Teachers Seeking Payment From Diocese

The following article appeared in the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader, January 26, 2010:


With attorney fees and interest included, the amount sought could easily top $1 million.
The first filings are expected to be done today, according to Michael Milz, a former teacher at Bishop Hoban High School and president of the Scranton Diocese Association of Catholic Teachers.

“There is a two-step process,” Milz said. “The first step is to file paperwork to affirm the awards we won in arbitration cases going back better than a year now,” he said, adding that separate filings were required for each school. “The next step is to file paperwork to attempt to force them to pay.”

The association had represented some teachers until 2006, when then-Bishop Joseph Martino restructured the entire system, eliminating local school boards and parish councils the union had dealt with.

The union asked to represent teachers under the new system of four regional school boards, but was rejected. The diocese opted to start an “Employee Relations Program” it repeatedly insists gives all school employees fair representation.

The union argued the contracts teachers had before restructuring guaranteed that teachers who lost their jobs during the restructuring were eligible for accumulated sick leave and severance pay. The union filed grievances and says that, since May 2008, separate arbitration hearings were held for teachers at Bishop Hoban, Bishop Hafey, Bishop Neumann, St. Vincent Elementary and Bishop O’Reilly Junior and Senior high school.

The union says arbiters rule in its favor in most cases and ordered the diocese to immediately start paying the teachers, but the diocese has not done so. The filings will launch a lawsuit attempting to force payment.

The diocese has previously said it intends to honor the awards but was not sure where the money will come from. Financial struggles were a key reason given when the school restructuring was done, closing many area buildings.

Diocese and teachers disagree on result of employees' council

The following letter to the editor of the Wilkes-Barre Citizens' Voice appeared December 12, 2009:

Diocese and teachers disagree on result of employees' council

Editor:

In the November edition of the Catholic Light both the administrator of the diocese of Scranton, Monsignor Bambera, and human resources director, James Burke, are quoted about how wonderful the employees' council work is progressing. This is true from the diocese's point of view; not so true from the employees' point of view.

There is no binding contract between the diocese and the employee council. The council can only discuss and make recommendations about wages and working conditions. The diocese is free to accept, reject, or change these recommendations at any time without even consulting the employees. This makes the employee council useless as far as representing the teachers, secretaries and maintenance personal.

In the past two and a half years since Bishop Martino took away the teachers' union rights, the diocese has frozen teachers' pay, forced teachers into contributing $1,500 per year to a health care plan with higher co-pays and higher deductibles than the old plan, took away the dental plan, forced teachers to drop the retirement plan we have been with for years and join the diocese plan, increased the length of the school day, added an extra teaching period, increased class sizes, and required teachers to perform additional duties. This added work for less pay is reported as wonderful progress by Monsignor Bambera and Mr. Burke, but doesn't seem as wonderful to the teachers.

Also since Bishop Martino dissolved the union contracts a number of neutral arbiters have ruled that the diocese owes teachers in several schools money specified in the old contracts. The diocese refuses to pay this money owed for almost two and a half years now. Lawyers for the teachers are presently preparing a suit against the diocese to force payment. If the diocese will not even honor a binding contract and arbiter's rulings what makes teachers on the employee council think the diocese will honor nonbinding conditions suggested by this council?

Each of these changes were made over the years without even talking to the teachers, and the diocese spokespersons were often quoted saying, "This is what the teachers represented by the employee's council wanted." Reread the changes listed above made unilaterally by the diocese and ask yourself, if you were a teacher would you want these things? Would you trust the diocese to treat you fairly in a nonbinding agreement?

Eugene Gowisnok

Teacher in the Scranton Diocese for 33 years
Swoyersville

Catholicism and Labor

The following article appeared in NEPArtisan, November 14, 2009:

Catholicism and Labor

The Catholic Church, in its principled glory, has spent a lot of time for nearly the past two years denigrating and dismantling the teacher’s union. Michael Milz, the union president, was one of its victims.

It’s only logical for an employer to want to terminate an employee that threatens its agenda, but the dispicable thing that’s been going on here is that basic rights to representation in the workplace have been denied. Unions represent a necessary facet of the civilized world and it’s stunning to me that an institution that purportedly seeks social justice would be so unjust here.
Was Milz laid off because of his activities? Probably. But in the verdict absolving the church of wrongdoing, they get to walk away feeling sinless in the eyes of the court.

Being able to hide behind “discretion” due to that off-limits word “religion” doesn’t hide the obvious truth that the local Catholic Church has been anti-labor, anti-worker, and against the natural rights afforded to us by both civil law and what they should recognize as spiritual law.

I am not a fan of special status given to any instituion, non-profit, religious, or whatever, that takes advantage of that status to promote such an agenda. Yeah, that means you, anti-gay Boy Scouts and Salvation Army. Doing some good does not excuse discrimination in any way.

Amen.

New diocesan leader ends Bishop Martino's stonewall of teachers union

The following article appeared in the Scranton Times Tribune, October 14, 2009:

New diocesan leader ends Bishop Martino's stonewall of teachers union

After almost two years of unanswered or rejected invitations, a leader from the diocese met with the president of the Diocese of Scranton teachers union last week.

In the 22 months since now-retired Bishop Joseph F. Martino announced the diocese would no longer recognize the Scranton Diocese Association of Catholic Teachers, union President Michael Milz had repeatedly been denied a meeting with diocesan officials.

Last week, Mr. Milz sat down with Monsignor Joseph Bambera, delegate of Cardinal Justin F. Rigali, apostolic administrator of the diocese. Bishop Martino retired Aug. 31.

"It was a good meeting," Mr. Milz said. "It was our first communication with the diocese, of any kind."

Though any change to Bishop Martino's stance would likely not happen until a new bishop is named, Mr. Milz said he is encouraged.

William Genello, diocesan spokesman, said Monsignor Bambera had a "good conversation" with Mr. Milz and that the monsignor would be discussing the situation with Cardinal Rigali.
"Monsignor Bambera was willing to listen," Mr. Genello said.

Instead of recognizing the union, the diocese created an employee relations program in January 2008. The teachers union had previously been recognized within the diocese on a school-by-school basis, but after the diocese reorganized its school system, the diocese as a whole had to grant recognition.

In the year that followed the announcement, there were numerous rallies, protests and sick-outs - groups of teachers calling in sick on the same day.

When a new bishop is named, Mr. Milz wants Bishop Martino's decision reversed. "We're hopeful about the whole thing," Mr. Milz said.

Controversial Bishop Resigns

The following article appeared in the National Catholic Reporter, September 14, 2009:

Controversial Bishop Resigns

When Bishop Joseph F. Martino resigned Aug. 31 after six tumultuous years as bishop of Scranton, Pa., he left behind a diocese badly divided and demoralized, but, ironically, better prepared for the future than it was in 2003.

Sources contacted by NCR said the problem was Martino’s remote, uncommunicative and often authoritarian leadership style, not his decisions to close nearly half the Catholic schools and 40 percent of the parishes in the northeastern Pennsylvania diocese.

One longtime pastor said the parish and school closings and mergers “were absolutely needed.” He predicted that the basic program of restructuring the parishes, scheduled to be completed by 2012, will continue “pretty much as planned, with perhaps some fine tuning,” regardless of who the next bishop is. The basic program of school closings is already completed.

For months preceding his resignation -- at the age of 63, 12 years before the usual retirement age for bishops -- rumors flew around the diocese that the increasingly unpopular bishop had been called to Rome in June and had been asked, urged or maybe even ordered to submit his resignation.

No one contacted could offer positive evidence to confirm or rebut the speculation.

“It is very unusual for a bishop to resign at 63 years of age” and the Vatican would accept such a resignation only for exceptional reasons, said Jesuit Fr. Thomas J. Reese, a senior fellow at Woodstock Theological Center in Washington.

At the same time, “it is extremely rare for the Vatican to pressure a bishop to resign,” said Reese, author of three in-depth studies on how U.S. bishops and the Vatican exercise authority, pastoral leadership and administrative duties.

At the press conference announcing his resignation, Martino said he did so for health reasons, including “bouts of insomnia and, at times, crippling physical fatigue.” But he also acknowledged that his recent physical ailments stemmed from the stress and sorrow he felt over the lack of a “clear consensus among the clergy and the people of the diocese of Scranton regarding my pastoral initiatives or my method of governance.”

He said the diocese needs a “physically vigorous” bishop to lead it into the future and “I am not that bishop.”

“I think the bishop seems to have recognized that there really was a need for new leadership,” said Reese.
“I congratulate him for his courage and willingness” to face that and resign, he added. “I only wish a few other bishops would do the same.”

Controversial actions

In addition to his widely reported reclusiveness and failure to visit parishes and meet with the people, Martino stoked the fires of division in the diocese in the past couple of years with a variety of very public clashes that intensified his image as an authoritarian figure. Among the more notable were:

•His unilateral decision to decertify the Scranton Diocese Association of Catholic Teachers, the union that had represented most of the teachers for 30 years. He replaced it with a new diocesan organization for teachers -- what the teachers’ union head, Michael Milz, called “a company union.”

•His instruction to priests, deacons and lay ministers of the Eucharist that they must not give Communion to those who are unworthy -- widely understood to refer chiefly to pro-choice Catholic politicians.

•His criticisms during last year’s election campaign of those, including other U.S. bishops, who would not call abortion the paramount issue for Catholic voters in the elections.

•His unannounced appearance interrupting a parish forum last fall on “Faithful Citizenship,” the latest statement from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops on political responsibilities of Catholics. Martino famously told the gathering that he was the church’s sole official teacher in Scranton and “no conference document is relevant in this diocese.”

•His refusal to meet with the presidents of the four Catholic colleges and universities in the diocese until they offered him, and made public, the complete syllabi of all courses that related to religion, faith and morals.

At last November’s national meeting of bishops, Martino publicly told the bishops that newly elected Vice President Joseph Biden Jr., a Scranton native with a pro-choice voting record as a U.S. senator from Delaware, would not be welcome to receive Communion in Scranton.

He similarly threatened Sen. Robert Casey, D-Pa., with refusal of Communion because Casey -- one of the most pro-life Democrats in Congress -- voted to confirm Kathleen Sebelius, who supports legalized abortion, as U.S. secretary of health and human services.

A longtime pastor in the diocese said Martino’s denunciation of Biden, a well-liked native son, “didn’t go down too well” among local Catholics.

The pastor declined to be identified by name, citing a diocesan policy that no priest is to speak to journalists without prior clearance from William Genello, diocesan director of communications. The policy itself is indicative of the authoritarian style of Martino cited by many. (Apart from Genello himself, current diocesan officials who were called by NCR did not return calls or, if reached, referred the reporter to Genello for all questions.)

The pastor said the distancing of the bishop from the people seemed to have started early on when the closing of a school “caused a terrible rift in a little town. The bishop interpreted all of the reaction as disloyalty to the church. ... He pulled back [from the critics] and thought he was protecting the church.”

At one early point in the restructuring of the schools Martino addressed the issue when he celebrated Mass in one of the affected parishes, and afterward people came up and shook his hand, the pastor said. “But it never got repeated,” he added. Instead the bishop started to avoid visiting parishes when possible.

The restructuring of the school system -- in which the diocese closed five of the nine Catholic high schools and 13 of the 33 elementary schools -- was completed in 2007.

Still more school closings might have to take place under a new bishop, the pastor said, “because we never really aggressively raised tuition. There are still all kinds of problems around that.”

Mary Ann Paulukonis, who recently retired as Scranton diocesan family life director, said that when Martino first arrived in October 2003, “he came with a vision that excited most of us. ... Initially he was friendly and open and easy to dialogue with.”

But that started to change as the problems of the diocese emerged, she said. “I don’t think he expected” the serious financial problems that were facing the diocese and its schools and parishes.

“There were parishes in debt” with no way to pay it off “and some of the schools were bleeding,” she said.

Reorganization

Just one month after his arrival, Martino announced to the staff that one of his first priorities was going to be restructuring to tackle the debt problem, Paulukonis said, and that winter he announced his intention to reorganize the schools.

In the meantime he also began reorganizing diocesan offices to cut administrative costs and installed four regional episcopal vicars to serve as his chief deputies on all church matters in those parts of the diocese.

The regional vicar model is widely followed in large and medium-sized U.S. dioceses -- Scranton, with about 350,000 Catholics and 180 active priests serving 200 parishes, would be considered a medium-sized diocese -- but Paulukonis said the difference was that Martino essentially deputized the episcopal vicars to handle everything, and no one could get to the bishop’s ear except through his or her regional vicar.

“We used to have big staff meetings once a month” involving heads of all diocesan executive and curia offices and diocesan departments, she said. “Those meetings improved when he came. There was a lot of information-sharing and he would dialogue with us.”

But about six months later, after he installed his regional vicars, those monthly staff meetings “just stopped,” she said. Martino would meet regularly only with his episcopal vicars and central curia officials. Department heads and others had to funnel any questions or comments to the bishop through the appropriate vicar or curial official.

“When troubles started occurring, he wasn’t available. A leader who is invisible is the enemy. People started misinterpreting [things Martino said or did]. ... He was a villain” in people’s perception of him, she said.

She, Milz and the pastor who asked not to be named all said the bishop’s unilateral decertification of the Catholic teachers’ union in January 2008, right after the schools had all been consolidated and regrouped administratively under four regional diocesan structures, marked a new turning point in the bishop’s souring relations with the faithful -- most of them descendants of Irish, Polish, Italian and other immigrants who owed their entry into the American middle class to church-supported unions.

Union factor

Scranton’s union history is a major factor here. In the mid-19th century, the city grew rapidly because of iron ore veins in hills a little to the south, substantial anthracite coal deposits to the south and north, and the steel industry in town that melded the two natural resources.

Northeast Pennsylvania was the birthplace of the United Mine Workers, and founder John Mitchell converted to Catholicism largely because of local church support for coal mine workers’ efforts to unionize and obtain better living standards. Mitchell is buried in the Scranton cathedral’s cemetery and there is a monument to him next to the Lackawanna County Court House in Scranton, scene of a key decision ending the historic 1902 strike of anthracite coal miners in the area.

Paulukonis said that before Martino’s unilateral move to impose a diocesan association for teachers to replace the teachers’ union, many Catholic teachers outside of Luzerne County, the union’s stronghold, were indifferent to the union or opposed to it. She said that shortly after his action a teacher friend of hers told her that before the decision “she had no interest in the union,” but now she was at the point that she would probably go on strike if asked to.

A longtime theology professor at one of the local Catholic universities who is involved in many Catholic activities and organizations locally and nationally -- who also asked to remain unidentified, not for personal concerns but for fear of diocesan repercussions for the university where he teaches -- said the longtime union culture in the diocese was one of the key factors in the division between Martino and his priests and people in the past couple of years.

The theologian said the religious conservatism and the history of ethnic tensions of Catholics in the Scranton diocese -- including the century-old Polish National Catholic church schism from Roman Catholicism, which started with an Irish-American bishop’s insensitivity to a Polish national parish in Scranton -- are also major factors that have to be taken into account in any assessment of the complex negative response of local priests and laity to Martino’s style of governance.

In many cities in the diocese, national parishes for Poles, Italians, Irish or other Catholic immigrant groups that were established in the late 19th or early 20th century, sometimes within two or three blocks of one another, still existed when Martino arrived, even though membership numbers had dropped dramatically over recent decades because of deaths, suburban emigration and other factors, the theologian said.

He said that even though many of those parishes were no longer viable, James Timlin -- bishop of Scranton from 1984 to 2003 and the first Scranton native to head the diocese -- did not have the heart to begin the process of closing them.

Paulukonis, who said she served as a facilitator in the restructuring process for more than 20 of the parishes around the diocese, described the process itself as an excellent model of consultation and sharing of responsibility in decision-making.

By the end of the process, she said, there were few cases left in which the parish cluster and the planning committee were still at odds.

Issue of connectivity

The only thing wrong with the process, she said, was “the bishop’s lack of connectivity with the people.” Because he was not a visible part of the process, “many were seeing him as the enemy.”

“People needed to get to know Bishop Martino. He was a good and holy man,” she said.

The theologian said he believed, but had no hard evidence, that the Vatican may have pressured Martino to resign, because he knew that complaints from people in the diocese have flooded the Vatican’s apostolic nuncio in Washington and various Vatican offices in Rome in recent years.

Michael MacDowell, president of Misericordia University, run by the Sisters of Mercy in Dallas, Pa., said presidents of the four Catholic higher education institutes in the diocese -- Misericordia, the Jesuits’ Scranton University, the Immaculate Heart of Mary Sisters’ Marywood University in Scranton, and King’s College in Wilkes-Barre run by the Congregation of Holy Cross -- had all “first individually, then collectively” sought meetings with Martino without success.

The bishop agreed to meet with them only if they first provided him with “course syllabi” providing a detailed outline of all content of every course related to religion or Catholic teaching, and then to “make those documents public,” MacDowell said. He said Misericordia found that demand impossible to meet because the syllabus of a course is the property of the professor who teaches it.

Holy Cross Fr. Patrick Sullivan, executive secretary and chaplain of the Boston Labor Guild, told NCR that the Holy Cross community at King’s College, with which he has had connections, was pressured by diocesan officials to issue a public apology after he publicly criticized the way Martino had dealt with the local Catholic teachers’ union.

Sullivan, who recently turned 80, is one of the last surviving “labor priests” of the generation epitomized by the late Msgr. George G. Higgins, and he has written extensively on the church and the labor movement. He told NCR that when Martino decertified the local teachers’ union, he first wrote to the bishop asking him to reverse his decision in light of Catholic social teaching on workers’ rights to collective bargaining.

When he got no response from Martino, Sullivan said he wrote to Archbishop Pietro Sambi, papal nuncio to the United States, expressing his concerns. He said he next sought to discuss the issue with Martino by telephone but was rebuffed. When he finally went public with a statement to Scranton media decrying Martino’s union-busting actions, he said, diocesan officials pressured the Holy Cross community at King’s College to issue a public apology for his statement.

Genello, the diocese’s communications director, declined to comment on the rumors that the Vatican had asked or urged Martino to resign, saying only that the bishop’s statement, citing health reasons, spoke for itself.

Genello also declined to predict the future of the parish reorganization plan set in motion by Martino and now in its final stages of implementation. But he provided data on the demographics, personnel and other factors behind the plan.

He said that back in the mid-1960s the number of active priests had peaked at more than 450. Before the annual major announcement of assignment changes in July 2009, he said, the number of active priests in the diocese available for parish duties was 180.

The July announcement reported the retirement of nine pastors and the appointment of two newly ordained priests to new assignments, along with scores of other new assignments and transfers among the clergy of the diocese. Genello said the diocese projects that by 2012, when the number of parishes in the diocese are to be reduced from 200 to 120, the number of active priests available to serve those parishes will have dropped to 147.

Rigali role

Reese said another major question in Martino’s resignation is what role Cardinal Justin Rigali of Philadelphia played and continues to play in the still-unfolding drama.

Reese noted that the cardinal, who spent much of his priestly career as a Vatican official -- first as a member of the English-speaking section of the Vatican Secretariat of State and later as secretary of the Congregation for Bishops and as head of the Ecclesiastical Academy, the Vatican’s graduate school for papal diplomats -- is quite familiar with Vatican procedures and is well-known to current Vatican officials, including those in the Congregation for Bishops, which rules on episcopal appointments in the United States and throughout the world.

As a longtime Vatican official -- and currently possibly the chief kingmaker on U.S. episcopal appointments -- as well as the metropolitan archbishop immediately responsible for archiepiscopal oversight of the Scranton diocese, Rigali probably had a major say in the Vatican decision to accept Martino’s unusual early resignation, Reese said.

As Catholics in the diocese reflect back on Martino and his leadership, perhaps one comment by a local pastor sums up current thinking best. Although Martino is a good man, “he doesn’t have the gift of being a diocesan bishop,” the pastor said.

Catholic teachers union eager to meet with Scranton Diocese to discuss union issue

The following article appeared in the Union News, September 6, 2009:

The President of the union that once represented the teachers of the Scranton Diocese is hopeful now that Bishop Joseph Martino has retired, the labor organization can again represent the employees.


On August 31st, the Diocese of Scranton held a press conference to announce Bishop Martino’s retirement effective on September 1st ending his 6-year tenure during which he eliminated the union.

The Scranton Diocese Association of Catholic Teachers (SDACT) Union represented the teachers of seventeen of the fourty-two grade schools and nine of the ten high schools of the Scranton Diocese until Bishop Martino restructured the school system in 2007. The new system eliminated the small school boards and created four regional boards. SDACT previously had contracts with each Board of Pastors that represented each school. Bishop Martino implemented a “Employee Relations Program,” after he told the union they no longer represented the employees.

SDACT has not represented the workers since August 2007 when the previous contracts expired and Bishop Martino refused to negotiate for a new contract agreement.

Mike Milz, President of SDACT, told the newspaper his union is eager to meet with the Scranton Diocese and discuss the union situation with them.

Mr. Milz believes the Scranton Diocese can not expect to move forward without “fixing” the labor issue. “Organized labor has always been part of the church. If there is a real interest in fixing the situation, we are ready to sit down with them at anytime,” said Mr. Milz. He believes the labor community will not support the church unless they repair the relationship and regain trust with them and the only way that can happen is to negotiate with the SDACT.

Bishop Martino promised the union if a majority of the employees signed union authorization cards, he would recoginize the SDACT as their bargaining representative. However, Mr. Milz said Bishop Martino went back on his word and refused to discuss the issue and went ahead and busted the union.

Under current Pennsylvania labor law the union can not file Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) charges against the Diocese for not negotiating with the union. However, House Bill 26 has been introduced that would amend the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Act (PLRAct) to cover religious school employees under the law.

Mr. Milz stated the union has authorization cards that were signed by the teachers showing they would like to be represented by the union. “We are willing to meet and resolve our differences,” said Mr. Milz.

SDACT General Membership Meeting

The SDACT will hold a general membership meeting for all current members and all interested Diocesan teachers.  The purpose of the meeting will be to discuss the SDACT campaign for dignity and justice in the post-Bishop Martino era.

DATE: Thursday, September 17, 2009
TIME:  Immediately following the Diocesan Teachers Institute at Holy Redeemer High School
PLACE:  Genetti Hotel, 77 E. Market St., Wilkes-Barre ( 1 block north of Holy Redeemer on PA Boulevard)

Invited Guests:  Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski (sponsor of HB 26) and Rita Schwartz, President, National Association of Catholic School Teachers (NACST).

USCCB 2009 LABOR DAY STATEMENT

Labor Day Statement

THE VALUE OF WORK; THE DIGNITY OF THE HUMAN PERSON

Most Reverend William F. Murphy

Bishop of Rockville Centre

Chairman of the Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

September 7, 2009

Over the years we Americans have redefined the summer by making Labor Day the “extra day of vacation” that recognizes the work we do throughout the year. There is nothing wrong with that. In fact looking at the history of the struggle for wages and benefits, I think that an extra “day off” for all Americans fits in with the spirit of the whole American experience of the meaning of work. It is a moment to recognize the value and dignity of work and the contribution and rights of the American worker. It is time well spent.

Labor Day this year comes at a time when we face a number of challenging problems, many of which cause us to reflect and ponder on what the future will bring. As complex and challenging as the current economic situation is and the new elements that challenge us all, Americans are still fundamentally an optimistic people. We have an abiding faith in the values that have shaped our nation and an ongoing commitment to work together to address the problems and build on the strengths of who we are. This attitude mirrors the deep and powerful virtue of hope that our Church and, in a special way, our Holy Father, Pope Benedict, have emphasized as a mark of all the faithful disciples of Jesus. We are called always “to give an accounting of the hope that is in us.”(cf. 1Pt 3:15) This is especially true in difficult times that can try our spirits and test our wills.

A New Encyclical

Earlier this summer, Pope Benedict XVI published his long awaited encyclical, Caritas in Veritate. This teaching of Benedict brings together a whole range of theological and social issues in a perspective that is in some ways very new and challenging. The Holy Father covers a wide gamut of subjects that reflect many of the Church’s traditional concerns in the social field while placing them in broader anthropological and cultural context. In this way the encyclical reflects questions that have long been central to the theological reflections of this Pontiff who constantly plumbs the implications of understanding of the human person before God. The Pope reminds us, “the primary capital to be safeguarded and valued is…the human person in his or her integrity: Man is the source, the form and the aim of all economic and social life.” (#25)

The Pope revisits the traditional teachings of his predecessors on the value of the human person, the dignity of every human being, and the integral development of human society to promote human flourishing. His reflections reaffirm the teachings of Leo XIII on labor and Pius XI on subsidiarity. With John XXIII and John Paul II, he insists on the value of solidarity and focuses with a special emphasis on Paul VI’s passionate commitment to the Third World and the development of peoples.

In the new encyclical, the Holy Father affirms and extends traditional Catholic teaching on the centrality of work to the whole human experience. Decent work, according to the encyclical, “means work that expresses the essential dignity of every man and woman in the context of their particular society: work that is freely chosen, effectively associating workers, both men and women, with the development of their community; work that enables the worker to be respected and free from any form of discrimination; work that makes it possible for families to meet their needs and provide schooling for children, without the children themselves being forced into labor; work that permits the workers to organize themselves freely, and to make their voices heard; work that leaves enough room for re-discovering one’s roots at a personal, familial and spiritual level; work that guarantees those who have retired a decent standard of living.” (#63)

Pope Benedict renews and reminds us of the Church’s classic support for the right of workers to choose freely to form or join a union or other types of workers’ associations. Pope Benedict endorses this and adds to it the responsibility of workers and unions “to be open to the new perspectives that are emerging in the world of work.” (#64)

This Labor Day statement is not the place to give a complete overview of the new encyclical. It remains, however, a major point of reference for us all as we give thanks to God for the meaning with which God has endowed work as a reflection of the dignity of every worker, a “co-creator” with God in this world of human endeavor. That vision of cooperation with God in building up this world through our work underscores the need for us all to cooperate and collaborate with one another in making work and the workplace a project of human solidarity and mutual respect.

An Example of Respecting the Rights of Workers

In this Labor Day reflection, permit me to call your attention to a positive step forward in respect for workers in one crucial area of our life: health care. This year, after years of discussions, leaders in Catholic health ministry, the labor movement, and the Catholic bishops sought to apply our traditional teaching on work and workers and to offer some practical alternatives on how leaders of hospitals, unions, and others might apply our principles as an aid to reaching agreements in their own situations.

The principal participants— the Catholic Health Association (CHA), the AFL/CIO, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB)—reached agreement that offers guidance and options on how workers can make a free decision about whether or not they want to be represented by a union. They agreed on basic principles including mutual respect and open and honest communication as ‘guides’ to appropriate conduct for both employers and union representatives. This paves the way for workers to make informed decisions without undue influence or pressure from either side. The basic elements of such an approach include mutual respect, truth, and a commitment to let the workers decide whether or not they want to be represented by a union. This was not easy or simple. There were many different points of view and perspectives that at times seemed irreconcilable. The dialogue was long, candid and constructive. It led to a significant consensus statement entitled, Respecting the Just Rights of Workers: Guidance and Options for Catholic Health Care and Unions.

This project achieved a significant accomplishment: a consensus among all the parties on a set of principles, processes, and guidelines for a respectful and harmonious approach to let workers in Catholic health care facilities make free choices about unionization. This is offered for voluntary use to help facilitate worker’s choices in an atmosphere of mutual respect and cooperation for the good of the workers themselves.

Special thanks are due to the leadership of the CHA, AFL/CIO, and SEIU. All involved join me in special appreciation for the patient and wise leadership of Cardinal Theodore McCarrick. Thanks in no small measure go as well to the guidance of the Feerick Center at Fordham law School under the direction of Dean John Feerick. The dialogue tried to look at real situations and genuine differences in light of some basic themes in Catholic social teaching. The document offers some practical guidance and alternatives on how leaders of hospitals, unions, and others might apply these principles by adapting them to their own situations.

Because Catholic health care is a ministry, leadership must reflect in its own operations the words and example of Jesus. For the Church, health care is a continuation of the healing mission of Jesus. This is a gift to both the Church and to society at large. In our nation, one person out of six receives care at one of more than 600 Catholic hospitals or 1,200 other Catholic health care ministries. In the past, tension and misunderstandings too often marred relations between Catholic health care and labor. In an effort to look at that and move beyond it, the participants in the dialogue sought to find alternatives that would structure and guide a positive process with the good of the worker as the centerpiece.

This group of leaders, representing all the principal entities involved, affirmed two key values
(1) the central role of workers themselves in making choices about representation and (2) the principle of mutual agreement between employers and unions on the means and methods to assure that workers could make their choices freely and fairly. The document calls for civil dialogue between unions and employers focusing on how the workers’ right to decide will be respected. The heart of this consensus is that it is up to workers—not bishops, hospital managers, or union leaders—to decide “through a fair process” whether or not to be represented by a union and if so, which union. It is our hope that this voluntary guidance and process agreement will prove to be a significant help for greater respect for workers on behalf of all interested parties now and in the future.

