Labor

Jo Ann Heydron 11-01-2000
The consequences of globalization.
Jim Rice 11-01-2000

The Broetjes had a crazy idea—to treat their workers like people.

For many of us, the hardest work we do is finding time to rest. Free time means not only the nourishment of freer individuals, but the nurturing of a free people—a society—that can take joy in family and community, govern itself democratically, achieve social justice, heal the environment, and seek its spiritual growth.

Spiritual Communities. The Free Time/Free People Campaign calls on spiritual communities to undertake efforts which affirm our religious obligation to change the present patterns of overwork. To feel a sense of dignity at work and to feel that our work is worthy and sacred requires that we see ourselves as free human beings. Spiritual communities can reach out to the labor movement, environmentalists, women’s organizations, forward-looking business leaders, neighborhood and community-based organizations, and family-oriented groups to secure these changes in American life.

American Political, Economic, and Cultural Leaders. Much of the public dialogue in America worries about unemployment or "disemployment," rather than overwork. But the two are intimately connected: Because many jobs are badly paid or chopped up into "temporary" or "part-time" by employers seeking to avoid paying benefits, many people are forced to take two or three part-time jobs in order to barely make enough money to meet basic needs. In this way "underwork" drives people to overwork. The Free Time/Free People Campaign calls on political, economic, and cultural leaders to enact change that will reduce the hours of work imposed on individuals without reducing their income.

Policy Changes. The Campaign encourages all people to work for policies aimed at ending or severely limiting compulsory overtime. Workers should not be forced into 60-hour weeks. Preventing this kind of overwork will open new full-time jobs for other workers at decent wages.

Emily Dossett 1-01-2000
Why the living wage campaign is working.
Ruth Rosenbaum 1-01-2000

Participants in conversations about corporate responsibility and wages often use the same words to mean entirely different things.

Ruth Rosenbaum 1-01-2000
Many corporations in the global marketplace have severed their social contract with workers and local communities.
Labor activists and people of faith rally around 'core values.'
Chuck Collins 1-01-2000
A movement for a fair economy.
Andrew Schleicher 7-01-1999

Continuing their two-year vigil, locked-out Detroit newspaper workers brought their protests in May to the Washington, D.C. area home of Gannett Company CEO John Curley.

Kim Bobo 5-01-1999

Fifteen ways to strengthen your congregation's justice ministry with workers.

Perry Bush 9-01-1998
For a century and a half, workers and church people have organized together.
Kristin Brennan 9-01-1998
Seminarians are learning about another aspect of church members' lives.
Jim Wallis 9-01-1998
AFL-CIO president John J. Sweeney talks about his priorities.
Jane Slaughter 9-01-1998
Only the rank and file can bring real and lasting change.
Jane Samuels 9-01-1998
Even church institutions can lose sight of human needs.
Paul Graham 9-01-1998
Clergy in the Twin Cities are making economic justice a priority
Kristin Brennan 9-01-1998
Suggestions and questions to encourage faithful engagement with labor issues.
Jane Slaughter 9-01-1998

The Detroit-based monthly newsletter Labor Notes has emerged as the networking center for the labor reform movement.

Kristin Brennan 9-01-1998

Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice

Why the church and the labor movement belong together.