Labor Day Statement 2011

Labor Day Statement 2011

Human Costs and Moral Challenges of a Broken Economy by Bishop Stephen E. Blaire, Bishop of Stockton, Chairman, USCCB Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, September 5, 2011 

Bishop Stephen E. Blaire frames Labor Day 2011 as a time for reflection and moral action: the economy’s failures are not only financial but deeply human, harming workers, families, and communities and testing our commitment to Catholic social teaching about the dignity of work.

Human costs and signs of a broken economy

• High and persistent unemployment (about 14 million jobless; long‑term joblessness widespread) with disproportionate impact on young workers, African American and Hispanic workers.
• Rising child and family poverty; hunger, homelessness, and families unable to meet basic needs.
• Graduates burdened by debt and few job prospects; many pushed to economic margins.
• Growing inequality, stagnating growth, increased public debt, and global harm to the poorest nations.
• Social polarization manifested in attacks on unions, immigrants, and other vulnerable groups.
• Loss of trust, dishonesty, speculative short‑term behavior, and moral failures in financial institutions and individuals.

Moral analysis rooted in Catholic teaching

• Work has inherent dignity: it provides livelihood, fosters participation in creation, and contributes to the common good.
• Unemployment wounds human dignity and destabilizes families.
• The Church’s social tradition (from Rerum Novarum through Vatican II) calls for institutions and policies that protect workers, promote associations for their benefit, and guarantee opportunity for meaningful employment.
• Economic problems are ethical as well as structural; recovery requires integrity, accountability, and generosity rather than mere profit‑seeking.

Responsibilities and policy implications

• Society and government have a duty to create conditions enabling all citizens to find dignified work.
• Responses should emphasize job creation, sustained economic growth, fair wages and benefits, protections for collective bargaining, and policies that reduce inequality and protect vulnerable communities.
• Long‑term fiscal choices must weigh burdens on future generations and protect human needs now.
• Economic recovery should prioritize human well‑being over short‑term financial gain.

Pastoral and civic call

• Catholics are urged to view economic distress as a moral concern and to respond with solidarity for those on the margins.
• The faithful should advocate for public policies that restore work, protect families, uphold human dignity, and rebuild mutual trust.
• The statement appeals to conscience, prayer, and civic engagement to shape an economy that serves people rather than subordinating them to markets.
• The broken economy inflicts real human suffering; remedying it requires ethical renewal, public policies that create dignified work and protect the vulnerable, support for worker rights and family needs, and renewed civic and moral commitment grounded in Catholic social teaching.

 

 

Labor-Day-2011.pdf