Resources & Links

Catholic Social Teaching
Human Rights
Internships
Labor Organizations
University Programs

 

Catholic Social Teaching

Protecting the dignity of work and the rights of workers is one of the major themes of Catholic social teaching. This theme has been addressed in papal encyclicals as well as statements and letters from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).  The basic tenets of Catholic teaching on labor include:

  • the right to productive work
  • the right to decent and fair wages
  • the right to organize and join unions
  • the right to bargain collectively for fair wages and benefits


For access to the many documents that capture the theme of worker dignity, visit the Economic Justice--Economy and the Labor--Employment  pages of the USCCB website.

Below are links to documents and recent statements:

Documents
Statements


Msgr. George Higgins authored the Labor Day Statements on behalf of the U.S. Bishops for many years.

 

Human Rights

Article 23 of the United Nations’ Declaration of Human Rights states that “Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favorable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment,” and “Everyone who works has the right to just and favorable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity” (United Nations, 1948). 

International Labour Organization
The ILO is the international organization responsible for drawing up and overseeing international labor standards. It is the only 'tripartite' United Nations agency that brings together representatives of governments, employers and workers to jointly shape policies and programs promoting decent work for all.

Institute for Global Labour & Human Rights
The Institute for Global Labour & Human Rights, formerly the National Labor Committee, is a nonprofit organization committed to defending the rights of workers in the global economy.

 

Internships

Alta Gracia Internship: Promoting Fair Wages

Alta Gracia is offering an internship geared towards community education and organizing this Spring.  The fruit of more than a decade of worker and student organizing, Alta Gracia is the first collegiate apparel company to publicly embrace a factory union and open its doors to monitoring by independent labor rights watchdog, Workers Rights Consortium (WRC).   Alta Gracia is above and beyond industry norms in that it pays a "living wage." Based on a cost of living study conducted by the WRC and set at nearly three-times the Dominican minimum wage,  this “salario digno” enables workers to support their families with dignity, covering food, housing, transportation, health care and education costs for their children. The ripple effect in the community is impressive: new businesses have opened across from the factory, construction has picked up as workers invest in more livable homes, and not just children but Alta Gracia workers themselves are going back to school on the weekend to continue where poverty had forced them to abandon studies.  AG apparel, college logo hoodies and tees, are sold in the Notre Dame bookstore.

The AG internship would involve creating and running an educational campaign on the ND campus.  For details, click here:  AG internship fall 2011.docx. 

For more information on Alta Gracia:
http://usas.org/our-campaigns/sweat-free-campus/alta-gracia
www.nytimescom/2010/07/18/business/global/18shirt.html
www.facebook.com/wearaltagracia

For more information, or to apply, please contact:
Rachel Taber
Alta Gracia Community Education Coordinator
taberrachel@gmail.com
202.297.0971

Interfaith Worker Justice Summer Internship

Interfaith Worker Justice is offering internships focused on providing support to workers' rights campaigns across the country this Summer. As a network of people of faith, Interfaith Worker Justice calls upon those in the religious community to organize, and mobilize others on issues and campaigns aimed at improving wages, benefits, and conditions for low-wage workers. Here, interns will make phone calls, craft emails and literature, actively engage in meetings with community leaders and union representatives, and organize events for Interfaith Worker Justice. Students looking into this internship must be interested in analyzing economic and political realities through the lens of faith, as well as have a passion for economic and social justice from a theological perspective. This summer internship will take place from June 11th to August 8, 2012. Money for living expenses and a stipend will be provided for two students by the Center for Social Concerns. To qualify for this sponsorship, please fill out an application and return it to Andre Smith Shappell by March 1. Selection of the two students will take place on March 5.

