of women who make up most of our teaching population," says Milz. "Many of these women are marginal women, who are single and have been in the system a long time, or who are single mothers who can't risk taking that first step to go on strike. They can't miss a day's pay."
Catholic bishops' union-busting tactics aren't limited to Catholic school teachers, either. Holy Spirit Parish in McAllen, Texas was the first parish in the US to be unionized. When Bishop Raymoundo Pena got fed up with the pastor who dared recognize the union, Pena fired him, replacing him with a new pastor who on his first day summarily fired all of the women who had been running the parish for 25 years.
So, American politicians and journalists, when Pope Benedict comes to town in April touting Catholic regard for the poor, struggling families, and workers' rights, you might ask him: Is union-busting Catholic?
Loading comments… 
