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BISHOP MURPHY CALLS FOR NEW SOCIAL CONTRACT FOR NEW THINGS IN TODAYS ECONOMY IN LABOR DAY STATEMENT
WASHINGTON-With millions unemployed and U.S. workers experiencing tragedies such as mining deaths in West Virginia and the oil rig explosion and subsequent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Americans must seek to protect the life and dignity of each worker in a renewed and robust economy, said Bishop William Murphy of Rockville Centre, New York. Bishop Murphy addressed these issues in the 2010 Labor Day Statement of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), entitled A New Social Contract for Todays New Things, which can be found online in English (www.usccb.org/sdwp/national/labor_day_2010.pdf) and Spanish (www.usccb.org/sdwp/national/labor_day_2010_spanish.pdf).
Bishop Murphy, Chairman of the USCCB Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, compared the challenges faced by todays workers to the changing society of the Industrial Revolution addressed by Pope Leo XIII in the 1891 encyclical, Rerum Novarum (Of New Things).
America is undergoing a rare economic transformation, shedding jobs and testing safety nets as the nation searches for new ways to govern and grow our economy, said Bishop Murphy. Workers need a new social contract. Bishop Murphy said that creating new jobs would require new investments, initiative and creativity in the economy. He also drew on the teachings of Pope Benedict XVI, which call for placing the human person at the center of economic life and emphasize the role of civil society and mediating institutions such as unions in pursing the common good.
Workers need to have a real voice and effective protections in economic life, said Bishop Murphy. The market, the state, and civil society, unions and employers all have roles to play and they must be exercised in creative and fruitful interrelationships. Private action and public policies that strengthen families and reduce poverty are needed. New jobs with just wages and benefits must be created so that all workers can express their dignity through the dignity of work and are able to fulfill Gods call to us all to be co-creators. A new social contract, which begins by honoring work and workers, must be forged that ultimately focuses on the common good of the entire human family.
Catholic Relief Services Responds to Pakistan Flooding
CRS staffer Ishtaiq Hussain (in blue) briefs villagers on how to use tablets to disinfect water.
Photo by Asad Zaidi for CRS
August, 2010
Catholic Relief Services
Emergency Brief #1: Pakistan Flooding
Situation:
The worst flooding in Pakistan's history has cut a swath of destruction from the northern mountain regions to wheat fields in the south. The Indus River breached its banks again on Saturday, August 14, in Southern Pakistan, bringing even more devastation to the area.
Government and humanitarian estimates put the number of displaced between 16-20 million people. At least 1,500 people have been killed, millions have lost their homes, crops and livestock, and heavily trafficked roads and bridges have disappeared.
The situation in Sindh Province (Southern Pakistan) continues to deteriorate. The UN now estimates that hundreds of thousands of people from Sindh are on the move, fleeing from both existing and anticipated flood waters. The government is beginning to establish camps in these areas.
Meanwhile, the situation appears to be stabilizing in the northeast. There have only been scattered showers over the past few days, creating more favorable conditions for the delivery of aid. Standing floodwaters remain in three districts, although not in CRS’ area of operation. read how CRS is responding
Warehouse Workers for Justice Release Survey on Worker Conditions in Will County
Joliet, IL August 16, 2010
Over the past decade, Will County, Illinois has seen significant growth in development
around the goods movement, or logistics, industry. Located southwest of Chicago, with access to railroads, highways, and airports and an abundance of undeveloped land, the
county has attracted companies looking for a strategic location for the warehousing and
distribution functions of supply chain management.
The Bad Jobs in Goods Movement: Warehouse Work in Will Countysurvey, along with
data gathered from federal government sources, reveals that there is a range of jobs in
warehouses, including well-paying managerial positions. Yet the proportion of good
jobs to low-paying positions and, more strikingly, direct hire to temporary positions,
reveals that this industry is heavily reliant on a large low-wage labor force. Specifically,
the report found that the majority of warehouse workers were temps earning wages
below the federal poverty level.
This study was undertaken by Warehouse Workers for Justice to better understand
working conditions in the goods movement industry in Will County, IL. Warehouse
Workers for Justice is a workers center that promotes good jobs and fair working
conditions in the logistics industry. With technical assistance from researchers at the
University of Illinois at Chicago’s Center for Urban Economic Development, Warehouse
Workers for Justice carried out the first large-scale study of workers in warehousing in
the country. read entire article
MIGRATION POLICIES: OPEN TO LIFE AND RESPECT FOR FAMILIES
VATICAN CITY, 28 MAY 2010 (VIS) - This morning the Pope received participants in the plenary session of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant Peoples, who have been meeting to study the theme: "The pastoral care of human mobility today, in the context of the co-responsibility of States and International Organisations".
The Holy Father expressed his appreciation for "efforts to build a system of shared norms which provide for the rights and duties of foreigners and those of the host communities, bearing foremost to mind the dignity of each human being, created in the image and likeness of God. Obviously the acquisition of rights goes hand in hand with the acceptance of duties", he said.
"National and international laws which promote the common good and respect for the person encourage the hopes and efforts being made to achieve a world social order founded on peace, fraternity and universal co-operation, despite the critical phase international institutions are currently traversing as they concentrate on resolving crucial questions of security and development for everyone". read more
Regional Bishops Issue Joint Statement on Migration
Cooperation among governments in region, economic development key factors
U.S. should afford legal protection to foreign workers
WASHINGTON—Participants at the Catholic bishops’ Regional Consultation on Migration in Washington, June 2-4 issued a joint statement calling for protection, hospitality, service and justice to immigrants throughout the hemisphere.
The bishops called attention to several issues that should be addressed on a regional level, such as the promotion of sustainable economic development in the hemisphere, violence and drug smuggling, human trafficking, protection of migrants, refugees and other vulnerable population, and special assistance to Haiti.
They also called upon the Congress of the United States and the Obama Administration to affirm the country’s tradition as a nation of immigrants and “reform U.S. immigration law to allow migrants who work hard in the U.S. economy to enjoy the benefits of legal protection.”
“This reform would preclude the need to impose criminal penalties on persons not lawfully admitted,” said the bishops. “It also would end deportations of family members and the breakup of families.”
The meeting congregated Catholic bishops and staff of Catholic agencies working with migrants in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. Also present were Archbishop Antonio Maria Veglio, president of the Pontifical Council for Migrants and Itinerant People and representatives from the Latin American Council of Bishops’ Conferences (CELAM). read full statement
USCCB Migration Chairman Joins Arizona Bishops in Decrying Anti-Immigrant Measure, Calls for Comprehensive Reform
WASHINGTON— In solidarity with the Catholic bishops of Arizona, Bishop John C. Wester of Salt Lake City, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on Migration, issued a statement April 27, opposing the enactment and implementation of Arizona SB 1070, which criminalizes undocumented immigrants.
“This new law, although limited to the State of Arizona, could have impact throughout the nation, in terms of how members of our immigrant communities are both perceived and treated,” Bishop Wester said in the statement. “SB 1070 gives law enforcement officials powers to detain and arrest individuals based on a very low legal standard, possibly leading to the profiling of individuals based upon their appearance, manner of speaking, or ethnicity.”
Bishop Wester called SB 1070 “symptomatic of the absence of federal leadership on the issue of immigration” and called for “the Administration and Congress to work in a bipartisan manner to enact comprehensive immigration reform as soon as possible.”
Read the statement.
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