Justice for Workers in their Workplaces

Our economic system and cultural values often do not align with the dignity and worth that God gives all of creation. For workers, it looks like not having a livable wage, inadequate health insurance, poor work conditions, wage theft, insurmountable debt from education to help in earning a higher wage, lack of paid family and medical leave, and barriers to collective bargaining and union participation, among other things.

We know that our loving God cares about all aspects of our lives, including our work lives. Conditions and events at work absorb our energy, occupy our minds, and impact our psyches when we are both at work and home. Our work situations can be fulfilling and empowering, or demeaning and humiliating. For many of us, our job is the main factor determining the size of our income, whether we have health insurance and a pension, whether we live in a big house or any house at all, and whether we send our children to college or to bed with an empty stomach.

Some workers confront particularly unjust situations such as extremely low pay, unsafe conditions, racism, or sexism. All workers, whatever their position in the hierarchy of jobs, may suffer from indignities, large and small, that cripple their spirit and hinder their journey to greater wholeness.

One-quarter of all jobs in the U.S. pay wages so low that a full-time worker cannot keep a family out of poverty. For some, the biggest problem is no job at all. Even when the economy is considered to be “strong,” millions of people who want to work cannot find a job or can only find a part-time one.

God’s reign does not stop at the door to the workplace. The Church, the body of Christ, is called to seek out and accompany people wherever they are. So the church must also be in our offices, factories, stores, farms, schools, and all the places where people work.