St. Mary's Hospital management recently stated that they are not responsible for what happens to subcontracted laundry workers who clean the hospital's linens. In the narrow legal sense they are correct.
In the parable of the good Samaritan, the priest and the Levite had no legal obligation to stop and help the man who had been waylaid by thieves. But stopping is what is required to be a "good neighbor." St. Mary's has a long history of being a generous and thoughtful community member -- a "good neighbor." In this situation, they have an opportunity to play that role again.
Workers at a company called Superior Health Linens have been organizing to form a union but they have been facing stiff resistance from the company. For workers to form a union today they must survive a gauntlet of employer threats and intimidation.
According to Human Rights Watch, "employers routinely harass, intimidate, coerce and even fire workers struggling to gain a union so they can bargain for better lives. And U.S. labor law is powerless to stop them. Employees are on an uneven playing field from the first moment they begin exploring whether they want to form a union, and the will of the majority often is crushed by brutal management tactics. When it comes to workers' right to form unions, loophole-ridden laws, paralyzing delays and feeble enforcement have created a culture of impunity in many areas of U.S. labor law and practice."
In fact our representative, Tammy Baldwin, is a co-sponsor of the Employee Free Choice Act, which would address these very issues. This bill would address the problems in the system and set up a process by which workers could truly choose -- free of fear -- if they want union representation and set up a process of first contract arbitration.
But what can St. Mary's do? They are not the employer of these workers.
They may have subcontracted out the work, but they haven't subcontracted their moral obligation. As Superior's largest customer, St. Mary's has an opportunity to guarantee that the workers' rights are being respected.
There is a long and honored tradition in the Catholic Church of support for workers and their right to form unions. St. Mary's is in a position to set an example to show the community what it means to be a Catholic business.
In the papal encyclical, Laborem Exercens, Pope John Paul II reiterated the vital right of workers "to form associations for the purpose of defending the vital interests of those employed in the various professions." The National Conference of Catholic Bishops has called for reforms in labor law to protect the right to collective bargaining for all workers.
But do the workers at Superior Health Linen really want a union? Who knows? But in the end that should be their decision to make. Under the current system, it isn't possible to say.
Currently if a company doesn't want its workers to have a union, they can use the law to stop them. These days, companies hire high-priced union-busting attorneys who know how to defeat the aspirations of even the most determined workers. These consultants routinely recommend that management ignore the law, fire and threaten union supporters and appeal elections for years. These tactics are particularly effective against immigrant workers.
* As Superior's largest customer, St. Mary's can insist that the workers have a process that lets them decide free of pressure whether they want union representation, such as the system being proposed in Congress.
A local Catholic priest could be recruited to monitor the agreement and to verify whether a majority of workers have signed cards for the union.
Just as we must show concern for the workers in sweatshops overseas, we must also take an interest in those who live right next door.
In taking this step, St. Mary's can say that yes, they are being a "good neighbor."