Other Issues in Health Care Reform

This Labor Day comes as our nation is engaged in a wider debate on reform of the health care system. As Congress discusses various proposals, the USCCB is committed to bring to this challenging issue the principles of Catholic social teaching as important truths that have the capacity to analyze and measure each serious proposal brought forward. The Catholic bishops continue to work for health care that is accessible, affordable, and respects the life and dignity of every human being from the moment of conception to the moment of natural death. To cite Pope Benedict, “A society lacks solid foundations when, on the one hand, it asserts values such as the dignity of the human person, justice and peace, but then, on the other hand, radically acts to the contrary by allowing or tolerating a variety of ways in which human life is devalued and violated, especially where it is weak or marginalized.” (#15)

Health care is an essential good for every human person. In a society like ours, no one should lack access to decent health care. Perhaps no other topic has engaged such a large number of citizens or produced such a wide range of opinions and points of view. This can help us avoid the pitfalls that occur when legislation passes without enough dialogue and reflection. I urge you to join the bishops in advocating for health care reform that is truly universal and protects human life at every stage of development. We must remain resolute in urging the federal government to continue its essential and longstanding prohibitions on abortion funding and abortion mandates.

Our government and laws must also retain explicit protection for the freedom of conscience of health care workers and health care institutions. For more on USCCB advocacy on health care reform see our website, http://www.usccb.org/healthcare/. Somewhat different but still a matter of basic human dignity is the challenge of immigration reform. This too has a part in the current health care debates. As a nation we have to be concerned about the integrity and safety of our borders. But that cannot overwhelm issues of respect for the dignity of immigrants who come to our country for so many varying political and economic reasons. We are a nation of laws. We as a people respect the laws of our country and state and local municipality. New peoples also are expected to do the same as good citizens or as good people desirous of becoming citizens. Most immigrants work hard, pay taxes, contribute to social security, and are valuable members of our society. Yet too often these same immigrants, including legal immigrants, are denied access to health care services. This should not happen in a society that respects the rights and dignity of every person. For all these reasons our immigration law and related laws must guarantee fair treatment to the millions of immigrants in our country who contribute to our economy and the common good. This is not an issue of “us” and “them.”

They, the new peoples among us, are an integral part of the “us” that constitutes the great
diversity that is our nation. In that context, we bishops are convinced that it is imperative that legal immigrants be included in any fair and just health care legislation that seeks to offer adequate care that is universal and advances the common good of all in our country. An adequate safety net should remain in place for those who still remain without health care coverage. (For more information on the bishops’ efforts on immigration see: http://www.justiceforimmigrants.org/)

Conclusion

As we seek to rebuild our economy, produce a better health care system, and improve the
imigration system, we are presented with unique opportunities to advance the common good. Pope Benedict’s new encyclical insists that the ethical dimensions of economic life begin with protecting the life and dignity of all, respect for work and the rights of workers, and a genuine commitment to the common good. As the Holy Father points out: “it is a good that is sought not for its own sake, but for the people who belong to the social community and who can only really and effectively pursue their good within it. To desire the common good and strive towards it is a requirement of justice and charity.” (emphasis in the original, #7)

On this Labor Day, let us remember those without work and without hope. Too often in
our public discourse anger trumps wisdom, myth outweighs fact, and slogans replace solutions.
We can work together and rebuild our economy on the moral principles and ethical values outlined by Pope Benedict in his new encyclical. This Labor Day, we should take a moment to pray for all workers and all those without work. We should also ask God’s help in living out the Church’s call to defend human life and dignity, to protect workers and their rights, and to stand with the poor and vulnerable in difficult economic times. In his new encyclical, Pope Benedict challenges and reassures us: “As we contemplate the vast amount of work to be done, we are sustained by our faith that God is present alongside those who come together in his name to work for justice.” (#78)

May God bless you this Labor Day and may God watch over and bless those who are committed to the care and protection of all the members of our nation who share the American dream of “liberty and justice for all.”

Scranton bishop resigns, citing tensions

The following article appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer, September 1, 2009

Scranton bishop resigns, citing tensions 


Saying the strains of leadership had proved too much for him, Bishop Joseph Martino announced yesterday he was stepping down as head of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Scranton after six contentious years.


Early resignations are unusual in the Catholic hierarchy, but Martino, 63, said he was suffering frequent insomnia and sometimes "crippling" fatigue, and felt he could no longer lead effectively. 
The normal retirement age for Catholic bishops is 75.

Cardinal Justin Rigali, the Roman Catholic archbishop of Philadelphia, will serve as interim leader of the 350,000-member diocese, which comprises 11 northeastern counties.

Admired by the antiabortion movement for his advocacy, Martino's tenure was also marked by unpopular parish closings, clashes with the local Catholic colleges, and battles with the Catholic teachers' union. He rarely appeared in public or spoke to secular news media.

At a joint news conference with Rigali yesterday in Scranton, Martino acknowledged that his leadership style had been unpopular with some clergy and laity. He finished his prepared remarks by saying, "I seek forgiveness from anyone I may not have adequately served."

He declined all requests for interviews.

Rigali will continue to lead the nearly 1.5 million-member Philadelphia archdiocese while serving as Scranton's temporary "apostolic administrator." He is senior bishop, or metropolitan, of Pennsylvania's 10 Catholic dioceses.

Martino's successor, Rigali said, likely would be named in about six months.

Although he will continue to live within the 11-county diocese, Martino will not perform any bishop's duties, including confirmations, for at least the time being. "You have to fade" into the background, he said.

He said he had submitted his resignation to Rome on June 12 but did not receive authorization to step down until the end of July. "It's a bit of a relief for me to have all of this out in public," he said.

A Philadelphia native and a graduate of St. Joseph's Preparatory School and St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, Martino was ordained in 1970 and made an auxiliary bishop of Philadelphia in 1996. Pope John Paul II appointed him to Scranton in 2003.

A scholarly and accessible theologian who championed Mother Katherine Drexel's cause for sainthood, he inherited a diocese mired in debt, and seemed to lack the skill to deliver palatable solutions.
He closed, or announced plans to close, 115 parishes - nearly half the total. He also lit a firestorm of resentment in this pro-labor coal-mining region when he refused to recognize the Catholic teachers' union. The union lobbied for a bill in the Pennsylvania legislature that would give religious-school teachers unprecedented protection under the state Labor Relations Board - to the dismay of the state's other Catholic dioceses. The bill remains in committee.

Martino earned a national reputation for his opposition to abortion and his denunciations of officials who favor abortion rights, including President Obama.

He threatened to refuse Holy Communion to Vice President Biden and Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey, both Scranton natives. Casey, a Democrat who opposes abortion, had voted for former Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius to head the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. She supports abortion rights.

Rigali, who already divides his time between Philadelphia and Rome, said he did not expect to be present regularly in the diocese during the interim. He said Martino's predecessor as bishop, the Rev. James C. Timlin, and the retiring auxiliary bishop, the Rev. John Dougherty, would handle confirmations and other liturgical functions for the near future.

Rigali appointed Msgr. Joseph Bambera, pastor of two parishes in Lackawanna County, to oversee the diocese's daily operations.

What comes next is the important thing

The news of Bishop Martino’s retirement is the beginning of the end of a dark era for Catholicism in the Scranton Diocese.

Make no mistake about it; Bishop Joseph Martino did a tremendous amount of damage in very many ways to the Catholic Church as a whole in the Diocese. But nowhere was greater damage done than to our once proud system of Catholic education, which has been thoroughly devastated.

We challenge any teacher, parent, administrator or student to stand up and say that they believe that Catholic education is better off today than it was before the devastation wrought by Bishop Martino and his willing and eager minions in the Catholic Schools Office.

The reason the school system is in such a horrible state is that teachers, who are the key to success in any school system, have been rendered voiceless by being deprived of a union. Without such a voice, their ideas and opinions these last two years counted for naught. Because of that, a once effective curriculum was destroyed, and teacher morale devastated by ridiculous work rules, a senseless seniority system, and a total lack of job security. All of this has led to a public perception (rightly so) that the school system is unstable and no longer the standard of excellence that it once was in northeastern Pennsylvania.

Whoever the next bishop is, let's hope when he makes his plans to undo the damage done by Bishop Martino, he is intelligent enough to trace the history of what Martino did to get the Diocese in the mess it's in. If he does that, he will find that Bishop Martino never had any problems until he decided to bust our union. In doing so, he seriously underestimated the community's reaction, especially the tens of thousands of Catholics who make up the labor community. In effect, his actions desecrated "holy ground." The modern labor movement was born in northeastern Pennsylvania. The Catholic Church in Scranton was mid-wife to this birth. To see the Church turn its back on labor rights is never something that will be acceptable in this part of the world. Whoever the next bishop is going to be will never be able to be successful until he undoes this harm.

As we did immediately upon the arrival of Bishop Martino, the Scranton Diocese Association of Catholic Teachers will extend a hand to the new bishop and ask that we work together to rebuild Catholic education in the Diocese of Scranton. Let's all pray that the new bishop has the wisdom and courage to accept our offer.

Catholics and Unions

The following column appeared in the Washington Post featured column Catholic America:

Catholics and Unions

When I was growing up, it was almost part of the catechism that Catholics backed labor unions. We were taught that papal encyclicals on social and economic justice put us on the side of legitimate demands from workers. That centuries-old support received new clarity in June of 2009 when Catholic health workers and the U.S. Bishops delivered "Respecting the Just Rights of Workers."

In the spirit of the papal social encyclicals, this new document puts the American Church in support of union rights for the 21st century, which logically includes teachers in Catholic schools. The release of the bishops' document follows on the heels of the unionization of Catholic workers in Boston where employees of Caritas Christi joined the SEIU en masse. Now that the federal government is controlled by Democrats in the White House and in both houses of the Congress, it is fair to ask what unionization means to Catholic America.

The withering of Catholic support for unions became significant during the 1970s when the erosion of religious vocations ripped away a major part of the labor force in Catholic schools and in Catholic hospitals. Lay workers were hired to take their places. Secular salaries drove up the cost for Catholic schools and hospitals, forcing significant numbers of institutions into insolvency. In defense of their interests to adequate pay and benefits, many lay workers within church-run institutions demanded labor unions. But these increased demands for unionization came at a political moment dominated by union-busting presidents like Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan.The political climate conditioned the response from individual bishops. Among those who resisted unionization, the policies went from NIMBY ("not in my back yard") to downright hostility in declaring that unionization would "mean the end of Catholic education in the diocese."

Now the underpinning of that anti-union stance has been blown away. Cardinal McCarrick, the retired Archbishop of Washington and a leading player in the writing of the bishops' new document, said: "Because Catholic health care is a ministry, not an industry, how it treats its workers and how organized labor treats Catholic health care are not simply internal matters. They are also not just another arena for labor conflict and tactics, but ought to reflect longstanding Catholic teaching on work and workers, health care and the common good."

In other words, the church's relationship to its employees is not calculated merely as a bottom-line entry in a ledger, but part of the Church's mission to make God's Kingdom come.

Viewing union support through that pastoral and Catholic meaning makes it hugely different from the sort of blind ideological pandering that might be generated by a political machine. The Church supports good unions, not just any union. At the core of the consistent papal teaching is the end to destructive enmity between workers and owners.

In this new document, Catholic hospitals bind themselves to respond to a higher authority and become a model for all employers while simultaneously affording workers participation in management decisions. Greater power to management participation by unions is also at the heart of the restructuring of the American auto industry, wherein unions hold significant shares of ownership at Chrysler and General Motors. This trend is in accord with papal teaching.

What needs to be added here is how closely the bishops' document adheres to the provisions in the still-to-be-passed bill for worker's free choice of a union. Even without being forced to do so by legislation, the bishops have adopted a measure that puts them squarely in the pro-union column when it comes to hospitals and health care. The forthcoming encyclical of Pope Benedict XVI is reported to reiterate these premises, updating the church's stance on issues that have arisen with globalization. Moreover, it is likely to be a topic in the pope's meeting with President Obama in Rome on July 10th.

After many years as a scholar of Catholicism, I have come to realize that we Catholics often contradict our image as a monolithic religion and often are pulled in opposite directions by competing statements from pope, bishops and clergy. At least now we know that the pro-union direction is the Catholic choice, not NIMBY.

Union: Bishop mocking the pope

The following article appeared in the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader, July 9, 2009:

Union: Bishop mocking the pope

The organization trying to unionize Catholic school teachers contends Diocese of Scranton Bishop Joseph Martino’s refusal on the matter makes “a mockery” of new pronouncements by Pope Benedict XVI regarding labor organization.

Benedict issued his third encyclical Tuesday, an exhaustive look at the world economic situation. Titled “Caritas in Veritate,” or “Charity in truth,” it touches on – among many other things -- the environment, abortion, marriage, energy efficiency and distribution, access to education, international tourism, migration, and the media.

The work criticizes the modern push for profit above all else and calls for “a profoundly new way of understanding business enterprise.”

Benedict touches on unions with relative brevity, considering the scope and length of the encyclical. He notes that “through the combination of social and economic change, trade union organizations experience greater difficulty in carrying out their task of representing the interests of workers.”

He also says “outsourcing of production can weaken the company’s sense of responsibility towards the stakeholders” including workers, suppliers and consumers.
Near the end of the encyclical he repeats the church’s long-standing support of labor unions, but notes they “should be open to new perspectives that are emerging in the world of work,” urging them to “turn their attention to those outside their membership.”
The Scranton Diocese Association of Catholic Teachers posted a notice on its Web site lauding the pope’s pronouncement and contending that Martino’s refusal to allow teachers to unionize runs counter to the encyclical.

“It seems that no matter what the Holy Father or his brother bishops (who only last week gave a ringing endorsement of the rights of church employees) have to say about workers rights, Bishop Joseph Martino will not relent in his harsh opposition to grant these very same basic human rights to those who work for him,” the posting says.

The association represented many Catholic school teachers in the area, but lost that right when Martino restructured schools diocesewide, eliminating the local school boards and parish councils with which the union had negotiated.

Martino rejected a request to unionize under the new system, insisting a new “Employee Relations Program” offers all school workers fair representation.

Diocesan Spokesman Bill Genello did not respond to an e-mail and phone message seeking comment.

Statement by AFL-CIO President John Sweeney

Statement by AFL-CIO President John Sweeney
On the Pope’s Encyclical
July 8, 2009

Pope Benedict XVI’s commitment to the cause of working people worldwide shines today. In the new encyclical, Caritas in Veritate or Charity in Truth, Pope Benedict XVI offers an ethical critique of the global economic crisis and proposes concrete elements for policies anchored in moral values that enhance the dignity of all, especially the poor and working people. The encyclical levels a strong critique at the forces of unfettered free-market capitalism and globalized greed.

Particularly, the new encyclical offers a much-needed reminder that to create an economy that works for everyone it is critical to protect workers’ fundamental right to join together as a union and bargain for a better future. As the Pope makes clear, it is not only working people, but also entire communities - - nations even - - that stand to benefit when workers exercise this right. In the document, the Pope reaffirms the Church’s longstanding position that labor unions play a vital role in efforts to build a more just economy—one in which even the most marginalized workers are guaranteed basic dignity and respect.

As the gap between the wealthy and the poor continues to widen, and workers around the world are denied the dignity and freedom they deserve, the union movement stands with the Catholic Church in its call for a global economy that works for working people. Now, more than ever, we must rally to protect the rights of workers—at home and worldwide—to come together in unions and build a better future for us all.

Pope Benedict vs. Bishop Martino

The Scranton Diocese Association of Catholic Teachers today, July 7, welcomes the release of Pope Benedict XVI's new encyclical, Caritas in Veritate or "love in truth." The Holy Father dedicated this, his third encyclical, to the economy and labor.

We take special notice of the Holy Father's observation that through the combination of social and economic change, union organizations are experiencing greater difficulty in carrying out their task of representing the interests of workers. Pope Benedict then reiterated the repeated calls issued within the Church's social doctrine, beginning with Rerum Novarum in 1891, for the promotion of workers' associations that can defend workers' rights. Those organizations, he said, must be honored today even more so than in the past.

Yet while the Pope is urging the rest of the world to note the importance of labor unions for the common good, we who work in the schools of the Diocese of Scranton continue to be denied our own right to organize. It seems that no matter what the Holy Father or his brother bishops (who only last week gave a ringing endorsement of the rights of Church employees) have to say about workers rights, Bishop Joseph Martino will not relent in his harsh opposition to grant these very same basic human rights to those who work for him.

Bishop Martino's actions make a mockery of the Holy Father's pronouncments. Those in America today who harass and fire their workers when they seek to form a union, or take other unlawful action to obstruct the right of workers to organize, can only feel inspired and emboldened when they see it happening here.

We urge all our brothers and sisters in the faith, who for the past two years have watched this contentious struggle between Bishop Martino and his teachers, to reflect on their position in light of the new Encyclical and consider how they can use their influence within our Church to bring this sad episode to a just conclusion.

Pope Benedict: "There is an urgent need for organizations to defend workers' rights"

The following article was released by the Catholic News Service, July 7, 2009:

Pope Benedict XVI called on labor unions to look beyond their membership when protecting the rights of workers and turn their attention to workers in other fields and in developing countries where social rights are violated. The pope reached out to labor unions in his third encyclical, “Caritas in Veritate” (“Charity in Truth”), released July 7.

“The protection of these workers, partly achieved through appropriate initiatives aimed at their countries of origin, will enable trade unions to demonstrate the authentic ethical and cultural motivations that made it possible for them, in a different social and labor context, to play a decisive role in development,” he said in the encyclical.

Since the church’s traditional teaching makes a valid distinction between the roles of trade unions and politics, it is correct for unions to identify civil society as the proper setting for their activity of defending and promoting labor, especially among exploited and unrepresented workers often overlooked by the general public, the pope said. In the current global market, some businesses in rich countries have outsourced jobs to poor countries where the work force wages are low, and in the process have exploited workers in that country while driving down prices in their own nations, the pope said.

“These processes have led to a downsizing of social security systems as the price to be paid for seeking greater competitive advantage in the global market, with consequent grave danger for the rights of workers, for fundamental human rights and for the solidarity associated with the traditional forms of the social state,” he said. “Systems of social security can lose the capacity to carry out their task, both in emerging countries and in those that were among the earliest to develop, as well as in poor countries.”

The pope said unions often face obstacles in trying to represent workers, “partly because governments, for reasons of economic utility, often limit the freedom or the negotiating capacity of labor unions.” He said that, even more today than in the past, there was an urgent need for new forms of cooperation at the international and local levels for the promotion of associations that can defend workers’ rights.

On labor issues, bishops say one thing, do another

The following editorial appeared in the National Catholic Reporter, June 27, 2009. The author is Rita C. Schwartz, President, National Association of Catholic School Teachers.

On labor issues, bishops say one thing, do another

On June 22, 2009, “Respecting the Just Right of Workers: Guidance and Options for Catholic Health Care and Unions” was released by a Coalition consisting of the AFL-CIO, SEIU International, Catholic Health Association and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

The National association of Catholic School Teachers, a national union representing teachers in Catholic elementary and secondary schools, takes issue with the members of the Bishops’ Conference because of their negligence in the application of Catholic social teaching when their fellow bishops are involved, especially in regard to employees most directly under the bishops’ control, in particular, Catholic school teachers.

In the foreword to “Respecting the Just Rights of Workers,” Bishop William Murphy talks about the ten year dialogue exploring “how Catholic social teaching should shape the actions of unions, management and others in assuring workers a free and fair choice on questions of representation in the workplace.” What follows is a blueprint to be followed by management and labor in Catholic Health Care institutions to ensure a process that is “free, fair and respectful.”
Throughout the document, the U.S. Bishops are making clear to Catholic healthcare employers that a worker’s right to unionize is “a fundamental principle of social justice recognized by the church.”

This is the latest social justice document of the U.S. Bishops that all but sky writes DO AS WE SAY, NOT AS WE DO. Where were the bishops when Cardinal Sean O’Malley cut the archdiocesan high school system into individual units and discarded the 30 year history of union recognition and negotiated contracts, making the teachers employees at will?

Where were the bishops when former St. Louis Archbishop, Raymond Burke, wrote to teachers in the fledgling elementary teachers’ union that “Neither the Archdiocese nor individual parishes will recognize or bargain collectively with any organization as a representative of teachers,” while at the same time recognizing and negotiating with the high school union?

Where were the bishops when Scranton Bishop Joseph Martino not only busted the Scranton Diocese Association of Catholic Teachers after some 30 years of union recognition but established his own “company union,” something which is illegal in every other workplace in America?

Cardinal McCarrick, formerly of Washington, D.C. sums up the DO AS I SAY, - “Catholic social teaching can and should guide relationships between management and labor. It should be up to workers to decide through a fair process whether to be represented by a union. . . we want to ensure that workers make these choices freely and fairly ...” while Cardinal McCarrick’s fellow bishops, O’Malley, Burke and Martino, serve as the poster children for the bishops’ Catholic Social Teaching Wall of Shame (NOT AS WE DO).

The National Association of Catholic School Teachers is actively working with local Catholic School Teacher unions throughout Pennsylvania to achieve passage of House Bill 26, legislation that will provide safeguards for a fair process of union recognition and collective bargaining.

Here, as well, the bishops of Pennsylvania have gone all out to block the bill’s passage.

Until the U.S. Bishops begin to address the just rights of other church employees, the laborers in the church’s educational vineyards can only regard “Respecting the Just Rights of Workers” as but one more example of the bishops’ failure to practice what they preach.

Health, labor leaders OK principles to help workers decide on unions

The following article appeared in US Catholic magazine, June 23, 2009:

Health, labor leaders OK principles to help workers decide on unions

After more than two years of consultations, leaders from Catholic health care, the labor movement and the U.S. bishops' conference have agreed on a set of principles designed to ensure a fair process as health care workers decide whether to join a union.

A 12-page document laying out the principles, titled "Respecting the Just Rights of Workers: Guidance and Options for Catholic Health Care and Unions," was made public June 22 during a teleconference call from Washington.

"The heart of this unusual consensus is that it's up to workers -- not bishops, hospital managers or union leaders -- to decide ... whether or not to be represented by a union and if so, which union, in the workplace," said Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, retired archbishop of Washington and a participant in the consultations.

"Because Catholic health care is a ministry, not an industry, how it treats its workers and how organized labor treats Catholic health care are not simply internal matters," the cardinal added. "They are also not just another arena for labor conflict and tactics, but ought to reflect long-standing Catholic teaching on work and workers, health care and the common good."

The document calls on unions and employers to respect "each other's mission and legitimacy" and to pledge not to "demean or undermine each other's institutions, leaders, representatives, effectiveness or motives." Both sides also must be "dedicated to ensuring that organizing campaigns will not disturb patients or interfere with the delivery of patient care," it says.

Among the document's other "principles for a 'fair and just' organizing model" are: equal access to information, truthful and balanced communications, a pressure-free environment, a fair and expeditious process, meaningful enforcement of the local agreement, and honoring employee decisions.

"This document offers 'guidance and options,' not easy answers," Cardinal McCarrick said. "It calls for similar dialogue and agreement at the local level, recognizing that principles are often more clear in high-level discussions than in the midst of local realities and personalities, especially where there is real pain and anger resulting from previous or ongoing disputes and tactics."

He also said the document "offers options and alternatives rather than commandments and mandates."

Among the participants in the consultation that began in December 2006 were Sister Carol Keehan, a Daughter of Charity who is president and CEO of the Catholic Health Association; John Sweeney, president of the AFL-CIO; Dennis Rivera, chairman of the health care sector of the Service Employees International Union; and Bishop William F. Murphy of Rockville Centre, N.Y., chairman of the bishops' Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development.

John Feerick, former dean of the Fordham School of Law and executive director of the Feerick Center for Social Justice and Dispute Resolution at Fordham, and his staff facilitated the discussions.

Feerick called the document "a tribute to the commitment made by these leaders to hear each other out on these difficult issues."

Sister Carol said Catholic health care leaders believe that "the greatest resource of Catholic health care" is its workers and said the new document "serves first and foremost the employees, but also management."

She cautioned against assumptions about how the document would apply in any particular situation and said participants in the consultation were careful "not to make a judgment on any individual situation when we don't have all the information."

Sweeney, participating in the conference call from Brussels, Belgium, said he and other members of the consultation group had been "determined to make this a successful dialogue."

"The theme that runs through all this is the workers' right to organize as part of church teaching," he said.

Rivera said he was "very proud of the process" and expressed confidence that Catholic health care employees -- if offered a choice free from pressure, harassment or intimidation -- will choose to be represented by unions.

He said he had "nothing but the highest expectations that these guidelines will be adhered to by the majority of Catholic organizations."

In a foreword to the document, Bishop Murphy said past instances "of conflict and controversy surrounding Catholic health care and labor have diminished Catholic values, health care ministry, the labor movement and our common commitment to a fair and just workplace."

"It is time to renew our focus on the heart of Catholic health care, the patients we serve and the workers who provide the care," he added. "This will require restraint and cooperation, new attitudes and behaviors by all those in our health care ministry -- workers and managers, bishops and consumers."

Cardinal McCarrick stressed, however, that the document was not binding on bishops, hospital systems or unions.

"We're not in a position to bind," he said. "We're not an agency to which any of those groups has pledged allegiance."

Bishops’ labor document seen as breakthrough

The following article appeared in the National Catholic Reporter, June 24, 2009:

Bishops’ labor document seen as breakthrough

A new U.S. bishops’ document aimed at improving long-troubled labor relations in Catholic health care “is an enormous breakthrough,” said Manhattan College religious studies professor Joseph J. Fahey, chairman of Catholic Scholars for Worker Justice.

“This is a milestone event,” said union leader Gerald M. Shea, assistant for government affairs to AFL-CIO president John Sweeney.

“It’s just stunning,” said John Carr, secretary for justice, peace and human development at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. “I mean, you have the highest levels of the labor movement and the Catholic Church reaching an agreement when nobody else can, and it’s a wonderful process.”

The 16-page document, released June 22 by the USCCB Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, is titled “Respecting the Just Rights of Workers: Guidance and Options for Catholic Health Care and Unions.” It is available on the Web .

The result of two years of dialogue by a team of bishops, national labor leaders and top representatives of Catholic health care, it offers a constructive alternative to what retired Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick of Washington called the “antagonistic, confrontational and resisting tactics which too often come in” when workers in Catholic hospitals seek union representation. Cardinal McCarrick chaired the dialogue.

“The heart of this unusual consensus,” he said, “is that it is up to workers -- not bishops, hospital managers or union leaders -- to decide ‘through a fair process’ whether or not to be represented by a union and, if so, which union, in the workplace.”

Fahey said that although the document is addressed to the health care field, it could mark a major watershed for all labor relations in the U.S. church -- in Catholic schools, colleges and universities and even diocesan and parish employment.

“It’s firmly rooted in Catholic social teaching” on workers’ rights, he said.

Specifically, the guidelines call for the employer and the union or unions seeking certification to agree beforehand to a series of procedures that establish a pressure-free environment in which employees have equal access to balanced information from both sides.

The process includes avoiding lengthy hearings or other legal delays and mutual acceptance of a neutral authority to ensure that the principles established in the guidelines are followed and to resolve any issues that arise.

Employers and unions are to agree to honor the results of an election and not engage in negative or disparaging conduct.

“All parties are committed to respecting each other’s mission and legitimacy and (acknowledging) that a fair and just work place can exist in a unionized or non-unionized environment,” Cardinal McCarrick said at a media teleconference introducing the document.
For Catholic hospitals -- collectively the largest non-profit employer in the U.S. health care industry -- use of the guidelines could mark an end to that difficult, almost invariably self-defeating situation in which the Catholic agency has to explain the apparent contradiction between its clear commitment to Catholic social teaching in the ministry of health care and its apparent denial or obstruction of the church’s teaching on the inherent right of all workers to organize and engage in collective bargaining with their employers to protect their rights and improve wages and social conditions in the workplace.

“It’s not going to change things overnight,” said Shea, a participant in the dialogue, but “it offers an alternative” to the contentious relations of the past.

He added that the three main parties to the agreement -- the bishops, the Catholic Health Association and its affiliates and the key unions (the AFL-CIO and Service Employees International Union) -- have committed themselves to a common educational effort in coming months, using the same materials, to familiarize their respective constituents with the document and promote its implementation.

He said the bishops are to have a workshop on the guidelines at the next USCCB meeting in November, and the Catholic Health Association and the AFL-CIO have similar plans to educate their members on the guidelines.

“None of us -- Catholic health care, the labor movement or the church -- has been well served with the status quo with all of its conflicts and contention,” said Bishop William F. Murphy of Rockville Centre, N.Y., chairman of the USCCB domestic justice committee, under whose aegis the dialogue took place.

“It is time to renew our focus on the heart of Catholic health care, the patients we serve and the workers who provide the care,” he added. “This will require restraint and cooperation, new attitudes and behaviors by all those in our health care ministry -- workers and managers, bishops and consumers.”

“The pain and damage from past disputes is real,” he said. “But in our hearts we know the contentious status quo diminishes all of us -- Catholic health care, labor and the church.”
The document is clear in its starting point that health care, in Catholic social teaching, is “both a service and a ministry” and that Catholic social teaching not only frames that service to people in need of health care but also governs the church’s commitment to provide “a just and fair workplace for workers” who serve those people.

