Communion without union in Texas

In 2002, about 30 employees from four Catholic parishes in the Diocese of Brownsville TX signed United Farm Worker union contracts with their pastors. The situation is intriguing from a number of viewpoints.

First is the consideration of the paid church employee. Hasn’t he the same needs as any other worker? Is it just that he may find himself terminated without unemployment compensation?

The bishop has another perspective. Lay personnel in chancery and parish offices are a fairly new phenomena in the history of the Church. The religious who formerly held such positions worked for the love of God and whatever material compensation they enjoyed came through their communities. While the lay employee may be every bit as idealistic and committed as the religious of the past, the structure that protected religious employee from personality conflicts and economic vicissitudes simply don’t exist for the laity. From where should their safety net come?

Unionization, the solution under consideration, puts parish employees, their pastors, and bishops, into complex relationships. Priests coming into a new parish are bound by the negotiations of the predecessors, for example. Personnel changes become increasingly cumbersome, bureaucratic, and external to parish life. Furthermore, as non-profits, most parishes simply don’t have the money to pay teachers what they’re worth. For these reasons, a 1979 Supreme Court decision excludes Catholic teachers from protection under the National Labor Relations Act.

Fast forward to 2008 and the Scranton Diocese Association of Catholic Teachers’ strike in Pennsylvania. Although the union had been recognized by the Scranton Diocese under the prior bishop, recently appointed Bishop Joseph Martino, responding to falling student enrollments, consolidated four unionized high schools into one and “busted” the union. In November 2008, the diocese terminated the union-negotiated pension plan and replaced it with one of its own choice. In 2007, teachers totally lost their dental coverage and were switched to a medical plan with higher co-pays and deductibles. Agreements for restrictions on class size and input on courses have been dishonored. Several pro-union teachers were “let go,” believing themselves fired for their union activity.

They argue that Church teaching supports workers’ rights to assemble and organize – and they’re correct, up to a point. Obviously, such rights are limited. Teachers who choose to work at parochial schools know it’s a labor of love. Pay will rarely be as high there as at government-sponsored schools. Teachers must support the school’s mission, which might require, for example, sacramental participation. A religious school simply has different needs than a secular school – even if its teachers have the same material needs.

There’s no easy resolution to these various and sometimes conflicting considerations. Bishop Martino has attempted to replace the teachers’ union with a broader union, representing not only teachers but all diocesan employees, including administrators, staff, and aids – what amounts to, according to his critics, a “company” union.
In response, there is an attempt to get the Pennsylvania Legislature to pass a law that would force schools of any faith recognize teachers’ unions and allow them to bring grievances to the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board.

Some Catholics – certainly those representing the Scranton Diocese and the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference, and the Vatican, which has ruled that the diocese can refuse to recognize the teachers union – see this as opening the door to government intrusion into religious institutions. One can imagine a host of potential union demands (non-discrimination hiring practices for contracepting teachers, perhaps?) that a secular board would not only be incompetent to navigate but well might end up destroying religious institutions.

The real solution in this, of course, is the restoration of the teaching orders. I can think of several who are far better equipped to negotiate with the bishops than a union of laity will ever be.

Stephanie Block is the editor of Los Pequenos - a New Mexico-based publication. Her columns are made possible by the sponsorship of generous individuals who believe information about the development and dissemination of progressive ideology needs to be more widely understood. Please fell free to share -- acknowledging authorship -- these articles with others. If you would like more frequent publication of Stephanie Block's work, tax-deductible donations can be sent to: Catholic Media Coalition - PO Box 427 Great Cacapon, WV 25422 Attn: Progressive Watch

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