Why an Interfaith Coalition for Worker Justice?

There is a long historic tradition of labor and religious cooperation. From the time of the earliest textile worker organizing in New England, 150 years ago, to the bitter labor struggles during the Great Depression, to the Civil Rights movement and the Farm Workers' organizing efforts of the recent past, various labor organizations and religious communities have worked side by side for social and economic justice.

In the 19th Century, these coalitions fought for the right to have public meetings in company-owned towns, for an 8 hour work day, for wages above the level of starvation, and for the right to organize a labor union.

In the 20th Century, these coalitions expanded their goals to include minimum health and safety conditions in the workplace, retirement pensions and social security, equal treatment under the law, and voting rights for all Americans.

Religious communities are natural allies of labor unions. All of the major religions in the U.S. have deeply held views on the need for social justice. The Jewish Bible, the Tanakh, includes dozens of laws covering economic and social ethics and actions. Catholics have a long history of social justice teachings including Papal pronouncements and social action movements led by church reformers such as Dorothy Day. Virtually all Protestant denominations have similar teachings in their founding documents as well as recent resolutions. Islam, now the third largest faith in the U.S., includes broad social justice precepts and guidelines in the Koran. The Buddhist, Hindu, and Native American religious communities also espouse principles of justice and community.

Why is there a need to revive the tradition of labor and religious cooperation? Very simply, the gains made in the past have been seriously eroded and are constantly under attack.