Cardinal McCarrick said, “Because Catholic health care is a ministry, not an industry, how it treats its workers and how organized labor treats Catholic health care are not simply internal matters. They are also not just another arena for labor conflict and tactics, but ought to reflect longstanding Catholic teaching on work and workers, health care and the common good.”
He said the document is based on two key values -- “the central role of workers themselves in making choices about representation” and the principle that employers and unions should come together to reach “mutual agreement” on how workers can be assured of an opportunity to “make their choices freely and fairly.”

US Bishops issue guidelines for labor disputes

The following article is from the Catholic News Agency, June 24, 2009:

US Bishops issue guidelines for labor disputes

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), with leaders from Catholic health care providers and the labor movement, has released guidelines for creating a “fair process” for health care workers to decide whether or not to form a new union.

The new document outlining the guidelines is titled “Respecting the Just Rights of Workers: Guidance and Options for Catholic Health Care and Unions,” and took more than 10 years to come to a consensus about. (Follow this link for the document)

Parties to the agreement include the USCCB, the Catholic Health Association of the United States, the AFL-CIO and the Service Employees International Union, the Associated Press reports.

According to the USCCB, the effort to produce the document intended to find “common ground” on “alternative approaches” for applying Catholic social teachings on the rights of workers to choose whether or not to be represented by unions.

“Though they had different perspectives and points of view in many areas, the participants shared the conviction that it is up to workers—not bishops, hospital managers, or union leaders—to decide how they will be represented in the workplace,” said Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who chaired the dialogue.

“This remarkable dialogue produced an unprecedented agreement because of the principles of Catholic social teaching and the quality of the leaders involved,” the cardinal said.

The new document lists seven key principles for appropriate conduct by employer and union representatives intended to help ensure employees are allowed to make informed decisions without undue pressure.

It suggests that unions and employers agree on specific ways they will “demonstrate respect” for each other’s organization and mission; provide workers with “equal access” to information; adhere to standards for truthfulness and balance in communications; create a “pressure-free” environment; allow workers to vote through a fair and expeditious process and honor employees’ decisions regardless of the outcome.

The document also advises that unions and employers create a system to enforce these principles during organizing drives.

The Associated Press reports that under the agreement hospital managers agree not to use “traditional anti-union tactics” such as hiring union-busting firms to defeat organizing drives. For their part, unions agreed not to publicly attack Catholic health care organizations during labor campaigns.

Bishop William Murphy, Chairman of the Bishops’ Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development and a participant in the dialogue, said the approach depends on “civil dialogue” between unions and employers who are focusing on how workers’ “right to decide” will be respected.

“By placing workers at the center of the process, the group affirmed the core of Catholic Social Doctrine,” he said.

The “Guidance and Options” document is not binding on individual bishops, hospitals and unions but is intended to provide guidance for their conduct during organizing efforts.
The USCCB describes the document as offering “principles and practical alternatives” for leaders of Catholic health care and unions who want to avoid the “tension and conflict” that can accompany organizing drives.

Speaking to the Associated Press, AFL-CIO president John Sweeney said the dialogue has emphasized “workers' rights to organize as part of Church teachings.”

Reportedly more than 600,000 employees work in nearly 600 Catholic hospitals nationwide.
“Because Catholic Health Care is a ministry not an industry, how it treats its workers and how organized labor treats Catholic Health Care are not simply internal matters, but should reflect Catholic teaching on work and workers, heath care and the common good,” Cardinal McCarrick said.

Labor unions, Catholic hospitals to end conflict

The following article from the Associated Press was released on June 23, 2009:

Labor unions, Catholic hospitals to end conflict

Labor unions and Catholic leaders have reached an agreement designed to end years of bitter hostilities that often surrounded union efforts to organize workers at Catholic hospitals.
The accord, announced Monday, seeks to apply Catholic teachings that recognize the right of workers to "freely and fairly" decide whether to join a union.

One of the key principles directs both employers and unions to refrain from harassing, threatening, intimidating or coercing workers.

The agreement touches on a thorny situation for Catholic hospitals, some of which have aggressively resisted union organizing amid complaints that their conduct contradicts Catholic doctrine on social justice.

In Chicago, for instance, union leaders have accused hospital officials at Resurrection Health Care of worker intimidation and other unfair tactics to thwart a six-year effort to unionize workers at the company's eight hospitals. The company has denied those claims.

"The central actors in these dramas have to be the workers themselves, that's what we feel is the strength of the document," said Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, retired archbishop of Washington, D.C., who helped lead the discussions.

Under the agreement, hospital managers agree not to use "traditional anti-union tactics," including hiring firms, known as union-busters, that work with companies to defeat organizing drives. Unions also agree not to publicly attack Catholic health care organizations during labor campaigns.

Nearly 600 Catholic hospitals that employ about 600,000 workers are covered under the agreement. Roughly 15 percent of those workers are currently believed to be union members.
The recommendations do not bind individual bishops, hospitals or unions but provide guidance in how they are expected to conduct themselves during union organizing efforts. Union leaders believe it will be easier to organize workers at the nation's Catholic health centers if hospital managers abide by the agreement.

"The theme that runs through all of this as far as I'm concerned is the emphasis on workers' rights to organize as part of church teachings," said AFL-CIO president John Sweeney.
Parties to the accord include the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Catholic Health Association of the United States, the AFL-CIO and the Service Employees International Union.

Catholic Bishops, Health Providers, Unions Cooperate to Support Workers’ Rights

When Bishop Martino busted the union which had represented Catholic school teachers in the Diocese of Scranton, there was an immediate outcry, not only from the teachers, but from all who understood that the Bishop’s actions were contrary to established Catholic social teachings and basic human rights. On June 22, The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) published “Respecting the Just Rights of Workers: Guidance and Options for Catholic Health Care and Unions.” Not only is this a new step forward for workers at Catholic health facilities: a set of principles to ensure that workers have a fair process to bargain for a better life, but it reaffirms why what Bishop Martino has done to his own employees is so egregiously wrong.

In the USCCB publication, in cooperation with Catholic health care providers and the union movement, the Bishops have laid out guidelines for Catholic health care ministries across the country, and by extension, for all who work for the Catholic Church. These guidelines, and the process that produced them, are an encouraging model of cooperation and collaboration in protecting workers’ freedom to form unions and bargain.

The new guidelines cover seven principles for employers when workers seek a union: Respect; Access to information; Truthful communication; Pressure-free environment; Expeditious process; Honoring employee decisions; and Meaningful enforcement of these principles.

Taken together, the guidelines will ensure that Catholic employers drop their aggressive tactics in fighting unions, such as delays, one-on-one meetings, captive audience sessions, and threats and intimidations. The guidelines envision a local agreement that would be enforceable through an agreed-upon neutral party.

Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, former archbishop of Washington, who chaired the three-way dialogue said, “Catholic social teaching can and should guide relationships between management and labor. It should be up to workers to decide through a fair process whether to be represented by a union….we want to ensure that workers make these choices freely and fairly.”

Health care is a fundamental social good, McCarrick said—a human right. Catholic hospitals and health ministries need to provide health care consistently with Catholic values and teachings on the dignity of workers, he said.

Because of their willingness to engage in dialogue, the bishops and the leaders of Catholic health care displayed real courage and leadership and have set an example for all to follow. That coupled with the fact that Pope Benedict XVI recently noted that Catholic social teachings are strongly supportive of workers’ freedom to form unions and recognized the importance of workers’ rights in a modern economy. Unfortunately, recent studies show the freedom to form a union is at risk from a legal climate that allows management harassment and intimidation. The principles put forward by the Catholic bishops are an important response to these trends in the workplace.

Bishop Martino has in the past proclaimed that the rest of the US bishops don’t speak for him. Will he continue to act in the rogue fashion he has so far chosen, or will this latest development show him the path back to the Catholic mainstream?

Diocese eliminates 55 teaching positions

The following article appeared in the Wilkes-Barre Citizens Voice, June 12, 2009.

Diocese eliminates 55 teaching positions

After 36 years of teaching high school students social studies, first at Bishop Hoban and then at Holy Redeemer, Jim Maloney received the notice in the mail.

The Diocese of Scranton doesn't need him anymore.

"The most disappointing part was our administration did not have the courage to call us and tell us to our faces that we are being dismissed," he said.

Maloney's job is one of 55 teaching positions eliminated across the Holy Redeemer and Holy Cross regional school systems, which include schools in Luzerne, Lackawanna, Wayne and Bradford counties. In addition, salaries will be frozen for all employees, but school employees' health insurance premiums will not increase.

Letters informing teachers of their status were mailed Monday, but the official announcement was not made until Thursday in The Catholic Light, the diocese newspaper.

The majority of the eliminations, 36, come from the closing of Ss. Peter and Paul Elementary School in Plains Township, St. Aloysius Elementary School in Wilkes-Barre and St. Vincent Elementary School in Honesdale. The remaining 19 eliminated positions are due to continued declining enrollment across the two systems.

Projections for the 2009-10 school year show Holy Redeemer system enrollment down 357 students, from 3,496 to 3,139. The Holy Cross system enrollment is projected to decrease by 296 students, from 3,198 to 2,902.

"The Diocese hopes to see its school systems grow and continue to operate into the future. At the same time, we must continue to monitor the viability of all of our schools. Hopefully, parents will recognize the value of a Catholic education and enrollment will stabilize," diocese spokesman Bill Genello said via e-mail.

Teachers will be eligible to fill open positions at other schools with the diocese, based on seniority and other criteria outlined by the diocese. They will continue to receive salaries until Aug. 21 and health benefits until the end of August.

Michael Milz, president of the Scranton Diocese Association of Catholic Teachers, which is fighting for recognition from Bishop Joseph Martino, said he is upset that because the union is not recognized, the teachers have no protection and are at-will employees that can be let go at any time.

"The fair system, and the way any other system works, is last hired is first to be asked to leave in a layoff," Milz said.

Teachers build seniority in the school system, in a specific school, in either elementary or secondary education and in a specific subject area. When teachers change schools because of consolidations, they lose seniority built up over years. Therefore, teachers like Maloney with decades of experience with the Diocese of Scranton can have low seniority because they changed schools, and be first to let go during layoffs.

"They used them up and threw them away when they didn't need them anymore," Milz said. "This will destroy the system. It destroys morale. It rewards no one for dedication."

If enrollment increases by the beginning of the school year, it is possible that the laid-off teachers could be hired to handle the additional students, according to the diocese.

A similar version of this story appeared in the Scranton Times Tribune.

Diocese spokesman said to have facts wrong

The following letter to the editor of the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader appeared on May 27, 2009:

Diocese spokesman said to have facts wrong

In the May 15 letters to the editor section, Diocese of Scranton spokesman Bill Genello asks why the newspaper gives Michael Milz, the president of the Catholic teachers’ union, so much press since he hasn’t been employed by the diocese for two years.

Milz was, in fact, a teacher at Holy Redeemer High School until last June – less than one year ago. Milz is still the president of the Scranton Diocese Association of Catholic Teachers, which Bishop Joseph Martino is unsuccessfully trying to crush. As such Milz is an important voice to be heard when discussing the problems of Catholic schools in the diocese.

The statement about Milz’s employment shows either Mr. Genello is poorly informed about what is happening in the Catholic school system or he is a prevaricator.

The Scranton Diocese apparently had been telling the teachers that the diocese had no problem with the teachers union – seemingly right up to the day the diocese announced it would never recognize the union. Teachers were told, in case of layoffs, they were able to “bump” in order of seniority – right up to the day the diocese decided to get rid of Milz.

Teachers with more than 30 years experience can simply be told to pack their things and get out; teachers with only a few years experience will be kept. It would seem that no reason, nor consideration of the years serving the church, need be given.

Does anyone besides Bishop Martino think this is what teachers want, or what they deserve? 

Bishop should aim to heal wounds

The following letter to the editor of the Scranton Times appeared on May 25, 2009:

Bishop should aim to heal wounds

Editor: All religions have basic truths that you must believe if you wish to be a member of that faith. If you do not agree with those basic truths, you should find a religion that more accurately reflects your beliefs.

In the Roman Catholic faith the bishop has absolute authority in his diocese, granted to him from Rome. While you may not like that your home parish or school gets merged or closed, the bishop's say is final and as a good Catholic you believe he is acting as the Lord would wish and in the best interests of the church. Emotions run high when it comes to these topics. But some of the bishop's actions have been long overdue and, for some, it is very hard to see your home church shuttered, even if it is necessary progress.

When it comes to education, this area owes a great debt to the Roman Catholic Church. The church blazed trails in opening opportunities for learning to those in the coalfields and surrounding areas. The selfless sacrifices of many priests, brothers and sisters allowed for the creation of grade schools, high schools, colleges, hospitals and orphanages.

In days gone by the majority of those working at Catholic institutions were under the direct authority of the bishop by virtue of their vows, for most of those teaching at the Catholic schools were priests, sisters or brothers.

Today the overwhelming majority of those teaching at Catholic institutions are lay people, most of whom could very well find work at public schools. The bishop and teachers' reps, chosen by the teachers, should work together to do what is best for all concerned. The bishop may not "legally" have to recognize the union, but he needs to reach out to those teaching in the Catholic schools and begin to heal any wounds that remain.

The bishop has criticized public figures whose actions seem to go against what the church teaches. I believe that an active, ongoing dialogue should be opened between the bishop and those Catholics in public service. It should be made absolutely clear what types of actions or inactions would jeopardize remaining in good standing with one's church. The bishop knows as well as anyone, even Sen. Bob Casey, that just because something is legal that does not make it right.

JOE BROGENSKI

Jefferson Twp.

Welcome to the Flock

Diocese closing two schools in Plains, Wilkes-Barre

The following article appeared in the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader, May 7, 2009:

Diocese closing 2 schools in Plains, W-B

The Diocese of Scranton on Wednesday announced that St. Aloysius School in Wilkes-Barre and Ss. Peter and Paul in Plains Township will close at the end of this school year.

The diocese released five-year enrollment data to back up the decision, which appeared in an unattributed news release posted on the diocese Web site.

According to the numbers, Ss. Peter and Paul enrollment dropped steadily from 180 in 2004-05 to 120 this year, a loss of 60 students over the span, or 33 percent. St. Aloysius dropped from 208 to 160, or 23 percent, in the same time frame.

The diocese statement also says St. Aloysius has run budget deficits for the past several years. “Particularly given current economic realities, there is no evidence to suggest recovery at either school,” the statement said.

Teachers and staff were informed of the decision by Susan Dennen, director of the Holy Redeemer Regional School System (the system that covers all Luzerne County diocesan schools), and Joseph Casciano, Diocesan Secretary for Catholic Education and Superintendent of Schools, at a meeting after school on Tuesday. Letters were mailed to parents that afternoon, according to the statement.

Students at Ss. Peter and Paul can attend Wyoming Area Catholic in Exeter or another school in Luzerne County. Options for St. Aloysius students include Good Shepherd Academy in Kingston, St. Nicholas-St. Mary School in Wilkes-Barre, or other schools in the county, the statement notes, adding that transportation is available depending on where a student lives.

The statement does not clarify the issue, but public school districts must, by state law, provide bus transportation for students within their district boundaries to any private school within 10 miles of those boundaries. The diocese does not provide transportation.

The statement also says that teachers will maintain their seniority and will be eligible to fill positions as needed in the Holy Redeemer system. The diocese also will work with other school employees regarding employment opportunities in the system.

Michael Milz, a former diocesan teacher who has spearheaded a drive to unionize teachers, said there are at least eight teachers at each school and probably a few more. Milz said he has talked to teachers who were at the meetings Tuesday, and “they were very upset about the fact that their school was closing and it was unclear what the future was for the teachers.”

Students had an early dismissal Wednesday because of a teacher in-service day. A teacher leaving St. Aloysius School late that afternoon declined comment, saying the closing was “too hard” to talk about.

Principals at the schools did not return messages left with school secretaries on Wednesday. Neither did the Rev. Joseph Greskiewicz, pastor of Ss. Peter & Paul Church.

The Rev. J. Duane Gavitt, pastor of St. Aloysius Church, declined comment on the decision to close the school, except to note that it was a diocese decision and that the parish had not had control of the school since the diocese restructured the school system two years ago.
According to the diocesan statement, enrollment, finances and educational benchmarks were established as the criteria to determine future decisions regarding school viability when the reorganization was implemented in 2007.

“After evaluating the situation, the Holy Redeemer System Board recommended to the Diocesan Schools Corporate Board that these schools were no longer viable. The Corporate Board then made the difficult decision to close the schools,” the statement said.

Milz contends that despite “whatever they say about these corporate boards, there are only a few people who are making the decisions, and who they are remains a mystery.”

Milz said the entire school consolidation process has been “bungled and mismanaged since the start. … They shut out the teachers by shutting out the unions. They shut out the parents. All these unilateral decisions are being made with no input. They don’t want to hear from the people in the trenches – the teachers and the parents.”

Milz taught at Bishop Hoban High School before the 2007 restructuring, which included closing the four high schools and reopening Hoban as Holy Redeemer. The diocese laid off Milz and another teacher at the school, claiming it was due to declining enrollment and done through a seniority system approved by teachers. Milz contends it was retaliation for his efforts to unionize teachers under the new system.

Milz is president of the Scranton Diocese Association of Catholic Teachers, which represented teachers in several area schools prior to the restructuring. He has spearheaded an ongoing fight to unionize under the new system, but Bishop Joseph Martino has said the decision not to unionize is final and that a new Employee Relations Plan offers fair representation to all school employees in the diocese.

Milz said the closing of the two schools rebuts claims by the diocese that unionizing would bankrupt the system and force more schools to close. “They keep saying the union will close schools. We’ve been out of the picture for more than two years and we had nothing whatsoever to do with these closings,” he said.

Currently, union supporters have pinned their hopes on a bill in the state House of Representatives championed by Eddie Day Pashinski, D-Wilkes-Barre, which would give Catholic school and other private school teachers protection under the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Act. That would mean they could petition the Labor Relations Board, and if enough teachers agreed, the board could force the diocese to hold a secret-ballot election among teachers on unionization.

The diocese and other organizations have vigorously opposed the bill, saying it interferes with the separation of church and state.

The diocese statement says that the letter to parents cites the tradition of the two schools and that “it is truly unfortunate that the circumstances of enrollment and finances have brought us to this point. Be assured of our prayerful support during this difficult time.”

A thousand words more about Bishop Martino

HB 26 to enter legislative pipeline - please contact House Labor Relations Committee

All friends and supporters of the Scranton Diocese Association of Catholic Teachers are asked for their immediate assistance at a crucial time in our campaign for justice and dignity for the lay employees of Pennsylvania's Catholic schools.

Within the next week, House Bill 26 will be entering the legislative pipeline. It is now time to turn our attention to the immediate task at hand, which is to make sure that the Bill will be successfully voted out of the House Labor Relations Committee.

Please take the time to contact the members of the Committee and urge them to vote in favor of HB 26. To find their contact information, please click on the member’s name from the list below. If you click on the following link, you will find some basics about the Bill. You can use this information to frame your message.
HB%2026%20Basics.doc

Representatives listen to and act on what the people want. Please let them know how desperately we need HB 26. Our opponents are busily at work using their high-priced lobbyists to defeat the Bill. But that’s all they have. Our campaign has thousands of concerned individuals from across the State who believe in the righteousness of our cause. Let's make sure those voices are heard loud and clear.

Thanks for your support of our just cause.

Members of the House Labor Relations Committee

Belfanti, Robert E., Jr.

Gergely, Marc J.,

Galloway, John T. ,
DiGirolamo, Gene ,
Boyle, Brendan F.

Casorio, James E., Jr.

Gibbons, Jaret

Goodman, Neal P

Harkins, Patrick J.

Keller, William F.

Murphy, Kevin P.

Parker, Cherelle L.

Sabatina, John P., Jr.

Seip, Tim

Smith, Ken

White, Jesse
Bear, John C.

Boyd, Scott W.

Cox, Jim

Delozier, Sheryl M.

Farry, Frank A.

Grell, Glen R.

Metcalfe, Daryl D.

Mustio, T. Mark

O'Neill, Bernie

Tallman, Will

More Perfect Unions

The following article appeared in the Jesuit magazine, America, on March 9, 2009. It is an edorsement for the passage of the Employee Free Choice Act. SDACT's friends, "Catholic Scholars for Worker Justice," have also endorsed the Act. We encourage all to add your personal endorsement. You can do so by clicking on the following link: http://www.catholicscholarsforworkerjustice.org/sulatagb/sulatagb_a.php

I t took more effort and resulted in more “blood on the floor” than pundits predicted, but our lawmakers have at last settled upon an economic stimulus package. With that must-do measure in the rearview mirror, Congress and the Obama administration are turning their sights elsewhere. Bills regarding health care, immigration and other pressing items are being introduced daily.

I wish I could report brighter prospects for harmonious resolution of any of these weighty matters. But realistically, when legislators answer the bell for the second round of the bout called Politics 2009, we may expect just as little true bipartisanship and just as much acrimony as we saw in the opening weeks of the Obama presidency.

One important item I recommend tracking through Congress is the Employee Free Choice Act, or EFCA. A reform of federal labor law is hardly riveting to most people, but a great deal is at stake in getting this particular issue right. The way workers are treated is above all an ethical question, involving notions like equity and human rights, not merely a technical legal question involving bureaucratic procedures. Since many observers see no need to change the rules regulating the process of union organizing and collective bargaining, this act is sure to spark a lively exchange of blows on Capitol Hill.

The core of the proposed legislation affects how unions are certified in a given workplace. Most importantly, EFCA re-establishes the principle of “majority sign-up,” a requirement that an employer recognize a union if a majority of the employees sign authorization cards. Majority sign-up would provide workers an alternative to the “secret ballot” elections supervised by the National Labor Relations Board, a process established by the Taft-Hartley Act in 1947 and which most employers favor. The bill would also beef up penalties against firms that harass or coerce employees seeking to organize. Finally, the act would require parties that fail to reach a collective bargaining agreement within 120 days to go to an arbitrator to resolve their disputes.
The facts regarding most of the relevant claims are hotly contested, as a scan of recent editorials and Web sites maintained by affected parties indicates. Organized labor characterizes EFCA as a common-sense reform that levels the playing field, after decades of corporate intimidation against employees attempting in good faith to exercise their right to organize. In the face of fierce union-busting campaigns, the democratic-sounding procedure of secret ballot elections is less likely than ever to yield results that truly reflect worker sentiment. Opponents counter that current union election procedures, which include conventional secret ballot elections, already protect against all likely abuses.

Obviously, Congress will have to deliberate at great length in order to sort out these claims and counter-claims. That is what public hearings are for, and no brief article can aspire to weigh all the relevant facts and reach a clear verdict. Suffice it to say that there is enough evidence readily available in the public record to support many of the arguments of those advocating change in the way our nation defines and applies its labor laws. The prevalence of union-busting efforts and systematic violations of workers’ rights cannot go unchallenged.

What is the religious angle on this issue? Most denominations in the United States eagerly affirm labor rights and express enthusiasm for the principle of free and fair collective bargaining. A review of the 2004 Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church shows that the support of Catholic social teaching for workers’ rights to organize is beyond dispute. From Pope Leo XIII to John Paul II, the right to form unions has been regarded as an indispensable element of economic justice.

Tricky questions may arise, however, when individual Catholics seek to discern whether a given legal measure is necessary to ensure the right of workers to form unions. My judgment is that EFCA is indeed necessary to protect the right of workers to unionize, a right that has been under sharp attack in recent decades. I urge all people of good will to check out the facts, consult their consciences and form a prudential judgment on this important issue.

It may not grab many headlines, but EFCA is emerging as one of the major moral issues of 2009.

Thomas Massaro, S.J., teaches social ethics at the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry, Chestnut Hill, Mass. Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church

Bishop Martino takes church back to the Dark Ages

The following letter to the editor of the Wilkes-Barre Citizens' Voice appeared on April 1, 2009:

Bishop Martino takes church back to the Dark Ages

Editor:

The situation concerning the Catholic school teachers of the Diocese of Scranton is reminiscent of the Dark Ages. Bishop Martino needs to keep an open mind. Refusing to negotiate is never the answer. This situation parallels what is taking place in a few of the local public school districts. Teachers in general should not be made scapegoats for the incompetence of others, due to the mismanagement of money.

The diocese is full of truly committed teachers who have devoted their lives to teaching. Any condemnation of these individuals for leading a just cause is farcical. They have given so much, for so little in return. The bishop is treating the people he calls his flock like dirt.

Hillary Clinton said to a crowd of 3,000 listeners in Scranton, “the teachers are the people in the trenches, they are the experts.” But the bishop is driving the people of his diocese backwards. To hell with diversity and open-mindedness, to hell with fair labor relations, and to hell with the schools and the churches; the legacy of their existence means nothing. The bishop cares nothing about the colors, the pride or the accomplishments that were built up over many years. The only colors he sees are black and white. Black and white thinking, along with preaching guilt and damnation have been driving people away from the church for years. Christ is supposed to represent love, peace and acceptance. These qualities define the Catholic school teachers in my experience.

It is time to give back to the people who have done so much for so many. The teachers of the Diocese of Scranton deserve a union, a substantial pay increase and a weighty apology. I wish them the best of everything, and thank them for a job extremely well done.

Joe Dombroski
Wyoming

Teachers union president sues bishop, diocese

The following articles appeared in the Scranton Times Tribune and Wilkes-Barre Citizens Voice on March 19, 2009:

Teachers union president sues bishop, diocese

Milz sues Bishop Martino and Holy Redeemer for wrongful termination

WILKES-BARRE — Michael Milz, president of the Scranton Diocese Association of Catholic Teachers, is suing Bishop Joseph F. Martino, the Diocese of Scranton and his former school, Holy Redeemer, for wrongful termination under layoffs in June 2008.

The suit was filed Wednesday afternoon, and diocesan spokesman Bill Genello said the diocese had no comment.

Mr. Milz was one of five teachers laid off from Holy Redeemer by the diocese, and he believes he was targeted because of his union affiliation. He filed a complaint with the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board, which decided not to take action because lay employees in religiously affiliated schools are not covered by the Labor Relations Act.

The teachers union has been fighting for recognition from the diocese, which Bishop Martino has repeatedly refused to grant. Mr. Milz, as president of the association, has helped lead the fight to pass a bill that would amend the Labor Relations Act to include those lay people currently left out.

Suing the bishop, diocese and school was the next step after being denied by the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board and “a last resort,” Mr. Milz said.

“I believe that the facts we will present in the suit will substantiate that my lifelong career as a teacher was taken from me for illegal reasons that violate the clearly stated policy of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to protect its citizens’ rights to freely assemble and to organize for the purpose of collective bargaining,” Mr. Milz said.

According to the complaint, Mr. Milz contends that Joseph Casciano, diocesan secretary for Catholic education and superintendent of schools; Susan Dennan, system director of Holy Redeemer Regional School System and James Reddington, principal of Holy Redeemer High School, conspired as early as May 2008 to get rid of him because of his union activities.

“I was denied rights by the Diocese of Scranton that are ingrained in our state’s philosophy of government, and vindictively punished for seeking to exercise those rights,” he said.

In the complaint, Mr. Milz is asking to be reinstated and for damages, punitive damages, attorneys’ fees and costs of the suit. He estimated that he has lost $57,806, plus benefits, since being laid off.

SDACT President sues Bishop Martino and others for wrongful discharge

Attorneys for SDACT President, Mike Milz, filed a wrongful discharge suit today in the Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas against Bishop Joseph Martino, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Scranton, Holy Redeemer School System and other named parties. The suit alleges that in June of 2008, Milz was fired from his position as a teacher at Holy Redeemer High School because of his union activity. Milz had been a teacher at Holy Redeemer and the former Bishop Hoban High School for 33 years. The Diocese claimed Milz was let go because of a lack of seniority.

Milz released the following statement concerning the lawsuit:

"I believe that the facts we will present in the suit will substantiate that my life-long career as a teacher was taken from me for illegal reasons that violate the clearly stated policy of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to protect its citizens’ rights to freely assemble and to organize for the purpose of collective bargaining. I was denied rights by the Diocese of Scranton that are ingrained in our state’s philosophy of government, and vindictively punished for seeking to exercise those rights.

Immediately after being fired by the Diocese, I filed a complaint alleging this violation of my rights with the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board (PLRB). The PLRB refused to take jurisdiction, saying that I and all employees of religiously-affiliated schools do not fall under its purview. This loop-hole in the current legislation will soon be closed by the passage of Pennsylvania House Bill 26.

Nonetheless, the fact remains that real harm was done to me and my family by the Diocese of Scranton. In such circumstances, the laws of Pennsylvania guarantee all of its citizens a right to a remedy by due course of law. Denied other venues, this lawsuit is to provide me with that remedy."

SDACT Marches in Scranton St. Patrick's Day Parade

On Saturday, March 14, SDACT members and supporters marched in Scranton's St. Patrick's Day Parade. A big “thank you” goes out to those dedicated folks who gave up an entire Saturday to participate in the SDACT contingent. State Representative Eddie Day Pashinski, the prime sponsor of HB 26, joined us along the route of march.

