Labor & Employment Law

Religious Leaders Speak Out Against Walker?s Plan

By James Parks

Religious leaders across Wisconsin and the nation are speaking out in solidarity and support of that state’s public employees. Bishop Stephen Blaire, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops? Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, expressed his ?support for and solidarity? on the rights of workers.

In a Feb. 23 letter to Archbishop Jerome Listecki of Milwaukee, Blaire wrote:

You and our brother bishops in Wisconsin are offering a timely reminder of what the Church teaches on the rights and duties of workers, including the right to form and belong to unions and other associations, and the obligation to address difficult problems with respect for the rights and needs of all.

Writing in Religious Dispatches today, Kim Bobo, executive director of Interfaith Worker Justice (IWJ), describes some of  the other actions of Wisconsin religious leaders:

• Rt. Rev. Steven Miller, Episcopal Bishop of Milwaukee, wrote ?As Christians, it is our duty and call to make sure that everyone has a place at the table and every voice has the opportunity to be heard.?
• Rev. Bruce Burnside, bishop of the South-Central Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, called upon members of the Wisconsin State Legislature to: ?[A]ct with compassion and find solutions to the budget deficit bill that would not eliminate workers? rights and medical care for the most vulnerable.?
• Rabbi Renée Bauer, director of the Interfaith Coalition for Worker Justice of South Central Wisconsin, has been working with rabbis representing all of the Jewish congregations in Madison to speak out. In a letter, he says  ?as rabbis this an affront to our values?the Jewish mandate to protect workers, as well as the poor and needy among us.”

Full post as published by AFL-CIO NOW BLOG on February 24, 2011 (boomark / email).