The Words of Pope John Paul II on Work, Workers, Wages and Rights
In 1981, Pope John Paul II issued an unambiguous pro-labor commentary that emphasized solidarity among workers. His views, coupled with the action of shipyard electrician Lech Walesa and the Polish Solidarnosc movement, built the wave that swept aside the Soviet Union’s hold over eastern Europe. For those conservative politicians who will be eulogizing Pope John Paul II in the weeks ahead, we offer the following excerpts from his encyclical: “On Human Work.”
Pope John Paul II on Wages
“In every case a just wage is the concrete means of verifying the justice of the whole socioeconomic system and, in any case, of checking that it is functioning justly. It is not the only means of checking, but it is a particularly important one and in a sense the key means.”
Pope John Paul II on Worker Benefits
“Besides wages, various social benefits intended to ensure the life and health of workers and their families play a part here. The expenses involved in health care, especially in the case of accidents at work demand that medical assistance should be easily available for workers and that as far as possible it should be cheap or even free of charge. Another sector regarding benefits is the sector associated with the right to rest. In the first place this involves a regular weekly rest comprising at least Sunday and also a longer period of rest, namely the holiday or vacations taken once a year or possibly in several shorter periods during the year. A third sector concerns the right to a pension and to insurance for old age and in case of accidents at work. Within the sphere of these principal rights there develops a whole system of particular rights which, together with remuneration for work, determine the correct relationship between worker and employer. Among these rights there should never be overlooked the right to a working environment and to manufacturing processes which are not harmful to the workers’ physical health or to their moral integrity.”
Pope John Paul II on the Importance of Unions
“All these rights, together with the need for workers themselves to secure them, give rise to yet another right: the right of association, that is, to form associations for the purpose of defending the vital interests of those employed in the various professions. These associations are called labor or trade unions. The vital interests of the workers are to a certain extent common for all of them; at the same time, however, each type of work, each profession has its own specific character which should find a proper reflection in these organizations.”
“The modern unions grew up from the struggle of the workers—workers in general but especially the industrial workers—to protect their rights vis-à-vis the entrepreneurs and the owners of the means of production. Their task is to defend the existential interests of workers in all sectors in which their rights are concerned. The experience of history teaches that organizations of this type are an indispensable element of social life, especially in modern industrialized societies. . . . Representatives of every profession can use them to ensure their own rights.”
Metal Trades Department, AFL-CiO • 815 16th Street, NW •Washington, DC 20006
Phone: 202-508-3705 • Fax: 202-508-3706 • email: metaltradesweb@gmail.com