More than 125, 000 people viewed the parade in person and thousands more saw it on TV. The parade was a great opportunity to get out our message and encourage support of HB 26. Supporters in the huge crowd cheered for us and our cause along the parade route. Again, thanks to all who participated.

Bishop Martino should resign and not ruin Catholic education

The following letter to the editor of the Wilkes-Barre Citizens' Voice appeared on March 11, 2009:

Bishop Martino should resign and not ruin Catholic education

Editor:

It’s time Bishop Martino resigned. We’ve stood by as his mismanagement enabled the dismantling of Catholic community schooling. We’ve been held to the sidelines as his secretive planning continues to crush the heart of parish communities.

He has been a shrill voice, a poor listener and a bad communicator. His actions signal contempt for the “flock” around him when it dares to unhappily bleat. He has railed – embarrassingly enough for our region – about people we’ve elected to Congress. He suspended a priest-writer for another paper because he didn’t like what the columnist reported. And now Misericordia finds itself in his cross- hairs.

His column in last Wednesday’s Citizens’ Voice is nonsense. In his view we the “flock” are to act as unthinking sheep, incapable and unworthy of making our own judgments about what people in the world around us have to say. If Catholic teaching from the time we first attended Mass is so well-articulated and incontrovertible, what does the Bishop have to fear of words spoken to us 18 or 20 or more years later in a university setting? He doesn’t understand, and I believe never will, that he can “promulgate” Catholic teaching and listen, too.

What he fears is that you might listen and that you might think and judge in ways he doesn’t care for. In the Diocese of Scranton it’s his way or the highway. So much for loving your neighbor. For my money, which this bishop will never get, it’s time he hit the road – before he undermines university education here, too.

J. M. Castagna
Drums

Widening the gap

The following letter to the editor of the Scranton Times Tribune appeared on March 9, 2009:

Widening the gap

Editor:

Two recent “Your Opinion” letters concerning Bishop Martino evidenced good thought and honest sentiment:

In a Feb. 27 letter, “Personal Agenda,” Lisa Lopatofsky expressed her frustration with the bishop’s political rhetoric and his lack of support through inclusion and compassion resulting in alienation.The March 3 letter by Scott McKenna, M.D., stated that “Christ would not want us to close our eyes to diversity or spurn those whose beliefs were not the same.

”Time, easier access and more exposure to the varied forms of media have contributed to the current unrest within Catholicism as a whole. Fortunately, we are all being challenged to review the tenets of our faith, the depth of our beliefs and the strengths and weaknesses of those who are supposed to guide us.

Our current bishop has done an excellent job of widening the cracks in the local Catholic community.

His directives, tirades and rhetoric have wounded and alienated many. He replaces compassion and truth with tirades and judgments. He surpasses the skills of some politicians when it comes to “spinning a yarn.” Unfortunately he also pits parishioner against parishioner as with his warning to eucharistic ministers.

In essence, he underestimates the intelligence and depth of faith that lives in the minds and hearts of so many.

We can all pray for his transfer and hopefully, a quick end to his campaign for the level of cardinal.

MARY LLEWELLYN
MONTROSE

Martino: St. Pat's Mass to be held

The following article appeared in the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader, March 7, 2009:

Martino: St. Pat’s Mass to be held

SCRANTON – Bishop Joseph Martino issued a statement Friday saying a Mass will be celebrated at St. Peter’s Cathedral prior to the St. Patrick’s Day parade on March 14 and added the decision to hold the liturgy “was clouded” by “the possibility of disruptive behavior in the parade” by supporters of the effort to unionize Catholic school teachers.

Martino’s statement said “it was learned last week” that the Scranton Diocese Association of Catholic Teachers planned to march in the parade and “use the sound system on the AFL-CIO campaign bus ‘to drum up support for HB 26,” a bill in the state House that would amend the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Act to explicitly cover Catholic teachers. It would give teachers the right to take their case to the Labor Relations Board.

“I cannot understand how such behavior has any place in a parade that is organized to honor St. Patrick and to celebrate Irish heritage,” Martino is quoted as saying. The diocese notes the association marched in last year’s Wilkes-Barre parade.

The diocese decided to hold the Mass after parade organizers “received verbal assurance from the AFL-CIO” that SDACT will not advocate for the bill or protest Martino.

SDACT released its own retort, saying “the apparent paranoia in the bishop’s statement is more than a little disconcerting and certainly unfounded.” The association plans to march, but would be part of a “much larger contingent of union brothers and sisters” showing labor solidarity on several issues.

The association noted that “the history of the Irish in our area is intertwined with the region’s labor history,” and “there is not a St. Patrick’s’ Day parade in the entire U.S.” that lacks a banner with the words of activist James Connelly saying, “the cause of labour is the cause of Ireland and the cause of Ireland is the cause of labour.”

SDACT also repeated its contention that support of labor rights has been a basic tenet of Catholic teaching for more than a century, and noted that the participation in last year’s parade proves the group would not be disruptive.

“SDACT had the largest contingent in the parade consisting of parents, teachers, alumni and students, whose participation was orderly and enthusiastic.”

The history of the Irish is intertwined with the history of labor

Generally this blog does not print the occasional screeds that eminate from our friend the Bishop. However, the following is the exception to that rule. SDACT's response immediately follows:

Bishop Joseph F. Martino announced that the Mass preceding the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Scranton on March 14 will be celebrated at St. Peter’s Cathedral at 10 a.m. as scheduled.

The decision to allow the annual liturgy was clouded this year when it was learned about the possibility of disruptive behavior in the parade by members of the Scranton Diocese Association of Catholic Teachers (SDACT), a group that has been publicly protesting the Bishop for the past year because of his decision that this association will not be recognized as a bargaining agent for teachers in Diocesan Catholic schools.

It was learned last week that SDACT planned to march in the parade and use the occasion to advocate for HB 26, proposed state legislation that would put a government agency in charge of settling labor disputes involving private, religious entities. Such a bill, in effect, would also force private and church-related institutions to recognize unions.

The Pennsylvania Catholic Conference, the public affairs arm of the Catholic bishops and Catholic dioceses in the state, is opposing this bill because it would negate the long-standing principles of religious freedom enjoyed by all citizens of the Commonwealth. The Diocese of Scranton has said the bill would eventually result in the demise of its Catholic schools.

SDACT announced that the union would use the sound system on the AFL-CIO campaign bus “to drum up support for HB 26 along the parade route.” On learning of this tactic, Bishop Martino said, “I cannot understand how such behavior has any place in a parade that is organized to honor St. Patrick and to celebrate Irish heritage. I do not believe that the parade should be used as a forum to promote divisive narrow interests.”

Parade organizers have said they have received verbal assurances from the AFL-CIO, the labor organization coordinating the contingent that will include SDACT, that SDACT will not in fact advocate for HB 26 or protest Bishop Martino in the parade.

However, SDACT’s statements and actions for the past year cast doubt over whether this group will adhere to the parade committee’s desire for a respectful, non-political event. Last year, SDACT marched in the Wilkes-Barre St. Patrick’s Day Parade to further the union’s agenda.

Accordingly, Bishop Martino said the Mass, a sacrifice designed to foster unity, will this year unfortunately be accompanied by anxiety over what may occur a short time later if SDACT refuses to respect the directives of the parade committee and the integrity of the event.
It is unfortunate, he noted, that parade representatives would have to monitor the SDACT group along the parade route to ensure that proper decorum is observed.

The Bishop cited an occasion a number of years ago when a group of marchers representing Planned Parenthood had to be removed from the parade because they were handing out condoms, despite being advised in advance that this would not be allowed.

SDACT RESPONSE

The apparent paranoia in the Bishop’s statement is more than a little disconcerting and certainly unfounded. Although we are going to march in the parade, our members will be among a much larger contingent of union brothers and sisters marching to show labor solidarity on a number of issues that affect working men and women in northeastern Pennsylvania.

The Bishop must be reminded that the history of the Irish in our area is intertwined with the region’s labor history and the history of Ireland itself. The great martyr to Irish freedom, James Connolly, said: “The cause of labour is the cause of Ireland and the cause of Ireland is the cause of labour.’’ There is not a St. Patrick’s Day Parade in the entire US where one will not find a banner emblazoned with Connelly’s words and Scranton won’t be the exception.

The Bishop has been very vocal of late that the participants in the Parade should espouse Catholic teaching and ideals. SDACT’s participation in this Parade, and indeed its very existence, is to espouse the Catholic principles of respect for labor championed by our current Pope and those who came before him.

House Bill 26 will not interfere with practices of any religion, and will provide benefits of universal application. The word “catholic,” after all, does mean universal.

Finally, our participation in last year’s Wilkes-Barre parade speaks for itself. SDACT had the largest contingent in the parade consisting of parents, teachers, alumni and students, whose participation was orderly and enthusiastic, and drew cheers up and down the parade route.

Bishop should alter stance on House Bill 26

The following letter to the editor of the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader appeared on March 3, 2009:

Bishop should alter stance on House Bill 26

As a graduate of Bishop O’Reilly High School, I am appalled by Bishop Joseph Martino’s stance on the unionization of Catholic teachers and believe it imperative to support state House Bill 26. House Bill 26 would include Catholic and other religiously affiliated schools in Pennsylvania’s labor laws.

While attending Catholic schools I learned the importance of social justice, the idea that everyone in society should not only have equal rights and the right to earn a living wage, but also to form labor unions. I also was made aware of the Catholic Church’s tradition of supporting unions in Northeastern Pennsylvania, most famously the support for coal miners in the early 1900s.

But Bishop Martino doesn’t have to look far into the past to see the Catholic Church’s support for organized labor. “Laborem Exercens,” written by Pope John Paul II in 1981, states, “All these rights, together with the need for the workers themselves to secure them, give rise to yet another right: the right of association, that is to form associations for the purpose of defending the vital interests of those employed in the various professions.”

I also would urge Bishop Martino to change his stance on House Bill 26 and recognize the Scranton Diocese Association of Catholic Teachers. Bishop Martino’s current union-busting tactics are not new. And although working conditions are not comparable to those in coal mines, steel mills and factories in the early 20th century, the tactics are no better than those used in the past.

Bishop Martino must realize that Catholic schools are the backbone of the Scranton Diocese, bringing up future Catholics in a religious environment. Closing the schools will lead only to more financial and church attendance woes.

TOM SHUBILLA
PLAINS TOWNSHIP

Grief and Anxiety in Appalachia

The following article appeard in the Canadian publication, Tomorrow's Trust, on February 27, 2009:

Grief and Anxiety in Appalachia

For over a year now the Catholic teachers of the Scranton diocese have had to suffer the scorn of their Bishop, Joseph F. Martino.

This month however, Bishop Martino seems hell bent on alienating just about every group of Catholics who still call their local Catholic parish their spiritual place of worship.

He began the month with a group of Scranton area Catholics forming a Council of Parishes to fight the closing and consolidation of parishes now proposed by the bishop. Evidently there has been little consultation and the logic behind those churches chosen for closure or left open defies analysis by many parishioners.

Then on February 6th Martino accused the popular Sen. Bob Casey Jr. of “cooperating with … evil” by refusing to back legislation to block U.S. tax dollars from flowing to foreign family planning groups that refuse to renounce abortion. In a Jan. 30 letter to the senator, the bishop also calls on Casey to live up to his Catholic faith and “oppose abortion and other clear evils, including contraception.”

On February 9th Bill Genello, Communications Director for the Diocese of Scranton issued a statement that claimed that Zenon Cardinal Grocholewski, who heads the Office for Catholic Education said that “that fair labor policy and wages can be guaranteed by means other than those proposed by Mr. Milz (the Catholic teachers’ union president) and that Bishop Martino violated no Church law in refusing SDACT’s request for an election to determine union representation.”

As if this wasn’t provocative enough Martino then had the Diocese of Scranton Superintendent of Schools, Joseph Casciano, send a letter to each of the school principals asking that each school have parents contact their respective legislator and ask him/her to refrain from supporting House Bill 26, because it “Could close our schools.” The bill would amend the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Act to cover Catholic teachers, thus allowing the Labor Relations Board to force the diocese to let teachers vote on unionization by secret ballot. Worse however, was another request that principals gather a list from each school with the names of the individuals who will be contacting their representatives and please forward them to the office ASAP.” At this point the principals refused to cooperate because it was so potentially divisive.

The next week began with Martino attacking the local Catholic Misericordia University, founded by the Religious Sisters of Mercy in 1942, and not directly under Diocesan control, for inviting a black gay supporter of same-sex marriage, Keith Boykin, to speak on the election of a black president, to the University’s long standing “Diversity Institute.” The next day Boykin did speak on campus, with administration’s support.

This was followed on February 19th with the Bishop issuing a warning to the three organizing committees for the traditional St. Patrick Day parade and festivities that he would close St. Peter’s Cathedral in Scranton during St. Patrick’s Day celebrations if the groups feature any elected officials who support abortion rights at their annual events. None of them even claimed they were considering such officials. One organizing group wasn’t even Catholic. The person who delivered and signed the letter was Auxiliary Bishop John M. Dougherty. Martino was seen as simply avoiding the glare and wrath of the public and organizers so he sent his underling. As might be expected the warning was not well received; “provoke fierce debate” is how one headline put it.

But things were not about to quiet down. This past weekend, there was a mass said at Sacred Heart Church, one, that local parishioners are fighting to save. They had planned a protest in the form of prayer on the Church steps for Wednesday night. When they arrived they found the Church locked and yellow tape barring the steps, with a notice tacked to the door which said the church was structurally unsafe even though it had about 400 people in it just 3 days before.
And Martino hasn’t given up on Misericordia University yet, as Monday he issued a virtue demand that the Diversity Institute be shut down. Naturally, the reaction of the students was both shock and defiance. In the meantime NACCP and Proctor and Gamble, a major supporter of the Institute, have come forward in its support. The president of the university is attempting to organize a meeting with Martino.

“The joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of the men of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted, these too are the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of the followers of Christ.” This is the opening sentence of Gaudium et spes, the Second Vatican Council’s epochal Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World.

There is little evidence that Bishop Martino has ever read it, or if he has, cares for what it says. There is little evidence that Martino is the least bit interested in listening to those Catholics who sit in the pews. Martino seems to feel none of the grief of parishioners faced with the closure of their Churches or their schools. He doesn’t appear to care about what anxieties he puts on teachers, principals or parents in his campaign to defeat Bill 26. He doesn’t seem to understand or care about what the griefs and anxieties of those who are faced daily with discrimination based on race, color, gender, ethnicity or sexual orientation is like. Better you dispose of help in this area to keep Catholicism pure in sex.

Commonweal’s editorial for the February 27th issue is titled “Griefs and Anxieties”, which is from where I borrowed the title for this piece. It is about Benedict lifting the excommunication of the four Lefebvrite bishops. The closing sentence seems to apply to Bishop Martino also:

“For better or worse, Catholics remain ‘intimately linked with mankind and its history,’ and bishops…urgently need to be seen sharing the griefs and anxieties of men and women of this age, not just being concerned for the good opinion of their peers.”

It is a message Bishop Martino needs to take to heart.

Make fair deal

The following letter to the editor of the Scranton Times Tribune appeared March 1, 2009:
Make fair deal

Editor:

In an Feb. 18 letter, Charlie Barlow of Jermyn suggested how the Diocese of Scranton could provide parents with information on how to support their efforts to oppose the unionization of Catholic school teachers.The most important way to alleviate the fears that the parents have is to recognize the SDACT, negotiate a contract that is fair to the diocese fair to the teachers, fair to the parents and fair to the students.It can be done.

JOHN JEROME
DICKSON CITY

Union-busting bishop hires high-priced lobbying firm

Our friends in the Pennsylvania State House of Representatives have told us they have been receiving new visitors lately, urging them to oppose the passage of HB 26. No, they are not the army of union-hating parents the Diocese had recently tried to recruit. Instead, the new visitors bearing the Diocese’s union-busting message are lobbyists working for the Harrisburg based Bravo Group, whose services have been retained by Bishop Martino. And, those services don’t come cheap by any means. The Pittsburgh Post Gazette reported that in 2008, Bravo was charging one of its customers $26, 350 per month. That’s several thousand dollars more than many Catholic school teachers earn in a year.

Our friends in the State House find this latest turn of events more than a little puzzling, particularly considering that the Diocese had previously presented the following facts to lawmakers in support of their opposition to HB 26:

• Dozens of Catholic schools have been closed for good.
• Half the parishes in the Diocese will soon be shuttered.
• The Bishop’s Annual Appeal is millions of dollars behind its fundraising goal.
• The Diocese owes its teachers nearly 2 million dollars in severance and sick day pay, but has not paid this legal debt.
• Bishop Martino busted the teachers union because it would make unreasonable financial demands on the Diocese.
• HB 26 must not become law because it will allow teachers the right to have a union of their own choosing which would mean the end of Catholic education.
  

What has justified all of these decisions? According to Bishop Martino, it is the disastrous state of Diocesan finances.

In the face of the Bishop’s hue and cry over the financial stress of the Diocese, he will, however, expend considerable sums of money to subvert the rights of his lay teachers. To prevent the passage of HB 26, the Diocese hired an extremely high-priced lobbying firm. "How," our lawmakers ask, "can an organization in such dire financial shape afford this?"

Besides our legislators, that’s a question we hope all Diocesan parishioners demand that the Bishop answer. However, we know it is highly unlikely they will ever get one.

Such actions , we believe, indicate that Bishop Martino’s desire to prevent the passage of HB 26 has now reached maniacal proportions. With Bravo added, the Diocese now has two lobbying groups on the payroll. The Bishop is also continuing to pay for the services of the lobbyists who work for the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference. Evidently, he must be unhappy with the lack of traction the arguments of the PCC have had in the House of Representatives. Hiring Bravo is another sign of the Diocese’s desperation.

The Bishop can spend every last dime the people of the Diocese are willing to give him and he will still fail to prevent the passage of HB 26. Last year during one of the hearings held before the House Labor Relations Committee, one member of the Committee told the crowd that he thought the Bill would pass “unanimously.” At the time, even our most ardent supporters thought his comments a bit hyperbolic. Not now. We have found no one in the legislature who is unsympathetic to our cause. All see our issue as one of basic fairness. We could not hope for more, for as the only group of workers to lack coverage under either federal or state labor laws, that is our argument in a nutshell.

Finally, we hope that all who give money to their parish or to the Bishop’s Appeal stop and think for a minute. Do you want your money squandered in such a way as this? Do you want to assist the Bishop in his fanatical desire to deprive our teachers of their rights? If not, send him a message by putting your donations in escrow until the Bishop changes his union-busting ways.

Bishop’s changing role should change again

The following letter to the editor of the Wilkes-Barre Citizens' Voice appeared on February 21, 2009:

Bishop’s changing role should change again

Editor:

We see a lot of Bishop “no-no” Martino in the paper reminding Catholics of their duties.

Seems anytime a Catholic does something that might go against the rules of the church, the bishop sticks his head out and says “no-no!” From churchgoers who might be thinking about backing a teachers union to a college opening its doors to someone who doesn’t share their collective beliefs.

I wonder how many of these people now rubbing their bishop-slapped wrists know that long ago the role of the bishop was that of a spokesman for various congregations across the land. The people would air their concerns on various matters of the church to the bishop who would then relay them to Rome.

Then, with the coming of the dark ages, Barbaric hordes swept across Europe. Towns were destroyed, people slaughtered and places of learning laid waste.After a while, most people were uneducated so Rome changed the role of the bishops. They would now tell the masses what to do because these masses didn’t have the brains to have input on matters concerning themselves.

Today, most people are again educated, but it seems the church doesn’t realize that the dark ages are gone, for they never changed the role of the bishop back to the “spokesman” for the masses he once was.

Joseph Hapeman
Wilkes-Barre

Martino’s actions demand complaints

The following letter to the editor of the Wilkes-Barre Citizens' Voice appeared on February 21, 2009:

Martino’s actions demand complaints

Editor:

I am not one who takes to writing letters, but I must confess that I am sick of reading about Joseph Martino, the Scranton-based dictator of the “Catholic faith.” I offset this in quotation marks because many of my friends who are Catholic (including those who have recently given it up) do not hold with his ideals. His decrees and seemingly daily epistles are bad enough, but to see papers such as The Citizens’ Voice providing him with a platform for his incessant ranting is a bit distressing. I understand that your publication is entitled The Citizens’ Voice, but it is not entitled “Catholic Light.” I think that the latter publication would be more closely aligned with Mr. Martino’s “news” items.

My true disgust occurred on the morning of Feb. 19, when I read about his latest threat to close St. Peter’s Cathedral if pro-choice officials were featured in the parade. I say close your cathedral; it’s less money you will take in collections, in essence, cutting off your nose to spite your face. As I understand it, the Catholic Church really can’t afford fewer donations right now.

As an Irish Episcopalian, I find horrible the idea that the planning committees of the St. Patrick’s Day parade would allow themselves to be intimidated by someone who is obviously attempting to thrust the region back into the middle ages. He goes on as if he were a father chastising children for spilling milk on the rug. If the Catholics of Northeastern Pennsylvania wish to tolerate this, fine for them. I just don’t think that the rest of the readership should be annoyed each morning by this man’s jejune tantrums.

As for the Catholics of Northeastern Pennsylvania, I have only this to say: this man has closed your schools, your churches, threatened to withhold communion if you don’t “think” like him and has even gone so far as to blemish the academic reputation of your colleges and universities by suggesting they censor scholarship (be careful, Misericordia, you may be teaching creationism, next). Don’t you all think it’s time you complained to someone? Jesus did say to turn the other cheek; I don’t recall his saying to stand there and get your teeth kicked in.

Timothy J. Legg, Ph.D.
Wilkes-Barre

Courageous stance

The following letter to the editor of the Scranton Times Tribune appeared on February 20, 2009:

Courageous stance

Editor:

Praise be to Jesus, who, if he was still in the tomb, would be rolling over at Bishop Martino’s rantings.

The Sisters of Mercy, Misericordia University, and the university’s Diversity Institute are to be commended for their courage to host speakers who present a plethora of perspectives. In recent days, right here in NEPA, we heard about court proceedings for individuals accused of killing a homosexual, and a racially motivated homicide.

It is hard to fathom that in the year 2009, prejudice and discrimination continue to mar our landscape. However, one need only look to the Diocese of Scranton, where its hierarchy has silenced and even banished individuals who do not march lockstep. Is this not an insidious form of discrimination?

I prefer to promote the opportunity for critical thinking, particularly in the world of academia. Kudos to Misericordia.

VICKY CASTAGNA
MADISON TWP.

Bugaboos galore

The following letter to the editor of the Scranton Times Tribune appeared February 19, 2009:

Bugaboos galore

Editor:

This week, Gerhard Wagner withdrew from his recent nomination by the pope as auxiliary bishop of Linz, Austria. Wagner notoriously blamed Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans residents’ permissive sexuality, referred to homosexuality as “curable” and called Harry Potter books “satanic.”

The Wagner scandal came as controversy continued to rage over another recent papal decision — the rehabilitation of Bishop Richard Williamson, a Holocaust denier, and several other bishops belonging to the Society of St. Pius X, an extreme, conservative group that protests the reforms of Vatican II, defends the Inquisition, takes a soft stand on slavery and, strangely, abhors shorts.

Locally, Bishop Martino criticized Misericordia University’s plan to host speaker Keith Boykin. That Boykin holds an opinion in conflict with orthodox Catholicity apparently makes him unfit to engage a Catholic audience (though the wacky opinions expressed above prevent none from holding positions of influence and authority within the church).

Bishop Martino’s own conflict with the Catholic tradition of supporting unions has not prevented him from speaking and acting to squash local Catholic schoolteachers’ attempts to secure their jobs and earn a living wage. Concerns over his engagement in such political activities, including his recent “list-making,” must fall into the category he calls, “bugaboos about separation of church and state.”

While the pope does back-flips to defend the indefensible, Bishop Martino marginalizes anyone who questions the church’s positions or his personal politics. The hierarchy rockets into deep space while the population of alienated Catholics grows.

Church, you’re breaking my heart.

LENORE ROGAN
LORDS VALLEY,PIKE COUNTY

Catholic teachers union is needed

The following letter to the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader appeared on February 15, 2009:

Catholic teachers union is needed

Once again Bishop Joseph Martino has shown why the Catholic teachers in the Diocese of Scranton need a union.

An announcement about the introduction of Pennsylvania House Bill 26, which would give teachers in religious schools the same rights as other Americans, prompted a response from the bishop that would make the union busters at Wal-Mart blush.

The diocese announced that if the teachers get a union, all the Catholic schools in the diocese will close.

If any other employer did this, it would be slapped with an unfair labor practice charge and heavily fined. The teachers also were referred to as defiant – exactly the way King George referred to the cheeky colonists who demanded their rights.

This is exactly why the teachers need a real union, not the bishop’s phony employee relation council. The bishop pretends the employees have representation through the council, but he still makes all the final decisions.

After attending a rally in support of a teachers’ union, I went to Mass at my home church in Swoyersville – to which my family has belonged since my grandfather helped to build the church a hundred years ago.

While waiting for Mass to start, I couldn’t help but think how Bishop Martino has taken the diocese backward.

My grandfather was a miner and was at the rally in Scranton a hundred years ago when Bishop Hoban and Teddy Roosevelt joined to support union rights.

I was at a rally in almost the exact same place a hundred years later at which Bishop Hoban’s successor Bishop Martino is trying to take away these rights.

What a shame!

Eugene Gowisnok
Swoyersville

Vote should solve it

The following letter to the editior of the Scranton Times Tribune appeared on February 16, 2009:

Vote should solve it

Editor:

A recent article in The Times-Tribune regarding attempts by the Scranton Diocese to defeat HB 26 by compiling lists of parents opposed to the bill and “asking” them to contact their legislators is intriguing to say the least. Apparently the diocese does not believe the rhetoric posted on its own Web site.

According to the diocese, the SDACT only “represented a minority of teachers in the Diocese of Scranton Catholic Schools,” and gives the impression that the employee relations program is running smoothly. If that is accurate, the surest way to defeat HB 26 would be to render it unnecessary. Allowing the teachers to vote on whether they should be represented by the SDACT would do just that. If what the diocese claims is true, it would seem logical that the vote would not be in the union’s favor.

As far as the passage of HB 26 heralding the demise of Catholic education in our area, perhaps Bishop Martino and the diocesan school board should consider that if Jesus and his followers had said that “government interference” would mean the end of the church 2,000 years ago, we wouldn’t even be having this discussion today.

DR. ROBERT E. GAN
HONESDALE

Words of the Holy Father

The following letter to the editor of the Towanda Daily & Sunday Review appeared on February 13, 2009:

Words of the Holy Father

EDITOR:

In a recent letter to your newspaper, Scranton Diocesan spokesman Bill Genello defended Bishop Martino’s obvious union-busting tactics, saying that the ruling of a Vatican tribunal meant that the Church was on his side. “Unions are not a necessity,” Genello claimed. However, it seems the Holy Father has recently taken exception to Genello and the bishop’s point of view.

In a recent speech, Pope Benedict XVI said labor unions have an important role to play in finding a way out of the global financial crisis and establishing a new culture of solidarity and responsibility in the marketplace. (The full text of the Pope’s speech can be found on-line at: http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0900492.htm)

In that speech, the Pope said, “The great challenge and the great opportunity posed by today’s worrisome economic crisis is to find a new synthesis between the common good and the market, between capital and labor. And in this regard, union organizations can make a significant contribution.”

The Pope emphasized that the inalienable dignity of the worker has been a cornerstone of the Church’s social teaching in the modern age, and said this teaching has helped the movement toward fair wages, improvement of working conditions and protection of vulnerable categories of employees.

“Workers are facing particular risks in the current economic crisis, and unions must be part of the solution,” he said. “In order to overcome the economic and social crisis we’re experiencing,” he continued, “we know that a free and responsible effort on the part of everyone is required. In other words, it is necessary to overcome the interests of particular groups and sectors, in order to face together and in a united way the problems that are affecting every area of society, especially the world of labor.”

“Never has this need been felt so urgently,” he warned. “The problems tormenting the world of labor push toward an effective and closer arrangement between the many and diverse components of society.”

He noted that his predecessor, Pope John Paul II, had underlined labor as the key component in social questions and had described the labor union as an indispensable element of social life in modern industrialized societies.

So whose ideas should prevail? In the past, when his brother bishops took positions opposite his, Bishop Martino said that “Other bishops don’t speak for me. There is only one teacher in this Diocese and these points are undebateable.”

It will be interesting to hear Genello’s and Bishop Martino’s response to the Holy Father’s speech. Will they consider Pope Benedict merely the Bishop of Rome or should the successor to Peter carry a bit more weight?

Michael A. Milz, President
Scranton Diocese Association of Catholic Teachers
Mc-Entee Keller Labor Center
DUNMORE, PA

Group critical of diocese letter

The following article appeared in the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader on February 12, 2009:

Group critical of diocese letter


SCRANTON – Calling it “desperate,” “despicable” and “intimidation,” the group trying to unionize Catholic school teachers railed against a letter Diocese of Scranton Superintendent of Schools Joseph Casciano sent to principals. Noting that Casciano asks for lists of parents who will urge state legislators to reject a pro-union bill, the union likened the letter to “tactics associated with Joseph McCarthy.”