For more information about Interfaith Worker Justice and for an application: http://www.iwj.org/index.cfm/iwj-summer-student-internships

For more information, or to apply, please contact:
Andrea Smith Shappell
138 Geddes Hall
Shappell.1@nd.edu

Farm Labor Organizing Committee, AFL-CIO

The Farm Labor Organizing Committee is offering an internship geared toward outreach to labor camps as a part of their Reynolds Tobacco Campaign. Since the mid-1960s, FLOC has dramatically changed the conditions of farmworkers across the country by organizing laborers to collectively bargain with their employers. Here, interns will visit labor camps to talk to the workers about the union, organize community protests, map labor camps, and mantain records of community supporters. Spanish speaking ability and an outgoing personality are greatly preferred.  This internship starts as soon as possible and goes through August 2012.

For more information about the Farm Labor Organizing Committee: http://supportfloc.org/aboutus.aspx

For more information, or to apply, please contact: Briana Connors at bconnors@floc.com

Student Action with Farmworkers

Student Action with Farmworkers is offering internships in the Summer focused on supporting farmworkers by placing students at organizations across the Southeast that work for justice in the fields. By pairing students with the farmworkers, SAF works to improve the conditions for farmworkes and shape students into leaders of the social justice movement. Interns will be placed in four programs: legal assistance, migrant education, health agencies, and community-based organization, based on the interests of the student. High-intermediate Spanish speaking ability is required. Internships take place from June 3 to August 12, 2012, and applications are due on Febuary 6th.

For more information about Student Action with Farmworkers or to apply: http://saf-unite.org/content/fields-internship

For more information, please contact:
Rosalva Soto
rosalva.soto@duke.edu
919.660.3674

International Labor Rights Forum

The International Labor Rights Forum is currently seeking interns for their China internship program, Rights for Working Women internship program, Campaign internship program, Human Rights in International Trade internship program, Corporate Social Responsibility internship program, Communications internship program, and Development internship program. ILRF promotes workers' rights globally by networking with unions, academics, and others in the progressive community. Students with an understanding of international human rights and strong skills in a foreign language are preferred.

For more information about the International Labor Rights Forum or its internships: http://www.laborrights.org/about-ilrf/employment-internships

For more information, or to apply, please contact: Trina Tocco at trina.tocco@ilrf.org

Worker Rights Consortium

The Worker Rights Cosortium, an independent monitoring organization that investigates conditions of workers in factories internationally, is offering internships on a rolling basis.  Solid writing and researching skills are required, as well as a respect for workers' rights both in the United States and across the globe.

For more information about the Worker Rights Consortium or its internships: http://www.workersrights.org/about/jobs.asp

For more information, or to apply, please contact:
Theresa Haas
5 Thomas Circle NW, Fifth Floor
Washington, DC 20005
Theresa.Haas@workersrights.org

City University of New York

The School of Professional Studies at the City University of New York offers Union Semester, a full-time, semester long program. For 32 hours a week, participants will learn about particular labor organizations by working with them firsthand. Participants will also take classes four nights a week, studying the past and future of the labor movement in the United States. For those interested in building a career in labor policy, law, and social justice, participants are awarded a Certificate in Labor Studies from CUNY.

For more information about Union Semester, or to apply: http://unionsemester.org/

For more information, please contact: info@unionsemester.org

 

Labor Organizations

Catholic Scholars for Worker Justice

AFL-CIO

The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) is a voluntary federation of 57 national and international labor unions. The AFL-CIO was created in 1955 by the merger of the AFL and the CIO.

The AFL-CIO union movement represents 12.2 million members, including 3.2 million members in Working America, its community affiliate. We are teachers and miners, firefighters and farm workers, bakers and engineers, pilots and public employees, doctors and nurses, painters and plumbers—and more.

SEIU

The Service Employees International Union is an organization of 2.2 million members united by the belief in the dignity and worth of workers and the services they provide and dedicated to improving the lives of workers and their families and creating a more just and humane society.

UNITE HERE

UNITE HERE represents workers throughout the U.S. and Canada who work in the hotel, gaming, food service, manufacturing, textile, distribution, laundry, and airport industries

 

University Programs

Indiana University Program in Labor Studies at South Bend
Contact:  Paul Mishler, Associate Professor of Labor Studies
pmishler@iusb.edu, 574.520.4469 

Graduate degrees in labor studies: