Interests of workers to be protected by the State — part 4 of a 4-part series

Rev. Msgr. Gerald E. Twaddell, D.Phil., KCHS

Contributor

Once Pope Leo XIII had laid out the duties and responsibilities of employers, employees and the State he emphasized the foundations of his teachings in the dignity of the human person, and the importance of the social dimension of the persons needing to be affirmed.

The interests of the worker’s soul. Life on earth is not the final purpose for which a person is created. This life is only a means to attain truth and love goodness. It is in the soul, created in the image and likeness of God, that lies the sovereignty to rule and make use of creatures for the person’s advantage. All human beings are equal: there is no difference between rich and poor, ruler and ruled. “No man may with impunity outrage that human dignity which God Himself treats with great reverence, nor stand in the way of that higher life which is the preparation of the eternal life of heaven. Nay, more: no man has in this matter power over himself.” No person, then, has the right to consent to treatment incompatible with his human dignity. No one can yield his soul to servitude because what is at stake is not just human rights, but the sacred and inviolable rights of God. (§ 40)
The obligation to refrain from work on Sundays and certain holy days is not about idleness, and less still about spending money, especially for mere indulgences. It is a time to be hallowed by religion.
Rest together with religious observances allows the person to leave aside the tasks of daily life, opening a space to dwell on heavenly matters, and the worship due to God. (§ 41)
The Interests of the material life of the person.

Employees need to be kept safe from the cruelty of greedy employers who would treat them as no more than tools for money-making. It is neither just nor human to grind workers down by excessive labor that stupefies the mind and wears out the body.

Daily labor must not be extended longer than strength admits. How many and how long the periods of rest should be will depend on the nature and circumstances of time and place of the work. Consider, for instance, the particular demands of tasks such as mining or quarrying that call for shorter hours in proportion to the strain of the work and its effects on health. The season of the year also should be taken into account. Further what is suitable for a stronger person is not suitable for a weaker person. Particular care must be taken when the workers are children. The general rule for all is that workers ought to have leisure and rest proportionate to the wear and tear on their bodies and the rest needed to restore them.
Contracts between employers and employees must allow proper rest for soul and body. Anything less is a violation of what is right and just, contravening the duties a person has to God and to self.
Wages, according to liberal thought, are strictly a matter of free consent, so that as long as the employer pays what was agreed upon and the employee does the work specified there can be no other question of injustice. If one or other fails to fulfill their part of the contract, the public authority could intervene to correct the matter. Beyond that there can be no justification for action. (§43)

This notion, however, is incomplete because it leaves important considerations out of account. A person undertakes work to procure what is necessary for different activities of life, especially self-preservation. For that reason, labor has two aspects. First, it is personal since the energy used comes from the very person and is the exclusive property of the one who works. Such strength is given to the person by God. Secondly, work is necessary since without it the person cannot live, and natural law requires human beings to preserve their own life.

Even if these two aspects can be thought of separately, in reality they cannot be divided. Hence, it would be a crime for a worker to contract for a salary less than that needed to preserve life. (§ 44) Consequently, the natural law dictates that any free agreement must at minimum ensure that the wages will be sufficient to support a frugal, modest wage-earner. An agreement for anything less, extorted by force or fear by the employer, is unjust.

The same goes for excessive work hours or unhealthy work conditions, though these would be better addressed by societies or boards that will be seen shortly; but, if necessary, the State should be called upon for its sanction and protection. (§ 45) Extending this line of argument, natural law urges, since marriage is a natural right of every person, that wages should be sufficient for the worker to support a family and even to put aside some savings for the future. Laws should therefore favor ownership of property and encourage as many workers as possible to become owners. (§ 46)

Excellent outcomes can be expected if these provisions are enacted. First, property will become more evenly divided. Civil changes and revolutions have divided people into two classes, one holding power over the whole of labor, trade, and sources of supply because of its wealth, giving it also major influence over the government, the other made up of the needy, powerless majority, always at the mercy of efforts to launch an uprising. This can be avoided if working people have a realistic hope for a share in the land.

