Happy Labor Day
Weekend to you all! On this holiday when
we focus on the dignity and importance of labor, I want to share with you the
following announcement from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
about their annual Labor Day Statement. I think it has several points on which all
of us can profitably reflect.
Happy Labor Day!
2014 Labor Day Statement Focuses On Unemployment Among Young People
August 13, 2014
WASHINGTON—The high unemployment rate of young adults, both
in the United States and around the world, is the focus of the 2014 Labor Day
Statement from the chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Domestic Justice
and Human Development, Archbishop Thomas G. Wenski of Miami. The statement,
dated September 1, draws on Pope Francis’ teaching against an “economy of
exclusion” and applies it to the millions of unemployed young adults in the
United States.
“For those fortunate enough to have jobs, many pay poorly.
Greater numbers of debt-strapped college graduates move back in with their
parents, while high school graduates and others may have less debt but very few
decent job opportunities,” wrote Archbishop Wenski. “Pope Francis has reserved
some of his strongest language for speaking about young adult unemployment,
calling it ‘evil,’ an ‘atrocity,’ and emblematic of the ‘throwaway culture.’”
Archbishop Wenski added, “Meaningful and decent work is vital
if young adults hope to form healthy and stable families.” He noted that in
other countries unemployment among young adults reaches as high as three to
four times the national average.
Archbishop Wenski said policies and institutions “that create
decent jobs, pay just wages, and support family formation and stability” help
honor the dignity of workers. “Raising the minimum wage, more and better
workforce training programs, and smarter regulations that minimize negative
unintended consequences would be good places to start.”
Archbishop Wenski noted that Pope Francis has called young
people a source of hope for humanity. “We need to do more to nurture this
hopefulness and provide our young adults with skills, support, and
opportunities to flourish,” Archbishop Wenski wrote.
He also called for greater solidarity: “Since each of us is
made in the image of God and bound by His love, possessing a profound human
dignity, we have an obligation to love and honor that dignity in one another,
and especially in our work.”
The full text of the 2014 Labor Day Statement is available
online in English: www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/human-life-and-dignity/labor-employment/labor-day-statement-2014.cfm.
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