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March 10, 2022

Catholic Scholars for Worker Justice stands in solidarity with the graduate students at Fordham University who seek to join the Communication Workers of America to bargain collectively for just wages and other improvements to the workplace that befit their dignity as human beings created in the image of God.

We call upon the Trustees of Fordham University to support their employees as they assert the right to free association that is rooted in the natural moral law and that serves as the cornerstone of Catholic Social Teaching on workers’ rights.

We strongly encourage the faculty, students, administration, and staff of Fordham to stand in solidarity with the graduate students as they pursue this noble cause.

Support for labor unions enjoys a long history in the Catholic Church. Following the medieval support for guilds of working people the Catholic Church, since the publication of Pope Leo XIII’s encyclical Rerum Novarum (1891), has given exceptional support for labor unions. The official teaching of the Catholic Church as found in the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church (2004) holds that labor unions exert a “positive [influence for social order and solidarity and are therefore an indispensable element of social life.” (#305) In 1986 the Catholic Bishops of the United States stated: “The Church fully supports the right of workers to form unions or other associations to secure their right to fair wages and working conditions… No one may deny the right to organize without attacking human dignity itself.” (Economic Justice for All, #104) [For a complete understanding of Catholic teaching on labor unions, see Chapter 6 of the Compendium, “On Human Work.” See also Catholic Scholars for Worker Justice’s Foundational Statement and “Union Busting is a Mortal Sin,” found on our website]

“Fordham is committed to research and education that assist in the alleviation of poverty, the promotion of justice, the protection of human rights and respect for the environment.”

Fordham University Mission Statement

For information contact: Dr. Joseph Fahey, Chair, CSWJ 914.220.2057 josephjfahey@gmail.com CSWJ email: info@cswj.us / Website