Labor Day
How do we recognize the contribution workers make to the nation’s prosperity? On one hand, President Grover Cleveland signed a bill on June 28, 1894, declaring Labor Day a national holiday, to recognize workers' contributions.
On another hand, The Catechism of the Catholic Church states: A just wage is the legitimate fruit of work. In determining fair pay, both the needs and the contributions of each person must be considered. “Remuneration (or pay) for work should guarantee a person the opportunity to provide a dignified livelihood for himself and his family on the material, social, cultural, and spiritual level, taking into account the role in the productivity of each, the state of the business and the common good.” An agreement between the parties [employers and employees] is not sufficient to morally justify the amount to be received in wages. CCC 2434
The catechism continues: “Access to employment and to professions must be open to all without unjust discrimination: men and women, healthy and disabled, natives and immigrants. For its part, society should, according to circumstances, help citizens find work and employment.” LE 19, CCC 2433
Work is a good thing for humanity – because through work people not only transform nature, adapting it to their own needs, but they also achieve fulfillment as humans and indeed in a sense become ‘more human.’
It is well-known that it is possible to use work in various ways against people, that it is possible to punish people, and in various other ways to exploit human labor – the workers. All this argues in favor of the moral obligation to link industriousness (committed work) as a virtue with the social order of work, which will enable people to become “a more human being” and not be degraded by it. LE 9
Unemployment almost always wounds its victim’s dignity and threatens the equilibrium of his life. Besides the harm done to him personally, it entails many risks for his family. LE 18
Pope Francis states: “The human environment and the natural environment deteriorate together; we cannot adequately combat environmental degradation unless we attend to the causes related to human and social degradation … Today, however, we must realize that a true ecological approach always becomes a social approach; it must integrate questions of justice, and debates on the environment, to hear both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor. LS 48
On Labor Day, as we celebrate the contribution of workers to our nation, and the end of summer, we are reminded of the importance of dignified employment and just wages which are important elements in protecting human dignity, the family, and the earth’s environment.