Clarifying the fairness issue (Bishop Morlino of Madison WI)

The Catholic Herald ^

[fabrizio]

[...]I believe that the final question boils down to: is the sacrifice which teachers and other labor union members are called to make fair?

The problem with responding to that question, of course, is that there appears to be no common ground in terms of what the word “fair” actually means among various individuals. Some believe that “a fair solution” would require sacrifice from everyone but self. The relativism of our culture and society once again does us grave harm, because the cultural response to the question of the meaning of “fair” is, “well, what’s fair for you is fair for you and what’s fair for me is fair for me,” leaving us no common ground for reasonable and civil discourse. We are left with our emotions about the word “fair.” This, then, is a moment in our state and in our nation when the terrible effects of relativism on a culture are being blatantly displayed.

Called to civility of discourse

Of course, those most hurt in the current contestation are the students, in terms of additional missed classroom hours, during a year when harsh winter weather has already forced much classroom closure. In addition, some question whether the substitution of active presence at the capitol of high school students, for example, amounts to their being used to gain political advantage at the cost of their learning process and the relative calm that ought to surround this process, if they really are to learn.

The matter, in the end, is one of fairness, and a culture governed by the dictatorship of relativism cannot agree on what the word “fair” means. What is left is the emotion which displays itself over and over again with increased lack of the civility to which President Obama recently, rightfully, called all of us.

Church teaching

Please pray carefully about the decision of your own conscience on this matter. It is an excellent exercise for a responsible conscience. And please pray for peaceful demonstrations in our Capitol City. Please refer to Archbishop Listecki’s letter as well, which articulates the two horns of the dilemma, with supportive texts from official Church teaching.

To the documents quoted by Archbishop Listecki I would also offer a quotation from the encyclical of Pope John Paul II, Laborem Exercens, which gives us even more “food for thought” on this matter:

“Just efforts to secure the rights of workers who are united by the same profession should always take into account the limitations imposed by the general economic situation of the country. Union demands cannot be turned into a kind of group or class ‘egoism,’ although they can and should also aim at correcting — with a view to the common good of the whole of society — everything defective in the system of ownership of the means of production or in the way these are managed. Social and socioeconomic life is certainly like a system of ‘connected vessels,’ and every social activity directed towards safeguarding the rights of particular groups should adapt itself to this system.

“In this sense, union activity undoubtedly enters the field of politics, understood as prudent concern for the common good. However, the role of unions is not to ‘play politics’ in the sense that the expression is commonly understood today. Unions do not have the character of political parties struggling for power; they should not be subjected to the decision of political parties or have too close links with them. In fact, in such a situation they easily lose contact with their specific role, which is to secure the just rights of workers within the framework of the common good of the whole of society; instead they become an instrument used for other purposes.”

Thank you very much for reading this, God bless you. Praised be Jesus Christ.

[AuH2ORepublican]

Very good. Thanks for posting.

[grumpygresh]

This is not a very complicated argument when you look at the details- specific instances that demonstrate corrupt practices. Here are a few examples.

1. Stacking of hours. Public workers can call in sick and that counts for total hours worked per week. They can come back the next day and their hours will be counted as overtime.
2. Very early retirement that allows teachers and public workers to collect pensions at the average of their highest 3 years salary. At 55 they can get another job while collecting their pension.
3. Forced purchase of union health insurance by school districts. No-bid contracts drive up costs for the districts and add very little value to the insurance plan. This is also another way to for the union to siphon money at the taxpayers expense.
4. State collection of union dues. Why should the state do the work for a non-state entity, especially a very partisan entity.
5. Forced unionization of all public workers. This would be tantamount to forcing Catholics to contribute to Planned Parenthood (as with 0bamacare)

If Bishops knew these facts (and they are intellectually honest and not ideologically driven), they would not support the public union’s position.

[jimt]

Nice summary.

[FourPeas]

Ah, the f-word: fair. Were life fair, we’d all be doomed to an eternity in hell. It wasn’t fair for Jesus to take the penalty for my sins, but He did it anyway. I’m quite happy with life not being fair.