Michael Milz, president of the Scranton Diocese Association of Catholic Teachers, said he had obtained a copy of the letter from several principals who told him “They would have no part of it because it’s divisive.”

A copy of the letter provided by Milz repeats the diocesan contention that the bill, known as House Bill 26, “Could close our schools.” The bill would amend the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Act to cover Catholic teachers, thus allowing the Labor Relations Board to force the diocese to let teachers vote on unionization by secret ballot.

The letter says that Auxiliary Bishop John Dougherty “has asked that each school have parents contact their respective legislator and ask him/her to refrain from supporting this bill,” adding that “they do not have to take a position of support for or against unions.” Milz said his association has no objection to parents contacting their legislators.

But the letter also says “the Bishop has asked that we gather a list from each school with the names of the individuals who will be contacting their representatives. Please forward them to the office ASAP.” That, Milz said, is what prompted some principals to show the letter to him. “To what purpose?” Milz asked.

A statement posted on the union Web-site said “Our guess is that soon another list, perhaps a ‘blacklist,’ will be put out with the names of the parents and their children who, knowing right from wrong, refused such a Faustian bargain and would not allow themselves to be intimidated.
“We hope all local citizens will contact their legislators and tell them how they feel about HB 26 … However, no one should ever be forced into a political position because they fear retribution for themselves or, worse, for their children.”

The union lost the right to represent teachers during a 2007 restructuring because the diocese eliminated the small local school boards and parish councils that had negotiated contracts, replacing them with four regional boards. Bishop Joseph Martino formed an “Employee Relations Committee he insists represents all school employees fairly.

Diocese spokesman Bill Genello did not respond to an e-mail and phone message seeking comment.

Diocese of Scranton making list of supportive parents

The following article appeared in the Scranton Times Tribune on Februray 12, 2009:

Diocese of Scranton making list of supportive parents

The Diocese of Scranton is asking its school principals to compile lists of parents who oppose allowing teachers to unionize and are willing to voice their opinion to state legislators.

The diocese has stated the passing of House Bill 26, which would expand state labor laws to cover lay teachers in religiously affiliated schools, “will mean the end of Catholic schools” in the diocese. Since January 2008, Bishop Joseph F. Martino has refused to recognize the Scranton Diocese Association of Catholic Teachers as a collective bargain- ing unit and has instead implemented an employee-relations program.

The letter, sent to principals this week by school superintendent Joseph G. Casciano, states John M. Dougherty, auxiliary bishop, has “asked that each school have parents contact their respective legislator and ask him/her to refrain from supporting this bill since we love our schools and wish them to continue into the future.“They do not have to take a position of support for or against unions but rather that we are seeking the assistance of the legislators to allow this matter to resolve itself in time.”

The principals are asked to forward the lists of the diocesan office “ASAP.”News of the letter sparked outrage among some parents who support the teachers’ union effort. Some parents said they fear they will be “blacklisted” if they fail to speak out against the bill.

“Maybe we should just sign the blacklist,” said Sharon Hourigan, spokeswoman for a parents group that supports the teachers’ union efforts. “It’s outrageous.”

William Genello, diocesan spokesman, denied there would be any type of “blacklist,” and officials simply want to be able to provide parents interested in speaking out against the bill with information.“There was no intention to coerce anyone or intimidate anyone,” Mr. Genello said.

“Principals will be talking to parents who have expressed concern.”After Ms. Hourigan was forwarded a copy of the letter, she forwarded it to a couple hundred parents. Ms. Hourigan pulled her daughter out of Holy Redeemer High School before this school year, but is still the spokeswoman for the parent group supporting the teachers’ efforts to unionize.

Parents said the principal-made lists would force them to declare whether they were for or against not only the bills, but the rights of the teachers.Robert Suchoski, whose daughter is a freshman at Holy Redeemer, said he was “fed up and disgusted” by the latest move by the diocese.“I think it’s despicable,” he said.

Other parents also expressed outrage, and questioned the diocese’s involvement in a political matter.

Rob Boston, a spokesman for Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said even though the diocese is asking parents to become involved politically by writing letters, laws regard its tax-exemption status are not being violated.The laws apply strictly to supporting candidates, and not the issues, Mr. Boston said.

Unfair attack

The following letter to the editor of the Scranton Times Tribune appeared February 11, 2009:

Unfair attack

Editor:

An early Christian bishop once wrote that a silent bishop is a revered bishop. Recent events have shown us the wisdom of his words. I, too, would prefer to keep silent, but love does not allow us to keep silent in the face of Bishop Martino’s unkind and unwarranted attack on Sen. Bob Casey’s good name, which could result in his being denied Holy Communion.

Instead of guiding us through today’s uncertain waters, drawing us closer to the mind of Christ by his humility and love, Bishop Martino has chosen the path of violence and power. He is a Juno, who out of insecurity and fear has unleashed a terrible storm against those he should be serving and protecting. Surrounding himself with bitter men, he has exiled or ignored everyone in this diocese who sees things differently than he. He has sown seeds of discord and distrust; he has tempted us to despair. And in his simplistic and uncatholic reduction of every truth to a moralistic code, he has forgotten that the church on earth is first and foremost a culture, a people, sinners all — the one body of Christ. Yet, he would have us shun the good senator.

Our Lord built his church on St. Peter, the Rock, not in spite of his weakness and failure, but because of his weakness and failure, to remind us that those who would lead us must first humble themselves, and that those who would love Christ must first feed his sheep. Oh help us, St. Peter.

GLEN JOHNSON
SCRANTON

McCarthyite Tactics Will Fail

Today, Diocesan Superintendent of Schools, Joe Casciano sent out a letter to all school principals. In a desperate attempt to stop the inevitable – which is the certain passage of HB 26 - it looks like Bishop Martino and his minions have turned to what might be their most despicable tactic yet.

Realizing that few parents and parishioners are buying into their big lie program alleging that HB 26 will mean the end of Catholic education, and seeing that the personal campaigning of Bishop Dougherty with local legislators has likewise gone nowhere, the Diocese now appears to be trying to intimidate parents into opposing the Bill.

In his letter, Casciano, not merely content with simply asking for the parents’ support of such an unpopular position as voicing opposition to HB 26, wants to use the intimidation factor to ensure compliance.

Here is what Casciano had to say:

"I am asking that we have the president of the parents’ organization send a letter or email to the representative expressing that the families (give the number) in your school value Catholic education and want it to continue which would be helped by him/her refraining his/her support of this bill. We are told that the legislators need to hear from our families. The Bishop has asked that we gather a list from each school with the names of the individuals who will be contacting their representatives. Please forward them to the office asap."

Why make a list if you're not planning to use that list? Our guess is that soon another list, perhaps a “blacklist,” will be put out with the names of the parents and their children who, knowing right from wrong, refused such a Faustian bargain and would not allow themselves to be intimidated.

Politics is politics. We hope all local citizens will contact their legislators and tell them how they feel about HB 26. That's the American way. However, no one should ever be forced into a political position because they fear retribution for themselves or, worse, for their children.

As we've noted before on this blog, the Diocese has used several tactics associated with Senator Joseph McCarthy and his hysterical campaign against peoples' freedom during the 1950's. It didn't work then, and it won't work now.

We need to get the word out to our good parents. We know that the vast majority support us and HB 26. Tell them not to be intimidated. Ask them to let Bishop Martino know how despicable his tactics truly are and, most importantly, why they will not work.

Don’t let Bishop Martino intimidate teachers’ union

The following letter to the editor of the Wilkes-Barre Citizens' Voice appeared on February 10, 2009:

Don’t let Bishop Martino intimidate teachers’ union

Editor:

Well it came, another edict from the throne in Scranton: pass a law that fills a loophole and guarantees protection to teachers at religiously affiliated schools and bring an end to Catholic education.

Parents, students, teachers and the faithful in the Diocese of Scranton have endured considerable change in the past year and a half. We have seen schools closed and consolidated, institutions void of their previous identity. In the coming months churches will be closed forever.

And, in a way, it was all inevitable, church attendance is down and allegedly money is “dwindling” in the Diocese. None of this however is an excuse for the actions of Bishop Martino regarding the Scranton Diocese Association of Catholic Teachers.

The Martino “establishment,” including spokesman Bill Genello and superintendent Joseph Casciano, has continually blasted the teachers’ union, saying that its motives are out of greed and selfishness. They have accused the union of intimidation tactics. Unfortunately it appears that when they accuse the union of these things, they are looking in the mirror and watching their own actions reflect back at them.


The fact is that the diocese fired the union president. The diocese has made it known to the faithful that it will eliminate Catholic education if HB 26 passes. That sounds like intimidation to me.

To accuse a Catholic school teacher of being greedy shows, for lack of a better word, ignorance. These teachers make a sacrifice every day to work in Catholic schools. They understand that the Church does not have the financial resources of a public school district. From what I understand pay is not the issue here. The issue is that a man in Scranton will not “lower” himself to speak with the very people he is supposed to protect.

In this scope of protection though, there is no provision for a “father knows best” attitude which emanates from Bishop Martino every time he speaks. He approaches the issue with a tone of arrogance that is undeniable.

My teachers will not give up the fight for justice and equality in the workplace. They are not afraid of you, Bishop Martino, or what can be considered an empty threat.

You know (I would hope) in your heart of hearts what the right and just decision is. The quote often used is “no one can deny the right to organize without attacking human dignity itself.”

I am hopeful that you will reconsider what I and many believe is a serious mistake. For everyone else I encourage you to write to your state legislator to show your support for HB 26. Don’t let the rhetorical nonsense of the diocese fool you or intimidate you. If you believe in justice for all working men and women you will see this bill for what it is: the closing of a loophole to allow all workers their God-given right to organize.

Leann Ziobro
Hudson

The following article appeared in The Catholic News Service, February 2, 2009:

Pope says labor unions important in resolving financial crisis

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI said labor unions have an important role to play in finding a way out of the global financial crisis and establishing a new culture of solidarity and responsibility in the marketplace.

"The great challenge and the great opportunity posed by today's worrisome economic crisis is to find a new synthesis between the common good and the market, between capital and labor. And in this regard, union organizations can make a significant contribution," the pope told directors of the Confederation of Italian Labor Unions Jan. 31.

The pope emphasized that the inalienable dignity of the worker has been a cornerstone of the church's social teaching in the modern age, and said this teaching has helped the movement toward fair wages, improvement of working conditions and protection of vulnerable categories of employees.

Workers are facing particular risks in the current economic crisis, and unions must be part of the solution, he said."In order to overcome the economic and social crisis we're experiencing, we know that a free and responsible effort on the part of everyone is required," the pope said.

"In other words, it is necessary to overcome the interests of particular groups and sectors, in order to face together and in a united way the problems that are affecting every area of society, especially the world of labor," he said."

Never has this need been felt so urgently. The problems tormenting the world of labor push toward an effective and closer arrangement between the many and diverse components of society," he said.

He noted that his predecessor, Pope John Paul II, had underlined labor as the key component in social questions and had described the labor union as an indispensable element of social life in modern industrialized societies.

Pope Benedict has been working on his first social encyclical, tentatively titled "Caritas in Veritate" ("Love in Truth"), which is expected to be published sometime this year.

Drop the Shield

The following letter to the editor of the Scranton Times Tribune appeared Februrary 8, 2009:

Drop the shield

Editor:

Diocese of Scranton Bishop Joseph F. Martino should reconsider his refusal to submit to interviews by The Times-Tribune and other media on his continuing involvement in politics. It isn’t enough for his spokesman to insist that the bishop “doesn’t do interviews.” (Times-Tribune, Feb. 6).

People in public life, such as Sen. Robert Casey, often do media interviews about issues in representing constituents and fulfilling their oath of public office under the United States Constitution. Bishop Martino should speak out on religious issues. But when that involves politics, the writ should extend beyond the pulpit and the diocesan newspaper where his views can’t be questioned.

HERB LINNEN
WASHINGTON, D.C.

Writer recommends merger of diocese

The following letter to the editor appeared in the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader, February 6, 2009:

Writer recommends merger of diocese

Since Bishop Joseph Martino came to oversee the Diocese of Scranton and the Catholic flock, I have been somewhat interested in the approach taken to solve some very difficult problems.

The issues facing the diocese include:

• Catholic churches with runaway budgets.
• Low attendance at Mass.
• Low church contributions.
• A decreasing population of young men interested in becoming priests.

In many of the above situations, Bishop Martino and his staff have proposed resolving the issue using a close or merge strategy. In many cases, merge has been a prelude to close. While it is clear to all but the most imperceptive observer that these are serious issues that cannot continue to be ignored, it is also very apparent that there must be other more ingenious ideas that could be considered prior to resorting to closing – which should be a last resort.

Unfortunately, ingenuity sometimes provided by the Catholic laity appears to be something the bishop and his staff cannot or will not consider. This is most evident during the deliberations conducted last year over the closing and merging of the four Luzerne County Catholic schools into a single campus in Wilkes-Barre. Ideas brought forward by members of the community for keeping at least two of the schools open were ignored.

As we enter the next phase of merge and close, it struck me that one particular merge and close idea has not yet been suggested. I am suggesting the merger of the Diocese of Scranton with either the Diocese of Allentown or the Diocese of Harrisburg, with the concomitant closure of Saint Peter’s Cathedral.

This particular idea has the added benefit of returning at least two priests currently holding the rank of bishop to the management of a parish. In addition, the elimination of a considerable number of redundant staff members would significantly reduce expenses and waste.

After all, do we really need to have a shepherd when there is no flock?

Ralph C. Gatrone
Kingston

HB 26 Topic of Interactive TV Program

Watch the video from last night's edition of WYOU interactive by clicking this link.

Last evening, WYOU Interactive TV featured a discussion of House Bill 26. HB 26 will amend the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Act to include coverage for the employees of religiously-affiliated schools. Catholic school lay teachers and other Church employees are the only group of workers who are currently not covered by federal or state labor laws. This situation is inately unfair and un-American. The passage of HB 26 will repair this unjust loophole in the existing laws.

Last week, following SDACT's rally to mark the introduction of HB 26, the Diocese released a statement saying that if the Bill was passed it would be "the end of Catholic education in Scranton." This kind of rthetoric is straight out of the union-busters playbook, and the results of an on-line poll conducted by WYOU provides evidence to show that few people bought into this Diocesan diatribe.

The poll asked the question: "Would allowing teachers to unionize in the Diocese of Scranton 'mean the end of catholic schools' in NEPA?" Here are the results of the poll:

Yes (19.5%)
No (75%)
I don't know (5.6%)

Scranton Catholic Teachers into second year of labour dispute with Bishop – no end in sight

The following article appeared in the Canadian publication, Tomorrow's Trust, A Review of Catholic Education, January 26, 2009:

Written by John Borst on January 26, 2009 – 4:58 am

Scranton Catholic Teachers into second year of labour dispute with Bishop – no end in sight

Saturday, January 24th, 2009 marked the first anniversary of the Scranton Diocese Association of Catholic Teachers (SDACT) being unilaterally shut out of their schools by the Scranton Diocesan Bishop, Joseph Martino.

To mark the occasion about 200 supporters, many from regional union locals joined a noon rally outside the Bishop’s residence to mark the one-year anniversary of the fight to unionize local Catholic school teachers.

Each marcher wore green and black arm bands. “Black was to represent mourning,” said SDACT president Michael Milz, “while green symbolizes hope.”

One sign of hope was the presence of Democratic legislators from the cities of Wilkes-Barre and Scranton, state Reps. Eddie Day Pashinski, D-Wilkes-Barre, and Kevin Murphy, D-Scranton. They announced that they will reintroduce House Bill 26. The bill would amend the state’s labour relations law to include employees of religiously affiliated schools.

Last year Pashinski introduced House Bill 2626 which amend the Pennsylvania Labour Relations Act to cover Catholic school teachers, giving them the chance to get the Labour Relations Board to force the diocese to hold a secret ballot vote among diocesan teachers on unionization. The Labour Relations Committee held two hearings on the bill, but no action was taken before the House recessed, effectively killing the bill in committee, hence the reintroduction as Bill 26.

Bishop Martino’s reaction was to up the rhetoric and threaten in a Saturday statement that if forced to accept a union “Make no mistake about it, if HB 26 passes, it will mean the end of Catholic schools in the Diocese of Scranton, costing local communities $73,880,400 each year to educate these students.”

Charles Schillinger of the Scranton Times reports:

Michael Milz, president of the teachers union, said the statement is not surprising, the tactic is not new. He said the diocese previously said the bill would bankrupt the diocese.

“That kind of rhetoric is despicable. That’s a typical union-busting approach to scare people away from the union,” Milz said. “We’ve been here for 30 years and we’ve never put the diocese in a financial situation where it would not be able to afford to pay (its bills).”

“Who would make demands that would put themselves out of work?” he added.

Pashinski, the main sponsor for House Bill 26, said he expects the bill to get out of committee “within weeks” and he was optimistic about it passing the state House. But neither Pashinski nor Milz showed that same amount of optimism for the bill passing the state Senate, which is dominated by Republicans.

“It’s a monumental task, getting legislation passed,” Milz acknowledged. “It’s Democrats who tend to be pro-labour.”

Diocese spokesman Bill Genello said the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference and other religious organizations and private institutions are expected to lobby against the bill. The diocese, in its statement, also said the bill would damage religious freedom and “grant a governmental agency the right to examine Church doctrines and religiously-based disciplines.” “The authorization of that type of church-state entanglement would provoke a constitutional confrontation of the first magnitude,” the statement said.

However, the diocese failed to say that the States of New York, New Jersey and Minnesota have such unionization laws in place to protect Catholic teachers and their dioceses have yet to be bankrupt by them and no one is claiming that religious freedom is damaged nor government interference in “Church doctrine” has occurred.

Interestingly, under the alternative “employee relations program” created by the diocese a year ago, just a week ago (January 15, 2009), the diocese announced it had recorded a $7 million deficit in fiscal year 2008, nearly half a million dollars more than the deficit it recorded the previous year.

This is no doubt exasperated by a November 2007 payout of $3 million to settle a sex abuse case claimed by a man who said that as a teenager he was sexually abused by one of its priests.

Martino is also in dispute with many parishioners over the closure of a number of parish churches, in particular the historic Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Perhaps it is little wonder he is still a million dollars short of his annual appeal.

Vox Populi

Below are comments made by local citizens in response to Diocesan spokesman Bill Genello's editorial concerning the looming passage of HB 26 in yesterday's Scranton Times Tribune.


Genello has been blasted before by the Times Tribune editorial staff for his "childish suggestions" about what motivates SDACT's continuing protest. In his latest screed, our teachers were chided for being "defiant." Shades of George III when hearing of the protests of his American "children" in the 1770's.

As SDACT President Mike Milz said in his remarks at this past weekend's rally, people "can always smell a phony." Bill "Roy Cohn" Genello and Joseph "McCarthy" Martino are slowly losing their grip on reality. The "Big Lie" isn't working.



Lower Luzerne Catholic wrote on Jan 25, 2009 8:30 AM:
" "Make no mistake about it, if HB 26 passes, it will mean the end of Catholic schools in the Diocese of Scranton..." Well, guess what: we have already witnessed the end of Catholic education in Hazleton with closure of schools like Bishop Hafey, and it wasn't HB 26 that did it - it was Martino. "Make no mistake about it," eliminating Catholic schools has been Martino's goal all along. Martino is what I would call a "self-fulfilling prophet" - he snivels and whines about the looming end of Catholic education, then at the same time does everything in his power to hasten that demise. He had his chance to head off HB 26, but instead chose to take an even harder line towards the union, knowing it would only hasten the bill's passage. And the bill WILL pass. Martino will have his scapegoat, and will say that it was Milz and the teachers who forced his hand. But the rest of us will know the truth, and will watch as His Arrogance, the Most Reviled "Bishop" Martino gleefully crows "I told you so" - and repeats his infamous quote "So now you see that I am a man of my word" as he smugly closes any remaining schools. "

mike wrote on Jan 25, 2009 11:47 AM:
" how dare this man who calls himself a bishop make this kind of threatening statement . what a deplorable man he is under the guise of being a shepherd of his flock . he has no right being called his excellency or most reverend . those terms do not fit the arrogance of the man "

Diocese Watcher wrote on Jan 25, 2009 11:51 AM:
" The union has been in effect until Martinos' arrival here, and the ONLY thing that has been the start of the elimination of catholic education is Martino himself. He started this whole mess, now let him live with it. "

John wrote on Jan 25, 2009 1:39 PM:
" Wow, who does Martino think he is? He has become an embarrassment to the entire Catholic community and he needs to go, now. I still cannot believe this man is still head of the diocese. He has alienated a lot church goers. No wonder why the diocese was in the red for 7 million last year. What will he do next? You cannot negotiate with this man. Bishop Martino, please resign, the diocese will be a lot better without you here. You have made a mockery out of this area and yourself. "

One year later, struggle goes on

The following article appeared in the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader, January 25, 2009:

One year later, struggle goes on

More than 200 supporters, many from regional union locals, joined a noon rally outside Diocese of Scranton Bishop Joseph Martino’s residence to mark the one-year anniversary of the fight to unionize local Catholic school teachers. Scranton Diocese Association of Catholic Teachers President Michael Milz handed out green and black arm bands.

“Black is the color of mourning, and without a doubt we are here for that sorrowful purpose,” Milz said, repeating the claim that Martino rejected more than a century of Catholic Church support for organized labor when he rejected the request to unionize.

“Yes, there are many reasons for us to be mournful today,” Milz said, but “there is still hope all can yet be made right. Green, the other color on your arm bands, symbolizes that hope.”

Milz introduced state Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski, D-Wilkes-Barre, who last year introduced House Bill 2626. It would amend the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Act to cover Catholic school teachers, giving them the chance to get the Labor Relations Board to force the diocese to hold a secret ballot vote among diocesan teachers on unionization.

The Labor Relations Committee held two hearings on the bill, but no action was taken before the House recessed, effectively killing the bill in committee. Pashinski announced it is being reintroduced as House Bill 26. He said he is seeking new co-sponsors, that no more hearings are necessary, and that the bill would almost certainly be moved out of committee and up for a House vote within “weeks.”

Pashinski recounted his days as a student in Catholic schools and his excitement when he was old enough to get his own envelopes to put into Church collection baskets. He said the decision to reject unionization was “focusing on a tiny problem. We have a much bigger problem. No one is coming to church. Why? It’s not the same church I remember, it’s not the same church you remember.”

“You’re not asking for something unreasonable,” Pashinski said, “you’re just asking for a place at the table.”

The diocese posted a response on its Web site, repeating its claim that the union would bankrupt the school system and that the “Employee Relations Program” put in place represents all school employees fairly.

“Make no mistake about it,” the statement said, “if HB 26 passes, it will mean the end of Catholic schools in the Diocese of Scranton, costing local communities $73,880,400 each year to educate these students.

Sorrow and hope mark themes of SDACT rally

SDACT President, Mike Milz, made the following remarks during yesterday's rally to mark the introduction of Pennsylvania House Bill 26 before the General Assembly.

"As you know, we have asked you to wear the armbands that we distributed today. The colors of those armbands – black and green – are appropriate to the purposes that mark this rally today.

First the black. Everyone knows that black is the color of mourning, and without a doubt we are here for that sorrowful purpose. My teacher colleagues and I are only one of the groups here to mourn. We are here to mourn the loss of our rights, for it was exactly one year ago today that the person who lives in the house directly behind us, Bishop Joseph Martino, decided that the more than one hundred years of Catholic teaching in support of the right to organize was nothing more than words on paper. He announced that after 30 years of successful collaboration between our teachers’ association and the Diocese’s Catholic schools he would no longer recognize our teachers’ right to be represented by a union of their own choosing.

With us here to mourn for their own reasons are our many friends from the labor community and others who believe in the cause of social justice. They are here to mourn the loss and betrayal of labor’s once-staunch ally. For anyone who knows the labor history of Northeastern Pennsylvania knows that it had been the Catholic Church in Scranton which had stood side by side with the area’s working people in their struggles to organize and achieve social justice.

More troublesome is the fact that over the past year, not only has the Church in Scranton abandoned the cause of labor, but it has taken to using the tactics of the most vicious anti-union employers. The Bishop has attacked the leaders of our teachers, calling them manipulative, selfish and greedy. He has said that unions no longer serve a place in the modern economy. He has charged that having a union will bankrupt the schools, the typical ploy used by anti-union firms. He has intimidated teachers who support our cause and fired those in our union leadership. Finally, he has established a company union, something which would be illegal in any other work place in America. Wal-Mart and other union busting businesses can learn a lot from Bishop Martino.

Here also to mourn with us are our many supporters who are parents with children enrolled in our Catholic schools. They are here to mourn the fact that each day their sons and daughters are exposed to blatant hypocrisy. Catholic elementary students who are required to learn their catechism are instructed that “if the dignity of work is to be protected, then the rights of workers to organize and join unions must be respected.” Those in their senior year in high school must complete a theology class on the Church and social justice. There, they read the pastoral letter of the nation’s bishops on the economy which states that “no one can deny the right to organize without attacking human dignity itself.” Anyone who has been a teacher even for a short period knows you can’t fool kids. They can smell a phony. Bishop Martino’s actions make a mockery of their theology lessons.

Yes, there are many reasons for us to be mournful today. However, the other purpose for which we are gathered is to show that, regardless of the setbacks we have suffered, there is still hope all can yet be made right. Green, the other color on your armbands, symbolizes that hope.

Today we are announcing the introduction of House Bill 26 in the House of Representatives of the Pennsylvania General Assembly. The exact same bill had been introduced in the last legislative session, which then expired before any action could be taken. With the continuing support of Catholic school teachers across PA, along with the ongoing help of our friends in the labor community and all in the general community who support social justice, we know our campaign for the bill’s passage will not fail.

The employees of religiously-affiliated schools remain the only PA workers not covered by federal or state labor laws. There is something innately wrong and un-American in that. The nation’s laws should apply equally to all Americans. No one should be forced to accept second-class citizenship just because they choose to work for a religious entity.

HB 26 will correct this current injustice. With your help, we will overcome this current and tragic state of affairs. We hope we can continue to count on your support. If we do not stand together now, we will become silent accomplices to an act which denies basic human rights to a group of Americans. The armbands we wear today are green and black, but the choice we must make is black and white."


(Below: Representatives Eddie Day Pashinski and Kevin Murphy pledge their support and sponsorship of Pennsylvania House Bill 26 at SDACT rally.)

Self-inflicted wounds cause diocese to have problems

The following letter to the editor of the Wilkes-Barre Citizens' Voice appeared on January 23, 2009:

Self-inflicted wounds cause diocese to have problems

Editor:

Jan. 24 marks a shameful anniversary for the Catholic Church in the Diocese of Scranton. Bishop Martino’s unjust decision not to allow Catholic lay teachers the right to organize (after he had promised to do so in the diocesan newspaper) will be one year old. I, along with many others, believe such an event points to a much deeper and systemic problem in the diocese.

It’s really not surprising that area churches are closing at a disturbing rate, and that the diocese has recently announced that it has tremendous financial problems. Church membership, once thriving, has fallen to all-time lows. While the easy answer to the question of why this situation has come to pass is demographics, a more accurate analysis points to self-inflicted wounds. Take a look around you when you next attend Mass. Not only are there fewer and fewer heads to be counted, but those same heads are more likely to be gray and bald. Anyone who has attended Mass outside this diocese while on vacation or a business trip will notice a stark difference.

In its response to this downward spiral, the diocese is treating symptoms rather than causes. The sad truth is that the bishop’s behavior has made a bad situation worse. An institution that perverts its own social justice teaching cannot continue to sustain itself in the eyes of its followers.

Unfortunately, Bishop Martino still looks upon his flock from the perspective of a 14th century pulpit. He doesn’t seem to understand (or to care) that the “pay, pray and obey” Catholics in the diocese represent only a sliver of the population of the faithful. He also seems indifferent to the fact that his arrogant, condescending attitude has exacerbated and accelerated the departure of those outside that element.

And there exists no process (forget about appealing to the Vatican in this old boys’ network) to force the Bishop to cease and desist when he tramples on church teaching, or to remove him from office. The hierarchical structure of the Roman Catholic Church is anathema to such necessary change. When the church does address a mistake, it is a dollar short and 400 years late. Consider as an example the church’s recent reversal of Galileo’s excommunication and arrest for stating that the sun was the center of the solar system. Perhaps in the 25th century the diocese will offer Mike Milz (the teachers’ union president fired for his union activity) his teaching position back.

Because it refuses to obey and follow its own dicta, the only method of redress falls to Catholics of conscience. Such people must begin to assert their standing as the church. Haven’t we been told repeatedly that we are the church? God knows parishioners can’t look for help from their parish priests, most of whom admit privately that they disagree with the bishop’s policies, but that they feel powerless and fearful of retribution. Most agree that only the bishop’s departure from Scranton will help resolve most of the diocese’s woes.