A second consequence would be greater abundance of the fruits of the earth since people would be more eager to work the land they own. A third benefit is that people would have a greater desire to remain in the country of their birth that assures them a decent and happy life. These advantages suppose that people’s means not be drained by excessive taxation. (§ 47)

Associations and other organizations can also assist employees and employers in providing aid to those in distress. These include societies for mutual help, benevolent foundations created to provide for workers, their widows and children in case of some calamity, illness, or even death. (§ 46) Most important are workers’ unions. The artisans’ guilds of earlier times demonstrated the advantages that could be obtained from such association. In the present age, unions, adapted to the needs of more educated people, different habits and demands of daily life can supply similar benefits. It is desirable that they become more numerous and more efficient. (§ 49)

Scripture instructs us that: “A brother that is helped by a brother is like a strong city.” (Proverbs 18:19) This is the impulse that binds people together in civil society; it is also the motive that leads them to join in subordinate, but real, independent societies. (§ 50) Civil society exists for the common good, being concerned with the interests of all, and so is called a “public society.” But “private societies” have as their purpose plainly the advantage of their members, within, but not including all members of, the public society. As part of the commonwealth, they cannot be absolutely prohibited by the public authority.

The State must protect private societies, because to try to suppress or forbid their existence contradicts the very principle on which the existence of the State itself rests. (§ 51) Of course, if people join together to pursue unlawful purposes, the State may justly dissolve them, provided precautions are taken to avoid violating rights of persons by unreasonable regulations. “Laws only bind when they are in accordance with right reason, and, hence, with the eternal law of God.” (§ 52)

Private societies in the Church such as confraternities and religious orders should be independent of State control. However, in many places “State authorities have laid violent hands on these communities …have taken away their rights to corporate bodies and despoiled them of their property.” “Catholic societies, however peaceful and useful, are hampered in every way, whereas the utmost liberty is conceded to individuals whose purposes are at once hurtful to religion and dangerous to the commonwealth.” (§53)

Associations of workers are more numerous than in the past, but there is evidence that many are led secretly by persons whose principles are at odds with Christian beliefs. These organizers seek to command the whole field of labor and force Christians to choose between joining them or starving. In the face of such coercion, Christians must form their own associations and unite “to shake off courageously the yoke of so unrighteous and intolerable an oppression.” (§54)

Many Catholics have organized groups to better the conditions of families and individuals by infusing a spirit of equity in the mutual relations of employees and employers, to keep the precepts of duty and the Gospel before their eyes, to inculcate self-restraint, and to establish harmony among divergent interests and classes in the body politic. Some have promoted mutual action to assist people in finding suitable employment. Others have used their wealth to found organizations to create insurance societies for workers. “The State should watch over these societies of citizens banded together in accordance with their rights, but it should not thrust itself into their peculiar concerns and their organization.” (§ 55)

Such societies also have the right to have rules and structures best suited to their purposes. (§ 56) The most important purpose is the true betterment of the members, beginning by helping them fulfill the duties of religion and morality. (§ 57) Next, their organization should foster harmonious interactions, with the offices arranged with clear responsibilities so that no member should suffer any harm. Further, common funds must be administered with strict honesty. Careful consideration and explicit expression must be given to the mutual rights and duties of employers and employees, so that if anyone has a complaint the dispute may be settled according to the rules of the society. Another purpose that must be addressed is the provision of “a continuous supply of work at all times and seasons.” Finally, a fund should be established from which members may be helped in their needs, whether of accident, illness, old age, or distress. (§ 58)

Pope Leo XIII expressed his conviction that if people would obey these rules and regulations that all the prosperity of society would result because the experience of the transformations that came about from the earliest ages of the Church through the centuries put to rest the criticisms and complaints that originally were made against Christianity. (§ 59) If workers will form such associations and pursue policies that contribute to the common good, even people whose prejudices and greed lead them to object will finally be won over when they see that the workers prefer “right dealing to mere lucre, and the sacredness of duty to every other consideration.” (§ 60) The pope even sees in these associations and unions rooted in Christian principles a hope to bring back those who had given up on religion to support and defend them. These associations should offer them “a haven where they may securely find repose.” (§ 61)

The remainder of the encyclical urges the bishops to take up the task of announcing the principles, duties, rights, and interests laid out in its pages not only to the rulers of commonwealths, but also to employers and employees (§ 63) as the way to bring the power of Christian charity to bear in combating the evils of recent times as the “surest antidote against worldly pride and immoderate love of self.” (§ 64)

As we listen to Pope Leo XIV address the same issues about workers and all the connected topics that are presented in “Rerum Novarum” we will hear substantially the same ideas. These are as timely as they were in 1891, or when Benedict XV celebrated the 40th anniversary with “Quadragesimo Anno,” and Pope St. John Paul II with “Laborem Exercens,” in 1981, as well as the hundredth anniversary encyclical “Centesimus Annus” in 1991. We look forward to the contributions that Pope Leo XIV will make to the application of Catholic Social Teaching during his pontificate.