However, there is one avenue where the community can immediately right the most despicable of Bishop Martino’s wrongs. Pennsylvania House Bill 26 (which will provide the employees of religiously-affiliated schools the protection of the labor laws) is now before the general assembly for consideration. Visit, phone, write or e-mail your state representatives and senators. Tell them that the bishop does not speak for Catholics in the political realm. They must not mistakenly assume that a vote for HB 26 will cost them votes from the Catholic community. It does not, as the bishop now claims, “cross the line separating church and state.” To the contrary, informed Catholics see the bill for what it really is — a simple extension of basic human rights denied to Catholic lay teachers because of a legal loophole in need of closing. A loophole being exploited by a powerful man who has lost his way.

If the Bishop refuses to do God’s work, God’s people must.

James W. Lynch
Wilkes-Barre

Diocesan teachers plan to mark anniversary of bishop’s decision

The following article appeared in the Wilkes-Barre Citizens Voice, January 23, 2009. Similar stories appeared in the Scranton Times Tribune and the Hazleton Standard Speaker:

Diocesan teachers plan to mark anniversary of bishop’s decision

Rallies, sickouts and national attention have done nothing to sway Bishop Joseph F. Martino.

It has been one year since the Diocese of Scranton announced it would not recognize its teachers union as a collective bargaining unit. Diocesan teachers remain without official union representation, but even after a year of rejection, vow to change that.

“I never thought things would take on the dynamics that they did,” Michael Milz, union president, said. “We were hoping that just the fact so many people opposed what the bishop did, he would change his decision … obviously, that never happened.”

Teachers and their supporters will mark Saturday’s anniversary by holding a rally outside St. Peter’s Cathedral on Wyoming Avenue at noon. Milz said he expects turnout from local labor groups, teachers and parents, but expects cold weather to keep some people away.

Instead of recognizing the union, the diocese has created an employee relations program. According to a statement issued by the diocese Thursday, 26 of 28 diocesan schools are participating and issues addressed include wages, benefits, leave, pension and tuition reimbursement. A teacher contract is close to being finalized, according to the diocese.

The teachers union had previously been recognized within the diocese on a school-by-school basis, but after the diocese reorganized its school system, the diocese as a whole had to grant recognition.

Teachers have said that without a union, they have no job security and are at the “will” of their employer. The diocese has stated that the union has had a detrimental effect on Catholic education.

The past year has been full of changes for Milz, who remains as union president although he no longer is a history teacher at Holy Redeemer High School.The 34-year employee of the diocese claims he was unjustly terminated in June, while the diocese has maintained he was laid off. He is now a field representative with the Northeastern Pennsylvania Area Labor Federation, AFL-CIO.

Much of Milz’s time recently has been spent working to garner support for legislation to amend the state’s labor relations law to include employees of religiously affiliated schools. The bill was introduced late in the last session of the legislature and the session expired before action could be taken. The bill will be reintroduced at Saturday’s rally, and the diocese opposes it because it “will compromise the religious character of Catholic schools in direct violation of the constitutional separation between church and state,” according to the statement.

The issue in Scranton has many Catholic teachers in the state wondering if the same thing could happen to their unions, said Rita C. Schwartz, president of the National Association of Catholic School Teachers,“It certainly has made us very sad that our church and that a bishop of our church has so devastated the social justice teaching,” she said. “We want to try to fix up what happened in Scranton and Wilkes-Barre and make sure it doesn’t happen to any other teacher.”

By the book

The following letter to the editor of the Scranton Times Tribune appeared January 23, 2009:

By the book

Editor:

In a Jan. 16 letter regarding the state of our Catholic diocese, Ted Prusinski used my name several times as the lone voice of opposition to the bishop. I wrote a letter in response to one from a gentleman who believed that, if you questioned the bishop, you had no place in our local churches.

Mr. Prusinski questions my ability to teach catechism and insults the content of the materials. He practically accuses me of using a CCD classroom to push a political agenda that is non-Catholic. This is beyond offensive, as I only use the text I am provided by the Scranton Diocese. In it, there are chapters, and an entire section: “What Every Catholic Should Know.” I use one chapter and one piece of that section per class. One of those excerpts addresses the exact Catholic position on the formation of unions. He suggests anyone with a different opinion about our local diocese needs “to do some research,” but how do you insult dissenters when they have done the research?

To deny that there is a problem in our local diocese might work for these gentlemen. And it might work for others who truly believe that the people who care enough about what is happening here, and who question it, are the real problem.

I am saddened by the closings, by the mass exodus of my friends and family members from the Catholic churches in Scranton. I care enough about it to try to understand it. And I will continue to defend people who get slammed in print for questioning this regime, often at my own personal expense.

Our churches should be places of comfort. That has not been the case recently. I’ll close with what I often tell my CCD kids: Jesus would never tell anyone she was not welcome in his father’s house. And none of us should, either.

Jen Edsell
Scranton

RALLY TO SUPPORT SDACT

RALLY TO SUPPORT SDACT

DATE: SATURDAY, JANUARY 24, 2009

TIME: 12 NOON

PLACE: ST. PETER'S CATHEDRAL, WYOMING AVENUE, SCRANTON, PA

January 24, 2009 will mark the one year anniversary of Scranton Bishop Joseph Martino’s decision to deny the teachers in his employ the right to organize. Such a decision was a betrayal of the more than century-old position of the Catholic Church which supports and encourages the right of working people to form unions. Loss of such a once-staunch ally as the Catholic Church has been seen across our state and the entire nation as a severe blow to all who support the cause of social justice.

The Scranton Diocese Association of Catholic Teachers (SDACT) is requesting the participation of those members of the community who support social justice and the right to organize to join in an important rally that will be held on Saturday, January 24, 2009, at 12:00 PM in front of St. Peter’s Cathedral, Wyoming Avenue, Scranton.

In 1986, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops announced in their pastoral letter that "No one may deny the right to organize without attacking human dignity itself." And, the United Nations has proclaimed that ”the right to organize is a fundamental human right.” We hope all who agree with such noble sentiments will come out and voice their opposition to Bishop Martino’s misguided and callous policies, and to demonstrate their support for the ongoing struggle of the SDACT to obtain justice and dignity for Scranton Diocesan lay teachers.

The rally is also being held to announce the introduction of Pennsylvania House Bill 26 (HB 26) which will amend the PA Labor Relations Act to include the employees of religiously-affiliated schools. Catholic school teachers and all other employees of religiously-affiliated schools are the only Pennsylvania workers who are not covered under the existing federal and state labor laws. The Bill (formerly HB 2626) to amend the PLRA was introduced late in the last session of the legislature, but that session expired before any action could be taken.

For additional information, call 570-969-7889.

Catholic teachers to hold rally

The following article appeared in the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader, January 9, 2009:

Rally to support unionization to be held Jan. 24 outside St. Peter’s Cathedral.

SCRANTON – The Scranton Diocese Association of Catholic Teachers plans to rally Jan. 24 outside St. Peter’s Cathedral to mark the one-year anniversary of its fight to unionize local Catholic school teachers.

The rally will be held one year to the day after the diocese announced, through its paper, The Catholic Light, that newly formed regional school boards had rejected the association’s request to represent teachers.

Many local Catholic school teachers had been members of the association before a restructuring that eliminated the smaller local boards the union had negotiated with.

The union responded with a rapid succession of informational pickets, rallies, one-day teacher sick-outs at selected schools, public meetings and an appeal to the Vatican to overturn Bishop Joseph Martino’s decision. Martino insisted the move was final and that a newly implemented Employee Relations Program will represent all school employees fairly.

The two sides traded accusations. Association President Michael Milz insists he was fired from his job as a teacher at Holy Redeemer High School as a result of his union activity and that the diocese tried to mask its motives by unnecessarily firing other teachers at the same time.

The diocese counters that Milz was laid off with other teachers because of reduced enrollment and according to seniority. The union has accused the diocese of violating Church teaching on unionization; the diocese contends the union misrepresents those teachings.

Union activity died down in the summer after state Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski, D-Wilkes-Barre, introduced a bill into the House Labor Relations Committee that would amend the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Act so it explicitly covered Catholic school teachers.

The state Supreme Court has ruled the law as written does not cover the teachers. The U.S. Supreme Court made a similar ruling on the National Labor Relations Act.

Two committee hearings – one in Wilkes-Barre – were held on the proposal, dubbed House Bill 2626, but the 2008 legislative session ended before the committee held a vote to move it to the full House.

Milz said the bill will be reintroduced shortly in the new session, probably renumbered House Bill 26. The House is set to reconvene Jan. 26.

Milz said the Jan. 24 rally is tentatively set for noon.

Newspaper names Michael Milz their "Person of the Year"

The following article appeared in the January, 2009 edition of The Union News:

By PAUL TUCKER
theunionnewsswb@aol.com

REGION, December 31st- On December 28th the Wilkes-Barre Citizens’ Voice daily newspaper in Luzerne County announced Michael Milz was named their "2008 Person of the Year."

Mr. Milz is the President of the Scranton Diocese Association of Catholic Teachers (SDACT) Union, in Dunmore. The union represented the teachers of seventeen of the fourty-two grade schools and nine of the ten high schools of the Scranton Diocese until Bishop Martino restructured the system in 2007. The new system eliminated the small school boards and created four regional boards.

SDACT previously had contracts with each Board of Pastors that represented each school. Bishop Martino implemented a "Employee Relations Program," which busted the union. Mr. Milz said the Scranton Diocese teachers now have what could be called a "company union," similar to what the coal barons had throughout the region before the United Mine Workers of America Union became the miners bargaining representative.
SDACT has not represented the workers since August 2007, when their previous contract expired. SDACT now has 22 active members employed by the Diocese at St. Michael’s School in Tunkhannock. The current five year contract agreement with the Scranton Diocese will expire in August 2009.

The Citizens’ Voice asked their readers to select who they believed was the person of the year of 2008 by voting online. The voting began on November 30th, 2008. The newspaper reported Mr. Milz received the most votes of the ten people that the editors of the newspaper nominated. All online voting was concluded by December 14th, 2008.

According to James Gittens, Editorial Page Editor of the Citizens’ Voice, the "Person of the Year" is intended to ackowledge someone that had a positive impact on the Wyoming Valley.

Only the second year of the award, last year the newspaper named Rabbi Larry Kaplan as the winner for his continued foster parenting with the Luzerne County Children and Youth Services.

Mr. Milz said he was honored to receive the award but wanted to express his pleasure not for himself receiving the "Person of the Year" but because a labor leader was recognized, something Mr. Mitz stated doesn’t happen everyday. Mr. Milz was the only labor leader nominated by the Citizens’ Voice to be considered for the award.

Mr. Milz was a 33 year employee of the Scranton Diocese, who worked as a science teacher and later a social studies teacher at Bishop Hoban High School in Wilkes-Barre, now called Holly Redeemer. He was a vocal critic against Bishop Martino’s plan to bust the union and was laid-off by the Scranton Diocese during the summer of 2008.

He is currently employed by the Northeastern Area Labor Federation (ALF) in Dunmore, which is affiliated with the American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) labor federation.

The union recently received four new awards that require the Diocese of Scranton to pay former union members money owed under the terms and conditions of the previous contract agreement between the SDACT and the employer.

The lastest decisions involve teachers employed at the former Bishop O’Reilly Junior High School, Bishop O’Reilly Senior High School in Kingston; Bishop Neumann High School in Williamsport and St. Vincent’s Elementary School in Honesdale.

Former Bishop O’Reilly Senior teachers will receive 1 month salary and $45.00 for every unused sick day which will cost the Diocese of Scranton approximately $88,000.

Teachers affected at the former Bishop O’Reilly Junior High School will receive 1 month salary, plus $20.00 for every unused sick day for a approximate financial cost to the Diocese of Scranton of $25,000.

Bishop Neumann teachers will receive $1,500 each that will cost the employer around $18,000. St. Vincent’s teachers will receive on average $625.00 each for a approximate cost to the Diocese of Scranton of $5,000.

Michael Milz estimates the overall costs to the Scranton Diocese for their failure to pay union teachers what was owed to them under the previous contract agreement could be more than $2 million.

The arbitrators award requires the Scranton Diocese to pay the teachers the money owed to them for accumulated sick leave and severance pay when their employment with the smaller school system was terminated.

Disagrees, still Catholic

The following letter to the editor of the Scranton Times Tribune appeared January 5, 2009:

Disagrees, still Catholic

Editor:

In his Jan. 2 letter defending Bishop Joseph Martino, Jeffrey McHale says people who do not agree with him are Catholics who went to church on Sunday then “forgot about God the rest of the week.” He says that they “ignore everything that Christ and his church teaches.”

I am a Catholic who has an enormous problem with the turn our local diocese has taken in recent years. And just because I do not like the current administration, does not mean I’m less Catholic during Bishop Martino’s reign. I didn’t agree with the atrocity that is George W. Bush, either, and I’m just as American as I’ve ever been.

This is one man’s interpretation of Catholicism. I cannot imagine as I teach CCD to children, and read to them the Catholic Church’s exact position on the formation of unions, that I’m not sending the correct message. I cannot believe that anyone in the church would be speaking for Jesus when they said that if you voted for a Democrat, you are not welcome in his father’s house.

I cannot accept that as Bishop Martino neglected to comfort children displaced from their schools and their churches that he was doing God’s work. And I just do not believe that Republicans, as a party, save lives.

I do not expect perfection from Bishop Martino, he is a human being. This bishop needs to be reminded of that, somehow. He has opinions, sometimes they jive with modern-day Catholicism, and too many times, they do not.

Many of my friends leave the Catholic Church because of him. I attended Catholic schools from age 5 until 23. I know Bishop Martino’s way is not the only way to be a good Catholic. I know far too many priests, nuns and deacons who disagree with the way he is representing Catholicism. These are people who know what it means to be a good Catholic.

Blind faith is unchallenged faith. I suggest Mr. McHale and others who look but might not see, decide exactly what they believe about Bishop Martino’s message. Then feel free to attack my ideals as a Catholic, who is patiently waiting for the changing of the guard.

JEN EDSELL
SCRANTON

Milz statement on being named 2008 "Person of the Year"

SDACT President Mike Milz released the following statement to the media following the announcement that he was chosen as the Wyoming Valley "2008 Person of the Year":

When first learning that I was among the nominees for CV Wyoming Valley Person of the Year, I was surprised and grateful. Now being told that I have been chosen by the paper’s readers as the winner in such a competition, my reaction is that of utter disbelief.

In looking at the tremendous contributions to the community made by the ten other nominees, I was humbled to have even been listed among them for consideration of this honor. Each of those nominees, through their individual actions or initiative, did something truly remarkable and admirable, things which made a positive impact on life in the Wyoming Valley. On the other hand, I spoke on behalf of many remarkable and admirable people.

The fact is, I don’t believe that those who voted for me were indeed voting for me as an individual. Instead, I believe their votes were a way to show their support for my embattled colleagues – the lay teachers in the schools of the Scranton Diocese who continue to struggle valiantly in their campaign for dignity and justice.

Throughout 2008, the entire community of northeastern Pennsylvania witnessed the callousness with which Bishop Martino treated the teachers in his employ. Regardless of the fact that his brother bishops published a Pastoral Letter in 1986 that proclaimed “No one may deny the right to organize without attacking human dignity itself,” the Bishop made a mockery of that concept by denying to his own workers the right to be represented by a union of their own choosing.

I believe that the voters were also manifesting their support for our teachers’ campaign for the passage of Pennsylvania House Bill 26 (formerly HB 2626). This law will assure teachers in religiously-affiliated schools the simple justice now due them, for they alone are presently denied the protections all other workers enjoy under federal and state labor laws – the right to organize and bargain. Justice cries out for such a measure.

Therefore, I view my selection as merely a validation of the cause for which I became the spokesperson and symbol, as well as a repudiation of the harsh and misguided policies of Bishop Martino.

In embracing our common cause, and on behalf of my colleagues in Catholic education, I want to thank all who thought me worthy of this honor. Special thanks goes out to my many friends and colleagues in the education community, public and private alike, as well as those in organized labor who continue to embrace our cause. I am especially grateful to Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski and his fellow legislators who have supported our cause.

Finally, my thanks goes out to the many former students and their parents who have contacted me to convey their support. My service to them during my 33 year teaching career has been the most fulfilling aspect of my life. They remain in my constant thoughts and prayers.

Diocesan teachers' leader selected CV's Person of the Year

The following article appeared in the Wilkes-Barre Citizens' Voice, December 28, 2008:

Diocesan teachers' leader selected CV's Person of the Year

Watch companion video

Michael Milz's new office at the McEntee-Keller Labor Center in Dunmore resembles any other office, except the picture hanging above Milz's desk.

In the black-and-white photo, hundreds of mine workers stare out at viewers, challenging them, asking to be recognized for their service. The picture depicts the United Mine Workers meeting in 1906, held in Indianapolis. Milz's great-grandfather stands among the men, and so does his wife's great-grandfather.

Milz — who Citizens' Voice readers chose as Person of the Year for 2008 — is well aware of the historical significance of the picture and its relation to the Wyoming Valley.

Milz was a history teacher for 33 years, before he ended up in his new office, following his dismissal as a teacher at Holy Redeemer in June. Throughout this year, he and his fellow teachers compared themselves to the mine workers in the photograph — caught up in a their own labor battle and fighting for recognition.

In January 2008, the Scranton Diocese announced it would no longer recognize the Scranton Diocese Association of Catholic Teachers (SDACT) as a collective bargaining unit. The teachers, headed by Milz, immediately expressed their discontent with the decision. They spoke to the media and picketed outside Holy Redeemer High School in Wilkes-Barre and the diocese's offices in Scranton. A teacher many former students say was the "best of the best," Milz led the fight as the president of the union, and he says he lost his job because of it.

Milz's plight struck a nerve with Citizens' Voice readers, and they voted him as Person of the Year for 2008. Milz, however, says that winning Person of the Year was not about him as an individual, but rather because he is the figurehead for the Catholic school teachers.

"I don't think a single person voted for Michael Milz in this case," said Milz, 58, of Wilkes-Barre."I think they were validating our stance this year."

In the classroom

Milz's first job wasn't teaching, and he did some soul-searching before he ever set foot in front of a classroom. After graduating from King's College in 1972, Milz worked for a family business, L&C Sportswear, a garment company in Wilkes-Barre. He went to work each day, but didn't feel fulfilled.

He always had a nagging feeling he should be doing something else.

"How do you explain at the end what you do with your talents?" Milz said. "I decided to walk away from that job and get my teaching certificate."

In 1975, he was hired to teach history and science courses at Bishop Hoban and took a significant pay cut to follow his dream. Looking back, he never regretted his decision and loved being in the classroom. Milz found all the cliches about teaching to be true; he touched people's lives and formed friendships with students he can never forget.

"It was fun. It was interesting. It was very fulfilling, and I want to do it again," Milz said.

Many of Milz's former students say he was a teacher who had a positive influence on their lives. He hosted study sessions at his home and earned a reputation as a teacher who cared deeply about his students' success, even prompting some students to make T-shirts that said "Milz for President."

"He was highly respected by a lot of people," said Christina Drogalis, 22, a graduate of Bishop Hoban who is now a philosophy graduate student at Loyola University in Chicago. "He went far beyond what his job description was, and that was really apparent to us."

Bridget Keating, 22, an employee of PricewaterhouseCoopers, had Milz as a teacher for AP history. A 2004 graduate of Bishop Hoban, she said Milz is a phenomenal choice for "Person of the Year" and has been well-deserving of accolades long before the current events with the diocese."

The fact that Mr. Milz is not in a classroom right now is a tragedy not only for our Catholic schools, but for all schools," Keating said.

Labor movement

As a young teacher, Milz saw some of his colleagues reprimanded for their actions, but didn't think much of the incidences at first. He never spoke up until he was called to an administrator's office and was accused of saying things in class he didn't say. He realized without a union, he had no recourse and neither did the other teachers.

"I had three kids. I needed more security," Milz said. "I couldn't just allow one person to take this career away from me."

With his leadership, he and fellow teachers formed the Bishop Hoban Education Association in 1978. Soon other area Catholic schools followed suit, and all the unions in the Diocese of Scranton came together under the SDACT in 1981.

Milz learned his position on unions from his time at a Catholic college, where he was told the Catholic church supported people's attempts to gain social justice through collective action. Why the church has changed its position today confuses Milz, and he believes it is the sole position of the Diocese of Scranton and Bishop Joseph Martino.

"What's helped a lot have been the calls from priests who support us," Milz said.

Repeatedly, the Diocese of Scranton has released statements saying that the teachers do not need a union because the school has its own Employee Relations Program and "the decision regarding recognition of SDACT is final and will not be revoked."

Following his dismissal from Holy Redeemer, Milz took the teachers' fight in another direction, after speaking with state Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski, D-Wilkes-Barre. In September, Pashinski introduced House Bill 2626, legislation that could give Catholic school teachers the right to choose whether or not to organize into a union. HB 2626 never came to a final vote because the session ran out.

Pashinski, a former school teacher, intends to propose similar legislation in January. A Catholic himself, Pashinski views the situation as a secular matter about work conditions and the employees' right to choose to form a union.

"It is unfortunate we have to take this avenue to bring forth some fairness here," Pashinski said.

The church has stated that the proposed legislation, if passed, will have a detrimental effect on Catholic education. The Diocese of Scranton opposed HB 2626 "not because the Church opposes unions, but because the government has no place in interposing itself as arbiter within religious ministries," according to a diocesan statement.

Milz believes the proposed legislation is the only way to bring fairness and justice for the Catholic school teachers. He and Pashinski have already judged how the new General Assembly may stand on the legislation and have been approached by some lawmakers who support the bill.

"I think it's going to pass and be signed by the governor and become law. If anything, the last election cycle made that more of a possibility," Milz said. "I think you are going to see a very pro-labor atmosphere in the country."

What the future holds

The Diocese of Scranton's position on the union has not affected Milz's faith. He still attends St. Nicholas Roman Catholic Church in Wilkes-Barre. For now, Milz is a field representative with the Northeastern Pennsylvania Area Labor Federation, AFL-CIO. He has been visiting labor groups and speaking about the situation between the teachers and the Diocese of Scranton.

Milz says he will continue to fight on behalf of the teachers in 2009. A rally is planned for Jan. 24 to mark one year since Martino said he would not recognize the SDACT.

Milz couldn't believe it when he learned he was named The Citizens' Voice Person of the Year for 2008. He said he is honored and humbled to be chosen from among other well-deserving nominees. He immediately told his wife, Patricia, and his three children, Andrew, 31, Martin, 29, and Christian, 27.

Milz said the best thing he did this year was speak up for Catholic school teachers, a group of people who have done many remarkable things in the community.

A history teacher, Milz often reflects on his own conflict and its relation to the area's labor-rich past. But Milz hopes the conflict ends as it began — with SDACT representing the teachers and with Milz back in the classroom speaking about American history.

"There are lessons to learn about people's behavior that defy time. People basically don't change," Milz said. "If you see how people overcame problems in the past, you can avoid these problems in the future."

Bishop Martino criticized by the Association for the Rights of Catholics in the Church

Dear Bishop Martino,

Members of the board of Directors of the ARCC have observed your public proclamation of what appears to be the absolute finality of your decison about the teachers' union in the Catholic Schools of Scranton.
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/episodes/episode-no-1211/cover-catholic-church-and-labor/1322/

We judge such unmitigated certainty is highly irregular for a servant of the people of the Church and is more indicative of a dictator or absolute monarch. We urge you to reconsider this intransigent position as unfitting, arrogant, and a scandal to your people. Should you in conscience not be able to back down from this absolute position, might you ponder if perhaps the time has come for you to allow a more pastoral-minded administrator to deal with this situation? Surely you must be aware of the harm this is causing to the Church of Scranton. Fear of what you perceived to be the results of compromise seems to have blinded you to its consequences.

Your resistance to the teaching of the Church on the right to collective bargaining, even though sanctioned by the Vatican, can be viewed as what you believe to be a threat to the Church. Might your trust in your people and the Holy Spirit be somewhat in question, resulting in your fearful and unbending position?

Dear bishop, please prayerfully reconsider you stance on this for the good of the Church. The slings and arrows that you have endured testify to your constancy. Do not let them harden your heart, but without fear open the door again to negotiation with your people and share the burden of continuing Catholic education with them. They are sons and daughters of God as you, and they are probably more interested in the survival of Catholic schools than you are. Your will against their survival will not prevail.

Please rethink your understanding of the will of God on this matter.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Robert Schutzius, Ph.D., Secretary
ARCC

Happy Holidays

On behalf of the Scranton Diocese Association of Catholic Teachers Executive Board and all SDACT members, I would like to take this opportunity to wish all in our local community, as well as to those across the country who supported our campaign for justice and dignity, a very Merry Christmas and a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year.

We look forward to working with you, and we pray for your continuing support of our efforts in 2009!


Michael A. Milz, President
Scranton Diocese Association of Catholic Teachers

Catholic Scholars urge Obama Transition Team to support federal law that would make it legal for workers in religious institutions to organize

Catholic Scholars for Worker Justice testified before the Obama Transition Team this week. Among their suggestions to the new administration, they urged them to support a law that would make it "legal" for workers in religious institutions to organize.

To view their testimony click on the following link:

CATHOLIC%20SCHOLARS%20FOR%20WORKER%20JUSTICE-Transition-Paper.pdf

Put unions at wheel

The following letter to the editor of the Scranton Times appeared December 19, 2008:

Put unions at wheel

Editor:

I have been following the articles concerning the failure of our automobile industry. I have followed the talks in Washington, D.C., to determine the losses the unions must endure in order to get funding to save the industry from going under.

Why are Wall Street, AIG insurance and other non-unionized companies being helped with no hesitation? It appears this country is looking for a way to dissolve unions. We are fighting them in this city. A bishop walked in one day and ended the teachers’ union. Now, senators and representatives are saying that no help should be given to those whose tax money has kept Washington alive for years.

The plan for the auto industry should be to fire all of the CEOs and let the union presidents take over. They are excellent at putting plans together and showing support to their employees.

Force the CEOs and company presidents to give back the raises and bonuses received the past three years and let them see what a true recession is all about.

Leave the unions alone and stop trying to end the only hope employees have. Long live John Mitchell.

THE REV. KATHRYN SIMMONS
SCRANTON

The High Cost of Union Busting

The following was originally posted on October 8.

In November of 2006, the Diocese of Scranton announced its plans to restructure its schools. That decision simultaneously brought closure to the old schools and the bargaining relationship that several of those schools had with their in-house unions, all of which were under the umbrella of the Scranton Diocese Association of Catholic Teachers (SDACT). The closures also triggered contractual provisions in some schools requiring that the employers pay teachers money owed them for accumulated sick leave and severance pay when their employment with those schools was terminated. Knowing this to be the case, the SDACT asked the employers how they intended to make good on their contractual promises, or how a workable compromise could be arranged through collective bargaining. When no responses to the union’s requests were received, grievances were filed for breach of contract.

Those grievances progressed through their contract’s grievance procedure, eventually reaching the final step of the process – binding arbitration. At three schools (formerly Bishop O’Hara, Seton Catholic and St. Nicholas-St. Mary’s) the employers agreed to pay their teachers this earned benefit promised by their contracts before any hearings took place.

Since May of 2008, separate arbitration hearings have taken place between the parties at the former Bishop Hoban, Bishop Hafey, Bishop Neumann, Bishop O’Reilly Junior High and Bishop O’Reilly Senior High. Dates for hearings are yet to be fixed for St. Vincent’s, Wyoming Area Catholic, St. Aloysius, St. Jude’s and St. Paul’s.

On September 3, 2008, the first arbitration award was handed down, that affecting Bishop Hoban. SDACT and the teachers were the winners in the dispute. The arbitrator’s award called for the employer to immediately begin paying out $725,000 to Hoban’s 40 teachers. Moreover, there is every expectation that when the dust finally settles and all of the arbitrators have ruled, the Diocese may owe nearly two million dollars ($2,000,000) to the teachers in the 12 affected schools.

This immediate payout (and the enormous associated legal costs) will no doubt have an unfavorable impact on the Diocese and its schools. It is just one more foreseeable and avoidable consequence of a reckless policy of union-busting initiated by Bishop Martino and his advisors. When word of such financial malfeasance reaches parishioners, no doubt, as it has done so often before, the Diocese will soon attempt to spin this outcome to make it a demonstration of the union’s “greed” or the dangerous effect a union would have on the schools. This type of spin would, of course, be far from the truth.

The fact is that what was designed as a small benefit per individual employee, if properly applied under a union contract in the new school system, would have had a nearly negligible financial impact as individual teachers left the employment of the Diocese through retirement or attrition. (It must be noted, that such provisions were cooperatively designed to benefit both parties, and took their shape in negotiation as much from employer input as from the union.)

To illustrate the point, all one needs to do is to see how these provisions worked under the old union contracts in place before 2007. That is, each year, on average, a small number of teachers would retire. Those teachers were entitled to cash in the sick days that they had banked or receive severance pay – a benefit designed to augment their insufficient 401K retirement plans, and to help defray the cost of medical insurance in retirement. Viewed as an individual budget item at each school, the amount was very small and easily absorbed, as new teachers hired to replace retiring veterans came onboard at much lower salaries. In most cases, the employer would have come out ahead in this transaction. However, by its actions, the Diocese upset this agreed-upon balance by now making an expense that would have been allocated in dribs and drabs over a number of years immediately due and owing.

This situation did not have to be. This immediate and extremely large payment is a direct cost of union-busting. Bishop Martino and his advisors should be held accountable by the parishioners of the Scranton Diocese for such financial recklessness. Had the Diocese been willing to honor the Church’s own teachings by recognizing the union chosen by its own employees, the parties could have met to negotiate a new contract that would have defrayed these costs and allowed for a result in the best interests of the employer, teachers and, most importantly, the students and parents served by the schools.

The Diocese will no doubt claim that it was willing to carry over teachers’ sick days in question to the newly established schools. Never, however, were Diocesan officials willing to abide by the original contractual conditions governing payment for the sick days teachers had already earned over the course of decades of service. Nor, of course, were they willing to place language preserving the right to these earned benefits in a legally-enforceable union contract.

So, when the Diocese inevitably smears SDACT and all unions as greedy and self-serving, one only has to ask these questions: Was it SDACT or the Diocese that sought to provide a modest retirement benefit that corresponded directly to a teacher’s years of dedicated service; one which as contractually provided, would have been fiscally responsible? Was it SDACT or the Diocese, that, in a reprehensible attempt to subvert Church social justice teachings, placed an unnecessary financial burden on the community of faithful Catholics? The answers, sadly, are very clear.

Union: Diocese owes ex-teachers $1M Church leaders unsure how to pay severance, accumulated sick leave

The following article appeared in the Scranton Times Tribune, December 12, 2008:

Union: Diocese owes ex-teachers $1M Church leaders unsure how to pay severance, accumulated sick leave

The Diocese of Scranton owes former teachers almost $1 million in arbitration awards for accumulated sick leave and severance pay, according to the teachers union president.

But teachers have not received any of that money yet, said Michael Milz, president of the Scranton Diocese Association of Catholic Teachers — the union the diocese refuses to recognize.

“In essence, they (the diocese) are deadbeats,” Mr. Milz said.

The diocese responded to the charge Thursday with a written statement, saying it intends to honor the awards but is not sure where the money would come from. It did not elaborate on the diocese’s financial condition.

Diocesan operations produced net income of $1.37 million in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2007 (the most recent disclosed publicly). However, the balance sheet showed the net value of assets shrinking under the long-term burdens of struggling parishes and unfunded pension obligations.

Because of its financial trend, the 11-county diocese has been evaluating its 224 parishes for a large restructuring plan that will consolidate and close churches.

These new bills are for arbitration awards to teachers who were laid off when the diocese restructured its school systems in 2007. Many schools did not honor contracts with their employees who were laid off, including clauses on severance pay, Mr. Milz said.In the last few months, several arbitration awards have been announced. Teachers are set to receive payments ranging from a couple-hundred dollars to $40,000, based on their years with the diocese, Mr. Milz said.

The total amount owed by the diocese, including legal fees, may rise to $2 million when all cases are decided, Mr. Milz said.

Mr. Milz said he has not received word from the diocese as to when teachers will receive what they’re due. He said the union soon will file lawsuits seeking to enforce the binding arbitration.

“You have to take them to court and force them to pay,” he said.

The diocesan statement says the union is having a “detrimental impact” on Catholic education.

“These arbitration awards were the result of contract language with SDACT that created great economic hardship for the parishes and Boards of Pastors that formerly operated Catholic schools,” the statement read. “These awards demonstrate why the Diocese of Scranton could never afford to return to a system that permits such exorbitant benefits — benefits that parishes would never be able to pay.

”Most of the contracts called for grievances to be heard by the American Arbitration Association. After the decisions, any payments were to be started immediately, Mr. Milz said.

An arbitration decision from September called for the diocese to immediately begin paying out $725,000 to 40 teachers from the former Bishop Hoban High School, according to Mr. Milz. No payments have been made, he said.

Rulings for Bishop O’Reilly Senior High and Bishop O’Reilly Junior High in Kingston, Bishop Neumann High School in Williamsport and St. Vincent’s Elementary School in Honesdale were recently announced. The total severance pay and payment for unused sick days will cost the diocese about $236,000 for those cases, Mr. Milz said.

A decision on the case from Bishop Hafey High School is expected before Christmas.

Other cases, including those at Wyoming Area Catholic, St. Aloysius, St. Jude and St. Paul schools, will be heard when an arbitrator is mutually chosen by the diocese and union, Mr. Milz said.

After each decision was announced, an attorney for the union sent a letter to the diocese. No response was ever given, Mr. Milz said.

The lack of payments has made teachers “eager and angry,” he added. “None of it makes sense, but nothing they’ve basically done in the year makes sense.”

At three schools — formerly Bishop O’Hara High School, Seton Catholic High School and St. Nicholas/St. Mary’s School — the employers agreed to pay their teachers the benefits promised by their contracts before hearings, Mr. Milz said.

In its statement, the diocese said it has already paid $6,600 for teachers at the former Bishop O’Hara High School and approximately $31,000 for teachers at St. Nicholas/St. Mary School. Teachers at Bishop Neumann have been given the option of carrying over sick days into the new system, so any amount owed to them will depend on what they choose to do, according to the diocese.

SDACT union successful with favorable arbitration awards

The following article appeared in the December issue of The Union News:

Arbitration wins are mounting for the union that once represented teachers em­ployed by the Diocese of Scranton.

According to Michael Milz, Presi­dent of the Scranton Diocese Asso­ciation of Catholic Teachers (SDACT) Union, the union recently received four new awards that re­quire the Diocese of Scranton to pay former union members money owed under the terms and conditions of the previous contract agreement be­tween the SDACT and the employ­er.

In the previous edition of the newspaper, it was reported the un­ion, which represented most of the teachers of the Diocese of Scranton, won a major arbitration award that could cost them nearly $725,000. The union received the arbitrator award that will require the Scranton Diocese to pay the teachers the money owed to them for accumulated sick leave and severance pay when their employ­ment with the smaller school system was terminated.

The union represented the teachers of seventeen of the fourty-two grade schools and nine of the ten high schoo1s of the Scranton Diocese until Bishop Martino restructured the system in 2007. The new system eliminat­ed the small school boards and created four regional boards. SDACT pre­viously had contracts with each Board of Pastors that represented each school. Bishop Joseph Martino implemented a “Employee Relations Pro­gram,” which busted the union. Mr. Milz said the Scranton Diocese teach­ers now have what could be called a “company union,” similar to what the coal barons had throughout the region before the United Mine Workers Union became the miners bargaining representative.

Between May and September, 2008 arbitration hearings were conducted and on September 3rd the first arbitration award was handed down that af­fected the teachers once employed at Bishop Hoban in Wilkes-Bane. The arbitration ruling ordered the employer to pay $725,000 in back payment for the sick leave days not used by fourty SDACT members employed at Bishop Hoban which includes Mr. Milz.

SDACT has not represented the workers since August 2007, when their previous contract expired. SDACT now has 22 active members employed by the Diocese at St. Michael’s School in Tunkhannock. The cunent five year contract agreement with the Scranton Diocese will expire in August 2009.

All hearings are being conducted by arbitrators affiliated with the Ameri­can Arbitration Association (AAA).

Mr. Milz was a 33 year employee of the Scranton Diocese, who worked as a science teacher and later a social studies teacher at Bishop Hoban High School in Wilkes-Bane, now called Holly Redeemer. He is cunently employed by the Northeastern Area Labor Federation (ALF) in Dunmore, which is affiliated with the American Federation of Labor and the Con­gress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO).

The lastest decisions involve teachers employed at the former Bishop O’Reilly Junior High School, Bishop O’Reilly Senior High School in Kingston; Bishop Neumann High School in Williamsport and St. Vin­cent’s Elementary School in Honesdale.

Mr. Milz stated, former Bishop O’Reilly Senior teachers will receive 1 month salary and $45.00 for every unused sick day which will cost the Di­ocese of Scranton approximately $88,000.

Teachers affected at the former Bishop O’Reilly Junior High School will receive I month salary, plus $20.00 for every unused sick day for a ap­proximate financial cost to the Diocese of Scranton of $25,000.

Bishop Neumann teachers will receive $1,500 each that will cost the em­ployer around $18,000. St. Vincent’s teachers will receive on average $625.00 each for a approximate cost to the Diocese of Scranton of $5,000.

Mr. Milz stated following receipt of the arbitrator’s rulings the employ­ers were asked to pay the awards according to the verdicts so rendered. As of press time, December 8th, there has not been any response from the Di­ocese of Scranton about those requests for payment.

Michael Milz estimates the overall costs to the Scranton Diocese for their failure to pay union teachers what was owed to them under the previ­ous contract agreement could be more than $2 million.

A ruling from the arbitration held ivolving the teachers employed at the former Bishop Hafey High School in Hazleton is expected before Christ­mas.

Catholic teachers hit again as bishop changes pension plan

The following letter to the editor of the Wilkes-Barre Citizens' Voice appeared in the December 9, 2008 edition of the paper:

Catholic teachers hit again as bishop changes pension plan

Editor:

Once again the Bishop of Scranton has shown why the teachers in Catholic schools need a union. Years ago Catholic teachers had no pension plans. They worked until they could not work anymore and then lived on Social Security or with their children. With the establishment of the union, the SDACT, teachers negotiated for a pension plan, and plans were established at the various schools. These plans were picked by the teachers in each school according to what the teachers felt was best for their needs.

In November teachers were notified by the diocese that all the pension plans were ended as of December 31, 2008. If the teachers wanted a pension plan they would have to join a new plan chosen by the diocese. Like all changes since consolidation there was no discussion with or input from the teachers. The diocese picked the company to run the plan, the advisors that will deal with the teachers, and the provisions of the plan.

On Friday Nov. 28, teachers from Holy Redeemer High School and St. Nicholas Elementary School were informed by mail about a meeting after school on Dec. 2 to explain the change. James Burke, the personal director for the diocese introduced the representative of the company running the new plan and then sat in the corner of the room and laughed as teachers complained about not having input or a choice to keep the old plans. Mr. Burke is the representative of the Bishop who just over a year ago looked teachers in the eye and said, “The diocese has no problem with the teachers having a union, just give us a few month to organize the school boards.”

First teachers were told the old plans did not meet changes in IRS regulations and the new company did but after asking a few questions it came out the old companies met the regulations and several companies had called Mr. Burke about continuing the old plans but they were rejected by the diocese. It quickly became clear that this meeting was just to say what the teachers already new, “Your only choice is do what the Bishop has ordered, join the new plan or go without.”

Little by little the Bishop is trying to take away not just the union but the all the things the SDACT fought for over the last 30 years. Not just monetary things like the pension plan, the dental coverage totally stripped away last year, and a poorer medical plan with higher co-pays and deductibles, but also agreements for restrictions on class size, and input on courses to be offered. How long will it be until Catholic teachers of the Scranton Diocese will be back to where they were 30 years ago? The answer is never!

With the help of State House Bill 2626 which will be reintroduced after the new House session starts in January, the bishop will be required to give Catholic teachers the same rights as other American workers; the right to form a union and negotiate a contract that is binding and cannot be changed or ignored as the Bishop is trying to do now. The diocese has been ordered by several arbitrators to pay money due to the teachers under the old contracts but the Bishop has simply ignored these orders.

All you good Catholics out there remember to open your wallets because the Bishop’s Annual appeal is underway and the bishop will need your money for these legal fees and for the payments when the diocese loses the case.

Eugene Gowisnok
Swoyersville

Church maintains that labor movement can help everyone

The following article appeared in The Sentinel, the offical newspaper of the Archdiocese of Portland, Oregon:

Church maintains that labor movement can help everyone
By Fr. Robert Krueger

A housekeeper cleans her first of 15 rooms for the day at the Portland Hilton.Sentinel photo by Ed Langlois

For Ana Judith Pérez, a single mother concerned with the future of her four children, making ends meet is a challenge, despite having a stable full-time job in Oregon.

Born in Nicaragua, and with experience living in Guatemala before traveling to the United States in search of a better tomorrow, this 42-year-old mother clearly knows that in this country she can work and move her family forward. But she knows it is not easy and she has to endure long workdays to be able to put food on the table.She emigrated in 1993 because all of her family was already in this country. All that time, she has worked in hotel housekeeping, currently at the Portland Hilton.Pérez moved her way up to become an office clerk and likes her work and her employer.

She earns about $850 per month.

The hotel cleaning team is made up of 80 room attendants, out of which only eight are Hispanic, from Mexico, El Salvador and Guatemala. The rest are immigrants from the Ukraine, Russia, Vietnam and China. Each worker was once required to care for 16 rooms in 8 hours, a tiring load. Because of the need to do work quickly, many suffered accidents, like falls or cuts.

Then Ana and others decided to join a union which formed in 2005. Unite Here! represents workers from the Expo Center, Convention Center and Performing Arts Center, in addition to employees of hotels like the Hilton, with close to 1,000 members in all.

Pérez says belonging to the union made everyone’s working conditions better. Now, the work load has been reduced to 15 rooms per worker in an eight-hour shift.

For her salary and job security, she thanks the union — and is glad the hotel management agreed.

Pérez calls immigrant workers an invisible force, keeping everything in order, night and day.
“What would they do without us?” she asks herself.

She now knows too well the issues workers face in the U.S. It is different from what she imagined, but still full of potential.

After graduating from college last year, 23-year-old Charlie Ashton moved to Portland, ready to see where life would take her.

“I love the city and I really wanted to come and work here,” Ashton says.With a bachelor’s degree in psychology, anthropology and sociology from Eastern Oregon University in LaGrande, she found a full-time job as a residential skills specialist at Rosemont School in North Portland. That’s a facility run by Portland Public Schools which provides education and housing for troubled teen girls. It’s housed in a former convent and girls’ school in North Portland.
Ashton and other Rosemont employees work for Morrison Child and Family Services, which hires employees to fill non-instructional positions.

For her, work is not about the money. Despite the stress and rigors, Ashton finds her job rewarding because she knows she is affecting lives in a positive way.

But she and others in her position make about $11 per hour. That means they sometimes face difficulties balancing their monthly budgets. It also means that, despite holding down full-time work, they cannot yet move into the middle class dream of stable home ownership and enough money for family or college.

Ashton gets by, sharing a two-bedroom income-restricted apartment. She’s not interested in spending much money on clothes, nightlife and technology. Her biggest splurge is a monthly gym membership. Her only debt is when she needs to make an emergency credit card payment.
“I’m not in the mindset of making more money as long as I make enough not to have debt,” Ashton said. “If I know I can’t afford something, I just tell myself I won’t do it.”

However, Ashton, with the help of the SEIU 503 union group, has worked to make life on the job better for her and other employees. Since the union organized last fall and took effect in July, employees at Rosemont will be able to use more work hours to take job-related continuing education classes, rather than compromising work hours. Safety and staffing level standards will be maintained so that employees are protected in case of physical injury and shifts are not short of workers.

From their stories, it is clear that struggle is the lot of many full-time workers in our country. They struggle to provide basic necessities of life and health for themselves and their families, sometimes working an extra job, and, often lacking health insurance, find themselves limited to hospital emergency rooms for health care. Some have been paid less than the agreed-upon wage or even paid less than required by law for number of hours they have worked. They struggle to cope with conflicting demands, about which they have no say, to provide a high-quality product or service while burdened with an excessive workload, restrictive procedures or inadequate training. Sometimes they are forced to work in conditions that endanger their health or risk the well-being of the people they serve.

In order to strengthen their ability to achieve justice in the workplace, many workers seek to organize a union. They realize that unless they are organized they face a large power imbalance in favor of the employer in any effort to negotiate for their needs. Yet very large numbers find this goal unachievable. The right of workers to organize is established in U.S. law, but that law has been so weakened over past decades that it is now difficult for workers to succeed when employers resist (which about 90 percent of employers do).

Margaret Butler, director of Portland Jobs with Justice, says injustice in compensation and working conditions and lack of negotiating power are the experience of many American workers. Portland Jobs with Justice is a coalition of 85 labor unions and community groups that act in solidarity with workers in efforts to obtain their rights.

Butler tells the story of how one employer changed worker sentiment from 80 percent for union to 20 percent, through a campaign she calls intimidation.

“The power remains with the employers,” she says.

Butler also said that U.S. workers work more hours, have less vacation and other time off than workers in the rest of the developed world. However, U.S. workers benefit little from the high productivity of the workforce. Growth in profits is transferred mostly to the wealth of the highest on the income scale. She also is critical of global capitalism’s placing American workers in competition with the lowest paid workers in the world in a global race to the bottom.
“Workers give a third of their life to their work—this demands that justice be done there, in our workplaces,” she said.

When workers attempt to organize and bargain collectively with their employer for just wages, benefits and working conditions, they exercise their unequivocal moral right rooted in a long Judeo-Christian tradition of justice. That tradition extends back to the medieval guilds, to Jesus in the New Testament, even as far back as the Hebrew prophets and the covenant of Moses. The tradition has been articulated in modern times in papal encyclicals and other church documents, beginning in 1891 with the encyclical Rerum Novarum of Pope Leo XIII. This consistent and strong Catholic moral teaching is rooted in the human dignity of the workers. Through their work, people are understood to fulfill their humanity. They exercise their creativity and self-expression, provide for their own and their families’ secure livelihood, participate in decisions toward fashioning a quality product or delivering a quality service and contribute to the common good of society. In so acting they are co-creators with God of their world. They have a fundamental right to the comparable power in the workplace that can ensure the attainment of these goals. They have a right to organize for that power.

It is also Catholic teaching that their choice of the union that will represent them is their own and in no way their employer’s. Furthermore, in Catholic theology there is a hierarchy of law; divine law and the moral law that flows from it supersedes civil law. Therefore, U.S. labor law must not be used to inhibit or frustrate workers’ attempts to obtain their rights based in moral law as is frequently attempted by employers resisting an organizing effort.

How important is the support of the community to the success of workers’ struggle for their rights? Butler says, “It is vital. In many cases it has been the pressure of the public support of the outside community for workers in organizing efforts and contract negotiations that has tipped the balance in the workers’ favor. There is a further benefit to the community when its workers are organized and well compensated; workers’ lives are more stable, they are more able to participate in community life. The economy and tax base are stronger and so are education and other services.”

Catholic social justice tradition has not been doctrine alone, but has also included action for worker justice. At the high point of the labor movement in the last century, clergy and lay people alike were actively involved. Worker justice was preached in the pulpits. Parish halls were places where workers gathered to learn the skills of organizing and negotiating. Catholics were prominent among union organizers. Laity and clergy joined workers at rallies and stood with them in strikes. Catholic high school students studied papal encyclicals on the rights of workers in their social studies classes.

Catholics understand that they are called by, and required to act according to the moral law and to support justice in their community. There is no reason to exclude justice for workers from this moral focus.

Recently, Archbishop John Vlazny made a strong contribution to our community’s awareness of responsibility in the matter of worker justice. He approved a unanimous recommendation of the Archdiocesan Presbyteral Council — “That the document, ‘A Fair and Just Workplace: Principles and Practices for Catholic Health Care,’ be used as an archdiocesan response to labor organizing initiatives in the archdiocese.” The document was developed by a committee of the U.S. bishops.

He further suggested in a letter to priests, deacons, and pastoral ministers that this action “provides all of us an excellent opportunity for education among our parishioners about the importance and content of the long tradition in Catholic Social Teaching in support of worker justice as well as some of the obstacles that workers face in exercising their rights.”

Msgr. Charles Lienert, pastor of St. Andrew Church in Portland and an advocate for workers’ rights, suggests what people and parishes might do to support workers in their struggle for justice.

“Follow the recommendation of Archbishop Vlazny to study the document, ‘A Fair and Just Workplace’ (available on the USCCB website),” Msgr. Lienert suggests. “Its discussion of Catholic social teaching and workers issues is comprehensive. Speak about worker justice from the pulpit and make it a subject of the community’s prayer. Build a culture of being knowledgeable about and friendly toward workers and their needs. When appropriate, become active in support of workers in organizing efforts and contract negotiations by attending rallies, writing letters, making phone calls and being worker advocates in conversation with others. Pay attention to legislative activity at the state and federal level that involves workers’ concerns and when needed contact Legislators.

“An important issue that will need our support both in Congress and the state legislature in the near future will be the Employee Free Choice Act, which holds out the hope of restoring balance of power in labor organizing,” he adds.

People or parishes seeking resources about any of this are welcome to contact the Archdiocesan Office of Justice and Peace and the Faith Labor Committee of Portland Jobs with Justice.
Focus on the struggle of workers for their rights might give the impression that labor relations are expected to be adversarial. In reality the Catholic vision of labor relations involves mutual respect among all parties. The ideal is that labor and management work in partnership to plan for and develop quality goods and services. In this vision it is recognized that workers, who with their skill, are the efficient subjects in the process and not mere instruments of production as Pope John Paul insisted.

As subjects, they have much to contribute as partners in the effort. Speaking to such a partnership, Alice Dale, executive director of Service Employees International Union, Local 49, outlined SEIU’s evolving approach to alliances for quality care with hospitals where workers are represented by SEIU.

She said, “The approach is based on our overlapping mission and shared values and goals—offering the highest quality care, improving funding, solving the problem of the uninsured, wanting a well staffed, highly trained, invested and ‘mission driven’ workforce.”

When a true partnership exists between labor and management all involved experience satisfaction, a superior result is achieved, the common good is served, and workers’ organizations are recognized to be a valuable resource.

SDACT President Nominated For Person of the Year

The following article appeared in the Wilkes-Barre Citizens' Voice, November 30, 2008:

Finalists for 2008 Person of the Year have made impact on Wyoming Valley

The Citizens’ Voice received many nominations for Person of the Year for 2008. Each nominee warranted careful consideration because of his or her positive impact on the Wyoming Valley, but the list needed to be limited to 10 nominees.

Last year, the Person of the Year award was presented to Rabbi Larry Kaplan for his continued foster parenting with Luzerne County’s Children and Youth Services. During the past 10 years, he and his wife, Gerri, have cared for more than 50 foster children and have repeatedly opened their doors to children who have nowhere else to go. The Kaplans even adopted two of the foster children.

This year many of the nominees have stories as compelling as the Kaplans’ and are just as deserving of the award. Each of the 10 nominees has had a significant, positive impact on the Wyoming Valley in the past year.

Like last year, readers will decide who wins the award by voting online. Voting will begin today at http://www.wbcitizensvoice.com/personoftheyear/cvvote.aspx and last until Dec. 14. To vote, follow the links on the Web site for Person of the Year and choose one nominee. The winner will be announced in the Sunday, Dec. 28 edition of The Sunday Voice. Here are the 10 nominees for The Citizens’ Voice Person of the Year for 2008.

• Monsignor John Bendik — This year was bound to be difficult for parishioners at four Roman Catholic churches in Pittston. With a dwindling population and finances, St. John the Baptist, St. Casimir’s, St. Joseph’s, and St. John the Evangelist all decided to combine into one church last year. After more than a year of planning by Monsignor John Bendik and other church leaders, the churches closed throughout the spring and summer. Each held closings that honored the ethnic heritage of the individual parishes. During this trying time, Bendik comforted the parishioners and ensured a smooth and respectful transition from four churches into one church in Pittston.
• Julie Benjamin — Almost four nights a week, Julie Benjamin gives her time to help the least fortunate in the community — those without a home. Since 2003, Benjamin has served as the coordinator for Ruth’s Place, a homeless shelter for women in Wilkes-Barre. Throughout 2008, Benjamin has remained upbeat while facing challenges to the women’s homeless shelter. Ruth’s Place lost its home when the First United Methodist Church was sold over the summer and had to move temporarily to the Salvation Army gymnasium in Wilkes-Barre. In mid-November, the shelter moved again, and its search continues for a permanent home. Benjamin supervises at the shelter four nights a week instead of spending evenings at home with her family. Through the years, the shelter has housed up to 550 women. Usually 15 stay at the shelter at any given time. “I don’t think of it as a sacrifice. It is sort of my calling,” said Benjamin of her work at the shelter.
• Al Boscov — This summer, Boscov’s department store announced devastating news. Due to the faltering economy, the company declared bankruptcy and 10 stores closed. But before the company was liquidated, the retired Al Boscov said he was determined to keep the store under family ownership and pledged to keep the stores open — including one in downtown Wilkes-Barre where 150 work. Wilkes-Barre officials lauded Boscov’s past generosity and support of Wilkes-Barre and crossed their fingers that his vision for the stores would be successful. Boscov, 79, has worked to obtain more than $300 million, including some of his own money, to save the department store chain and again showed his commitment to the Wyoming Valley. With financial assistance coming at the state, city and county level, Boscov seems poised to have another chance to rebuild his 39-store corporation. “We’re going to be fine,” said the optimistic Boscov. “We’re going to surprise a lot of people.”
• Dr. John Callahan — It was after watching “The Lion King” with his grandchildren that Dr. John Callahan decided to give his time at the Care and Concern Free Health Clinic in Pittston. A line in a song from the film, “you should never take more than you give,” stuck out to him, and he thought donating his services to those who are uninsured would be valuable. “There are a lot of people who need help, and but for the grace of God, I could have been one of them,” said Callahan, 69, a physician in the Pittston area for more than 40 years. Since the clinic opened last year in the old Seton Catholic High School, Callahan estimates he has seen 600 patients, even with the clinic open one night a week. Callahan is honored to be nominated, but he believes that without the two individuals who started the clinic, Ann Cocco and Deacon Jim Cortegone, he wouldn’t have helped so many people.
• Joe DeVizia and Eric Lee — Separately, Joe DeVizia and Eric Lee have been a part of many projects to improve the Wyoming Valley. But within the last two years the two have combined forces on Generation to Generation, a project designed to build relationships between older and younger people in the area. DeVizia serves as the chairman and Lee had the original idea for the group, which hosts activities for people of all ages and cultural backgrounds. “No matter what age you are, you want to be a part of something,” DeVizia said. The group had its biggest success in September, when they hosted a dance for all ages and more than 1,100 came. Lee, owner of Peking Chef restaurants, has described Generation to Generation as a “labor of love,” and DeVizia said wherever he goes as Luzerne County’s executive director of human services, people ask him about upcoming events for the group.
• Wilbur Dotter — Wilbur Dotter has volunteered for area veterans every Thursday since early 2001. Dotter is a van driver for Disabled American Veterans, and it is his job to pick up veterans in the Wilkes-Barre area who need a ride to their doctor’s appointments at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Plains Township. “It is usually people who would have a rough time coming in otherwise. A lot of them are elderly, a lot of them don’t have a car,” said Dotter, 68, of West Pittston. Through the years, Dotter drove almost 10,000 miles and volunteered for more than 1,750 hours. When he drives the van, it takes a full day because he has to drive and pick up the veterans. Then he must wait until they are done with their appointments before taking them home. A veteran himself, Dotter is glad to do his part to help those who served the country. He pledges to continue driving as long as he is able.
• Milz — Though a controversial figure this year, Michael Milz has dedicated much of his life to educating children as a history and science teacher for 33 years in the Scranton Diocese’s school system. In 2008, Milz found himself fighting for the Scranton Diocese’s teachers to have their bargaining unit recognized. No longer a teacher with the diocese, Milz has continued to fight on behalf of the teachers as a head of the Scranton Diocese Association of Catholic Teachers and part of the Northeast Area Labor Federation. “All employees need a voice when it comes to the conditions of employment with their employers,” said Milz, 58, of Wilkes-Barre. This year, Milz worked with State Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski to craft and introduce legislation in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives to guarantee parochial school teachers the right to form a union. Milz has sacrificed for what he believes is right.
• Susan Shoval — Susan Shoval has been an important part of the Wyoming Valley for the last 25 years. She and her husband Judd Shoval started Guard Insurance in Wilkes-Barre in 1983 and have seen it grow far beyond their original vision. The company started with 15 employees and grew to 250. Last year, they sold the company to an Israeli insurance company, Clal, to continue the growth of the business. In addition to Guard Insurance’s success, Shoval volunteers her time to help the Wilkes-Barre community. Shoval has served on many community boards and is the co-chair of the Luzerne County Diversity Commission. She enjoys giving her time to help the community and believes she is doing her part to better the Wilkes-Barre area. “Since I was born here, I’m very interested in the direction and success of the local community,” Shoval said.
• Dr. Susan Sordoni — Dr. Susan Sordoni calls her professional life a “Cinderella” story. Nearly 30 years after receiving her bachelor’s degree from Misericordia University, she finished medical school and became a doctor. Earlier this year, Sordoni and her colleagues opened the doors at the Volunteers in Medicine free medical clinic at 190 N. Pennsylvania Ave., in Wilkes-Barre. On the first day it opened, Sordoni was busy with patients, showing the evident need for medical help for the uninsured and the under-insured in the Wyoming Valley. As a person who fought to accomplish her dreams, and who uses her skills to assist those in need, Sordoni has shown her concern for the people of northeast Pennsylvania.
• Miriam Stadulis — This year marks the 20th year that Sister Miriam Stadulis and the McGlynn Learning Center made a difference in young people’s lives. At the McGlynn Learning Center, Stadulis reaches children who live in low-income housing at the Wilkes-Barre Boulevard town homes. Stadulis estimates that the McGlynn Learning Center hosts 100 students a year for education and recreation programs. During the school year, the McGlynn Learning Center hosts after-school programs and over the summer Stadulis and her assistants teach lessons in everything from reading to computer literacy programs. Stadulis is glad that the center has thrived in its mission of tutoring underprivileged children in Wilkes-Barre. “That’s our goal — to see them succeed in school and do something positive in their lives,” Stadulis said.

NCR Article Features SDACT Campaign for Dignity & Justice

The following article appeared in the November 28, 2008 edition of the National Catholic Reporter:

State politician squares off against bishop in labor fight

By PATRICK O'NEILL

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. -- State Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski doesn’t like the position he’s in as a faithful Catholic and member of St. Mary of the Maternity Parish.

Pashinski is leading the battle in the Pennsylvania State House of Representatives against his own bishop. As sponsor of House Bill 2626, Pashinski is trying to resurrect the Scranton Diocese Association of Catholic Teachers, a union no longer recognized by Scranton Bishop Joseph F. Martino.

Earlier this year, Martino announced in the diocesan newspaper, The Catholic Light, he would no longer recognize the teachers’ association, implementing in its place an employee relations program critics have dubbed “a company union.” Martino has refused to meet with union representatives, and will not take questions on the matter from media outlets.

Pashinski, 62, a Pennsylvania native, admits to being torn, but he says he is being forced to take on his bishop because he must also be loyal to his constituents in this heavily unionized and heavily Catholic region of northeastern Pennsylvania.

“It’s a difficult position for a lot of people, all of us who love our faith,” he said. “This is not the kind of position we want to be in.”

Following the 2007 closure of some diocesan schools and the consolidation of others, diocesan officials assured teacher association president Michael Milz that the union would be recognized under the restructured system. Martino later changed his mind, a decision he announced last January in The Catholic Light.

Bishop Joseph F. MartinoMartino’s decision has set off a firestorm in parishes. Teachers and students have engaged in walkouts and pro-union rallies have been held throughout the diocese. Milz said he has received supportive phone calls from dozens of diocesan priests who back the union, but refuse to speak out publicly against Martino.

The union has turned to the legislature for help. Because Catholic lay teachers were not included for protections in the 1935 National Labor Relations Act, the union has asked the state legislature to amend the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Act to cover lay employees of religiously affiliated schools. If the bill passes both houses, and is signed into law by the governor, the Scranton Diocese Association of Catholic Teachers can start organizing in the schools again. Pashinski said the legislation has a strong chance of being approved next year.

Pashinski got some chuckles from the audience at the daylong hearing when he asked a panel of Catholic opponents of HB 2626 if the Vatican had a union. When none of the panelists knew the answer, Pashinski said the Vatican does, indeed, have a labor union.

Although Martino has refused to meet with the union or the news media, he was well represented at two hearings conducted by the House Labor Relations Committee in which it was clear the union had strong support from committee members.

Robert L. Paserba, superintendent for Catholic schools in the Pittsburgh diocese, which has some unionized teachers, spoke against the bill, saying it “would create a general statewide law with unknown consequences and dangerous involvement of the state in defining religious issues and mission in Catholic parish schools and Catholic high schools. Moreover, it would represent the choosing of sides in an internal church dispute over the application of church social teaching in one particular diocese.”

A different picture was painted by Irene M. Tori, vice president of the Association of Catholic Teachers, which she called “the sole and exclusive bargaining agent for the lay teachers in the 29 [high] schools of the archdiocese of Philadelphia.”

Tori, who spent 25 years as a math teacher in Archbishop Ryan High School in northeast Philadelphia, said the union has been unable to organize the diocese’s elementary schoolteachers and maintenance workers because they fear losing their jobs if they meet with union officials.
“The fear is pervasive,” Tori said at a Sept. 18 Labor Relations Committee hearing at Wilkes University. Tori said the workers always ask her: “ ‘Can I be fired for doing this?’ We would always answer them honestly and say, ‘Yes.’ At that point the teachers, no matter how bad the working conditions were, would begin to backtrack.

“Passage of House Bill 2626 would change the answer that the association has to give them.”
Rita C. Schwartz, president of the Philadelphia-based National Association of Catholic School Teachers, said HB 2626 would offer protections to Catholic lay teachers throughout the state. At the present time, six of the state’s eight dioceses have Catholic teachers’ unions.

“Since there is at present no protection under the law, all Catholic school teachers in Pennsylvania are one bishop away from what has happened in the diocese of Scranton,” she said.
Over the years, Tori said she has filed eight complaints “against various bishops” with the Vatican over union-related disputes. None was resolved in the union’s favor. “It’s kind of like Lions 8, Christians 0,” she said.

Last month, the Scranton teachers’ association lost its Vatican appeal over Martino’s decision not to recognize the union.

Canon lawyer Nicholas P. Cafardi, dean emeritus of Pittsburgh’s Duquesne University Law School, spoke against HB 2626.

Raised in a pro-union family, Cafardi said the Code of Canon Law gives the bishop full authority over church schools. “Teachers in Catholic schools are the bishop’s collaborators in this theological ministry,” Cafardi said at the hearing. “They are not simply employees, but are rather co-ministers with the bishop in his ministry of Catholic education.”

A “state-enforced labor relations model ... would impede if not destroy this co-ministry,” he said. “It would require the diocesan bishop to use the mechanisms of the state to deal with what is not, at base, a secular, but rather a religious and spiritual relationship.
“Should the proposed legislation be adopted, the church-state conflicts that it would propagate are enormous.”

In an interview with NCR, Cafardi said he was not familiar with the specifics of the Scranton standoff between Martino and the teacher association, but he added that the bishop also has a role to play in settling disputes.

“Speaking abstractly, because I don’t know the facts in Scranton,” Cafardi said, “if the code says these people are your co-ministers, you need to treat them as co-ministers. You need to treat them as your full collaborators in propagating the faith, which just means that you treat them with a certain level of respect.

“If the church says that, then act that way. While it means that the state should not interfere in that relationship, it also means that the bishop should prize it and nurture it.”
For his part, Pashinski would be happy not to be leading the charge of state interference with his church.

“I don’t like being in this position,” Pashinski told NCR. “If these five other [Pennsylvania] dioceses worked it out with their bishops, they don’t have a problem. Government’s out of it.
“I’m having difficulty as a Catholic trying to understand how, when the bishop represents the shepherd of Jesus Christ, why he can’t bring all the members of the flock together and settle it the way I believe Jesus would.

“[In Scranton] there doesn’t seem to be any movement to meet with the members of the flock. This is not a regular employer-employee relationship. These teachers are Catholic teachers. Every Sunday they put their money in the basket to support the schools, to support the churches, and on top of that they’re dedicating their lives to promote our faith for generations to come.”

Patrick O’Neill is a freelance writer living in Raleigh, N.C.

HB 2626 Discussed on Statewide Radio Show

On November 16, 2008, SDACT President Mike Milz was interviewed on the statewide radio program, "The Rick Smith Show." Milz discussed the status of HB 2626 which will amend the PA Labor Relations Act to include employees of religiously-affiliated schools.

To listen to the interview, go to the link below and advance the MP3 file to the 14 minute mark: http://ricksmithshow.com/november-16%2C-2008-show

Scranton Diocese Overlooks Best Resource to Address Catholic School Situation

The following letter to the editor of the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader appeared November 16, 2008:

Scranton Diocese Overlooks Best Resource to Address Catholic School Situation

It has been a difficult journey for me in faith to observe how the Scranton Diocese has chosen to deal with parish and school communities. Yes, downsizing is happening all over in Catholic schools and parish communities, but not in the way and the speed it has been done here.

This year, when an opportunity presented itself for the diocese to work with its people – the most dedicated employees of their schools, their teachers – the diocese chose not to do so.
We believed then the promises that closing four Catholic high schools in the largest county in the diocese (with 1,425 students enrolled among them) to create a new school, Holy Redeemer, would at least provide more opportunities and resources.

Yet, we find that the diocese has increased class sizes and laid off teachers.

I am glad that we live in Kingston and close enough to Holy Redeemer that my children can still receive a Catholic high school education, and the blend of teachers is truly wonderful. But I don’t believe these teachers can speak openly and honestly for themselves when the diocese would not even permit them to organize and have a vote to show whether or not the majority of teachers wanted the union to continue representing them. They do have to worry about their jobs.

The diocese’s unwillingness to talk with the teachers union and negotiate – or to use a liaison such as Father Sullivan at King’s College, who is an expert on the Catholic church and workers’ rights – concerns me.

Instead of dialogue, the diocese just published the decision not to recognize the existing 30-year teachers union in the diocesan newspaper. The diocese also used this newspaper to announce it had chosen for the teachers the employee relations program. The way this was handled also sent a message to the community.

Couldn’t the efforts have been better spent by the diocese on meetings and verbal communication with the teachers and with the bishop? Why couldn’t stronger marketing campaigns be put forward for the Catholic schools? The very people the diocese chooses not to work with as a group, their teachers, their best resource, could be their greatest support and also the best sales pitch for their school system.

I was able to attend part of the hearing for state HB 2626. I was able to read through the written copies of testimonies that were provided to any who attended. I feel it is a sad day here for Catholic education.

I am still praying that some of what Pope Benedict’s visit was about – honoring and valuing our youth opinions and dialogue with the church community – can still happen.

If a Pennsylvania law has to be put in place for this to happen, I truly hope it comes to pass.

Mary Theroux
Kingston

PBS Show on SDACT Campaign Available On-line

Click on the following link to view the segment on the PBS show "Religion and Ethics Newsweekly" featuring the SDACT's campaign for dignity and justice: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/episodes/episode-no-1211/cover-catholic-church-and-labor/1322/

Altoona-Johnstown Diocesan Teachers Urged To Support House Bill 2626

SDACT President, Mike Milz and National Association of Catholic School Teachers' President, Rita Schwartz, travelled to Ebensburg this past weekend to join in the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Altoona-Johnstown Catholic School Teachers Association (AJCSTA).

A formal dinner was held Sunday evening where Milz was a featured speaker. Besides congratulating the Association on its proud accomplishments over the last quarter century, Milz used the occassion to talk to the membership of the Association about the common goal of all unionized Catholic school teachers in the State - the passage of HB 2626.

Through the efforts of our brothers and sisters in Altoona-Johnstown, three members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives that come from the geographical area served by that Diocese are among the 57 cosponsors of HB 2626. They are Reps. Scott Conklin, Gary Haluska and Edward Wojnaroski.

Milz talked about our statewide strategy to secure the passage of HB 2626 which entails all unionized teachers working together to see that every member of the General Assembly from each diocese- House and Senate - sign on in support of the Bill.

Earlier in the day, Milz and Schwartz met with the Executive Board and building representatives of the AJCSTA to talk about HB 2626 and upcoming negotiations for their Association.

John Mitchell Day

(Photo L to R: Mike Milz. SDACT President; Rev. Patrick Sullivan, C.S.C.; Sam Bianco, President, Greater Wilkes-Barre Central Labor Council; Dan Bass, UMWA International Representative; Bill Godinas, President, UMWA Local 404.)

Today, representatives of the SDACT were privileged to take part in the annual John Mitchell Day ceremonies on Courthouse Square in Scranton, where each year the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) lays a wreath and conducts a program in memory and tribute to the man who is essentially the founder of the modern American labor movement.

For those that do not know the history, the victorious struggle of Mitchell and his miners in the famous anthracite coal strike of 1902 would not have been possible without the support of the Catholic church and its local bishop, Michael Hoban.

To honor this proud connection between the Church and Labor, in past years this ceremony was preceded by a Mass in Scranton's cathedral and celebrated by the current Diocesan bishop.

However, no Mass was held this year.

Out of respect for Mitchell's memory, it was determined that it would have been inappropriate for Bishop Martino, a notorious union-buster and enemy of the rights of working people, to be the celebrant.

Since January 24, when Bishop Martino announced his decision to "bust" the SDACT, out in Cathedral Cemetery old John Mitchell has probably been spinning in his grave non-stop.

Take heart John, once HB 2626 goes into force, you can return to your peaceful rest.

The Score is now Lions 9, Christians 0

At the September 18, 2008 hearing before the PA Labor Relations Committee on House Bill 2626, National Association of Catholic School Teachers President, Rita Schwartz, gave the following answer to Committee members when asked if there was a method within the Church to resolve grievances such as that against union-busting Bishop Joseph Martino.

After explaining the process for recourse against a bishop's actions, Schwartz gave an honest appraisal of the outcomes of those filings across the United States. "The record is, essentially, Lions 8, Christians 0." Schwartz was giving her slant on how teacher grievances actually shake out in Catholic schools, because they are filed with boards composed of other bishops.

Today, word reached us from Rome that our petition for recourse filed against Bishop Martino for union-busting "cannot be recognized." That now makes it Lions 9, Christians 0.

Even though all who were part of the decision to deny the recourse were bishops themselves, one would have thought that our complaint would have been given a fair hearing. But honestly, one would have thought this only if one were not living in the real world.

To put things in perspective, this decision was made by the same institution that sent Galileo to the Inquisition for asserting that the sun was at the center of the universe. Though the Church finally admitted their error in Galileo's case, it took them six centuries to come to that conclusion. Enough said.

Rejecting union cost diocese dearly

The following editorial appeared in the Wilkes-Barre Citizens' Voice, October 13, 2008:

Rejecting union cost diocese dearly

The decision by the bishop of the Diocese of Scranton to reject the teachers’ union may turn out to be an expensive proposition for the church.

Nearly $2 million in sick pay and severance pay is due the teachers who were laid off when the diocese rejected the union.

An arbitration decision handed down last month called for the diocese to immediately begin paying out $725,000 to 40 former teachers from the former Bishop Hoban High School.

This is one example, among many, of why the diocese should have continued to recognize the union.

Bishop cost diocese money when he opposed union

The following letter to the editor of the Wilkes-Barre Citizens' Voice appeared October 10, 2008:

Bishop Cost Diocese Money When He Opposed Union

Editor:

Once again Bishop Martino and the Diocese of Scranton have proven that the Catholic lay teachers definitely need a union.

In the 1970s, before the union, teachers had no pension, salaries were in the $7,000 per year range and medical coverage required the teacher to pay many bills up front and file for repayment which took months. Older teachers could not afford to retire and many actually worked well into their seventies until they were just too sick to go on.

In the first few years negotiations got the teachers increased salaries, better medical coverage and a pension plan. At first this plan was not the best and it was clear that retirement for older teachers was still going to be hard to manage. In those years each school was run by its own board and in an effort to help the older teachers other plans were worked out at the various schools with the help of the individual school boards. Some called for severance pay, other plans like the one at Bishop Hoban called for payment for unused sick days to help retired teachers by keeping them on the group medical plan until they could get on Medicare.

If a teacher called in sick they were paid as usual, but also a sub had to be paid for that day. If teachers did not call in sick for a minor illness the school would save the sub’s pay and the teacher would get some of the money saved for the unused sick day applied to medical coverage upon retirement. This medical coverage would also encourage older teachers to take early retirement. Since older teachers have higher salaries; getting the older teachers to retire and replacing them with young teachers with lower salaries would again save the schools money. Many of the school boards saw the logic of how money would be saved in the long run and agreed to variations on this idea.

When the bishop decided to close all the schools and lay off the teachers, the union tried to tell him that the sick day clause would kick in and all the money owed teachers would become due at once rather than being spread out over years as intended. Also it meant the older teachers with the higher salaries would be hired for the new system and the lower paid young teachers would be laid off.

The bishop would not talk with the union and although the bishop’s representatives were informed this would cause the diocese to lose money rather than save money the bishop’s plan went ahead.

Soon the union found out why the diocese didn’t worry about this. The diocese simply told the union that the diocese just wouldn’t honor the old contracts and the teachers would not get the sick day money. The union of course filed a grievance for each school where the contract was being violated and soon the lawyers on both sides were the only ones getting money.

Some of the schools realized it would be cheaper to pay the teachers instead of paying the legal costs but many did not and the process has dragged on for more than a year. In every case that has been settled the teachers have been awarded the money due.

Recently the largest school, Bishop Hoban, where the most money was involved received the arbiter’s decision. Once again the teachers were judged to be in the right. If fact the arbiter essentially said the case was open and shut, the contract clearly said the money was owed and the diocese was ordered to pay. Several other schools are still unsettled and the diocese continues to pay thousands of dollars in legal fees to fight against paying the teachers.

If Bishop Martino talked to the teachers and recognized the union none of this would have happened. A new union contract would have been worked out and the diocese would have saved thousands of dollars in legal fees. Older teachers would be retiring over the next few years and the plans of the old school boards would be saving tens of thousands of dollars instead. Before all the cases are settled perhaps as much as a million dollars in payments and legal fees will be paid by the diocese. But, there is only one bishop of Scranton and he makes the decisions. By the way, the annual diocesan appeal will be starting soon and your money is needed to pay future legal fees.

Eugene Gowisnok
Swoyersville

The idea that what is done in the Church is ministry, and what is done in the secular world is work is just false

In the most recent edition of the Catholic Light, there appeared an article critical of the effort to pass HB 2626. Here is an excerpt from that article:

"Calling them the 'bishop’s collaborators' and 'co-ministers', Nicholas Cafardi underscored how teachers in Catholic schools are not simply employees but “office holders of the Church.” Cafardi, testified House Bill 2626, will “impede if not destroy this co-ministry” of the Catholic Church. The Pennsylvania House Labor Relations Committee hosted a hearing Sept. 18 in Wilkes-Barre on the bill. '(The legislation) would require the diocesan bishop to use the mechanisms of the state to deal with what is not, at base, a secular but rather a religious and spiritual relationship,' he stated. 'Should the proposed legislation be adopted, the church-state conflicts that it would propagate are enormous.' House Bill 2626 would amend the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Act to specifically include lay teachers and other employees of religious employers such as Catholic schools."

Yet, Rev. Sinclair Oubre, a noted Canon Lawyer and Director of the Catholic Labor Network, provided testimony at the August 18th hearing on the bill which claimed that the above position taken by the Scranton Diocese was disingenuous. Here's what Father Oubre had to say:

Ministry vs. Work: A False Distinction

"In an effort to maintain control, or to maintain a union-free environment in Catholic institutions, theories are put forth that try to make the false distinction that what is done in a church institution is ministry, and that which is done in the secular world is work. That distinction has no basis in Catholic social teaching, or in the many actual instances where workers in Catholic schools, hospitals and even Vatican departments are represented by unions, and participate in collective bargaining.

When both the law and the teaching of the Church are examined, ministry and work are never divided. The idea that what is done in the Church is ministry, and what is done in the secular world is work is just false.

Since ministry is the means by which many in the Catholic Church make their living, church documents and canon law both recognize that care must be taken to see that proper remuneration and social security is extended to those who carry out ministry, and especially those in the laity.

Canon 1287 2° directs administrators of goods to:

“Pay a just and decent wage to employees so that they are able to provide fittingly for their own needs and those of their dependents.”

In the United States bishops’ pastoral letter Economic Justice for All, the responsibility of providing an adequate living is laid out.

“351. We‑bishops commit ourselves to the principle that those who serve the Church‑laity, clergy, and religious‑should receive a sufficient livelihood and the social benefits provided by responsible employers in our nation.”

This commitment to meet a minimum level of dignity for church employees manifests itself by the Church allowing itself to be included into a number of federal and state laws. These would include the federal minimum wage, FICA, American With Disability Act, federal wage and hour laws and many state and local building codes.

The theory that some Catholic teachings should be enshrined in civil law, while others should not, seems to lack any logic. Since those who minister in the Church, work for the Church, and those who work in the Church do ministry, any civil law that enshrines the Catholic Church’s teaching, and is not contrary to that teaching, is an assistance to the Church in carrying out its ministry.

Including the right to organize and collective bargaining in the Pennsylvania civil law is no different than covering church employees through minimum wage and wage and hour laws. In both cases, the civil law is codifying what the Church already teaches, promotes, and should be binding on itself."

Counter-signs of an effective bishop

The following excerpt is from an article in the journal of the National Institute for the Renewal of the Priesthood, September, 2008:

http://www.jknirp.com/cathmin.htm

Archbishop George Niederauer of San Francisco keynoted the conference on Wednesday, which brings together rectors, pastors, and other leaders from cathedrals around the country. He based his reflections on his episcopal motto, drawn from the words of Jesus in Mark 10: “To serve and to give.”

Niederauer joked that he had managed to go 13 years as a bishop without ever basing a talk on his motto -- he was proud, he said, “of that kind of humility.” Yet he always knew the day would come when a group asked him to speak on their area of expertise, and he would fall back on the motto in the absence of any other way to get into the subject. “You are that group, and this is that talk,” he deadpanned.

Niederauer argued that cathedrals should be models of “servant leadership,” rooted in service and humility rather than self-aggrandizement and power. He said the qualities of a good cathedral are the same as those of a good bishop, which he listed as “courage, fidelity, strength, zeal, pastoral outreach, accessibility, defending the rights and welfare of all the faithful, humility, patience in the face of adversity, and concern for the entire community of God’s children.”

The “counter-signs” of an effective bishop or cathedral, on the other hand, according to Niederauer, include becoming “isolated, arrogant, inaccessible, all take and no give, feared and dreaded rather than loved and respected.”

Some Thoughts on the HB 2626 Hearing

During the recent House hearing on HB 2626 at Wilkes University, the truth shone forth. This, despite the arcane and convoluted arguments to the contrary on the part of a canon lawyer, a law school dean, counsel for the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference and assorted Scranton Diocese officials who sought to explain how many bishops could dance on the head of a pin.

The legislators conducting the hearing repeatedly asked those gentlemen clear and logical questions concerning Bishop Martino’s unwillingness to abide by Church teachings, as well as the disparity between Martino and his fellow Pennsylvania bishops with regard to Catholic school unionization. The Church’s minions responded to each and every query with the smug certainty that their legalistic, formulaic and very elastic interpretation of Church law would prove convincing beyond refutation.

When unionized teachers from other Pennsylvania dioceses testified in simple, straightforward fashion about their appreciation of and loyalty toward their unions, the legislators understood the difference between what the Church preaches and how it can stand Church teaching on its head whenever and wherever an individual bishop deems it opportune. The Church, the minions held, is indeed universal in its teachings, but, they maintained in the next breath, it is not monolithic when it comes to the manner in which individual bishops can choose to implement said teachings.

Thus, one hundred years’ of encyclicals, pastorals and bishops’ scholarly letters can be tossed aside by an inaccessible bishop with the power of a 14th century baron. Who has the power to tell the bishop that he is wrong? No one, it seems, except the SDACT and the House, Senate and Governor of the State of Pennsylvania. Thankfully, Medieval mindsets do not play well in 21st century America when the basic rights and freedoms of individuals are at issue.

Representative Thomas Blackwell (West Philadelphia) separated the chaff from the grain very nicely when he likened the plight of Catholic school teachers to African-Americans during the Civil Rights Era. When officialdom hides behind a power structure and attempts to deny equality to a category of citizens for self-serving and unjust reasons, legislative action is needed to redress an ugly, un-American and un-Christian stance.

When it became apparent to all those in attendance at the hearing that the legislators weren’t buying what the Church was selling, speakers in support of the Bishop’s position went negative. The legislators were told, for example, that if allowed to unionize and negotiate contracts, teachers would seek a clause which would allow them to refuse to accompany students to Mass during the school day. The implication here suggests that teachers would indeed engage in such a tactic.

One cannot hear such despicable accusations without thinking of totalitarian governments' tactic of the “big lie” – a lie so preposterous and contrary to fact but repeated so often that it begins to gain traction among those without recourse to the facts, or those predisposed to believe it in the first place. The response of the crowd, many of whom were Catholic teachers and parents, was a predictable and loud indignation.

When you think about it though, the day belonged to the teachers. Such ad hominem attacks not only reflected the desperation of Church officials, but they also served to solidify the opinion of the legislators who see this as a simple issue of fairness and justice for their constituents. With our continued support of the SDACT and our elected state legislators, we will prevail. Justice is within our grasp. Let us not falter now.

Down a coal mine in search of high ground?

The following editorial appeared in the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader, September 23, 2008:

Down a coal mine in search of high ground?

The public hearing on House Bill 2626 held last Thursday had a lot more spark than the one in Harrisburg Aug 18 ( hmmm ... two hearings on the 18th of two months ...does the Labor Relations Committee have a thing for the number?). But that was surely because supporters of the bill, which would potentially make it easier for teachers in Catholic schools to unionize, had a clear home field advantage. The latest hearing was held at Wilkes University, and right around 3 o'clock the room started filling with those who favored the bill - teachers, their families and parents.

Some favorite lines that I didn't' get into the newspaper story:

"All Catholic teachers in Pennsylvania are one bishop away from what happened in the Diocese of Scranton." Rita Schwartz, head of both the Philadelphia and national associations that represent Catholic teacher unions. She was, of course, referring to Bishop Joseph Martino's decision to reject unionization after schools were restructured, which in turn led to the lengthy campaign to reverse that decision, which led to Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski's decision to introduce House Bill 2626.

"The record is, essentially, Lions 8, Christians 0." Schwartz giving her slant on how teacher grievances actually shake out in Catholic schools, because they are filed with boards and groups heavily composed of Church officials or lay people appointed by Church officials. The bill would put such grievances in the purview of the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board.

"We're not coal barons." Robert O'Hara, executive director of the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference, the public relations arm of bishops statewide. O'Hara was alluding to frequent (accurate) claims by union supporters that the Catholic Church has long been an advocate of worker rights, including unionization. The Church has countered that the right is not absolute, and that treatment of employees today has no comparison to treatment of many employees, including coal miners, decades ago that prompted unionization then.

"Are you the Christians or the Lions?" Pashinski (I think, I can't find a credit in my notes) joking with O'Hara. I was amused, but it It didn't seem to go over too well.

"It appears to me you are cherry picking what state laws you will adhere to." Rep. Frank Andrews Shimkus, to O'Hara and two other representatives of the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference who testified. Shimkus noted that Catholic schools accept regulations requiring public school districts to provide bus transportation to private school students, and other aid given to private schools like school nursing, subsidized lunches, and special education services. O'Hara and his companions countered that those services were to students, not schools.

"Is there a Vatican union? ... "There is a Vatican union." Pashinski making one of his stronger points during a somewhat testy debate with O'Hara and his fellow testifiers, who countered that the Church is not monolithic and circumstances vary. They also argued that "Italy is heavily unionize." My opinion? They lost on this point, due to lack of preparation.

'My pastor would probably say, 'stay out of this.' But I work for the people of Pennsylvania." Rep. Thomas Blackwell, delivering one of many lines that won applause. He said multiple times that he felt the government should, in general, stay out of religious issues, but added that this case seemed to call for state action.

"The leader of our diocese has to come out of that ivory tower and say 'How are we going to deal with this?' " Rep. Ken Smith, Dunmore, delivering another applause-evoking line that reflected what has been by far the biggest complaint by many in this issue, that Bishop Joseph Martino has seemed aloof and remote in the whole debate.

"My wife and my family can't sit back and wonder if I'll have certain rights, certain guarantees, or even a career." Teacher and union activist William Smedley, after stressing he initially rejected the idea of unionizing Catholic teachers as inconceivable.

"I understand the new retirement policy is you retire at 80 and they make you a priest." Smedley again, who said he expects to "be buried" at Holy Redeemer High School, where he insists he loves working.

"When there is a mine disaster you get mine safety legislation. We have had a disaster here." Attorney Martin Milz, son of local union president Michael Milz, testifying of the success of similar legislation in other states.

"I'm a newly appointed superintendent, so please have mercy on me." Mary Rochford, Archdiocese of Philadelphia Superintendent of Catholic Schools, who gave (as far as I'm concerned) effective counter-arguments against issues raised by Schwartz.

"If someone doesn't come to us, we can't know what we don't know." Rochford, responding to claims that some teachers in the archdiocese are fearful of speaking out for unionization or regarding other employment issues.

"I will be brief so you can go out and say you heard from one attorney who spoke less than two minutes." Attorney James Katz, who went on to offer some strong testimony in support of the Constitutionality of HB2626, and success of similar laws elsewhere. Katz, alas, did not fulfill his promise, speaking for something closer to 10 minutes.

My bottom line take?

If -- as I argued in an Aug. 20 blog -- the diocese had finally gained some claim to a higher moral ground during the first hearing (thanks to non-diocesan speakers who made effective arguments the diocese itself has failed to put forth) that high ground may well have been lost last week, as the union put together a more thorough and, from my seat, effective presentation of teachers, union supporters and attorneys who repeatedly countered most arguments by the opposition with strong points that were never adequately rebutted.

Having the home court advantage may have helped, but having done their homework helped more.

Stay tuned, the fight isn't over yet.

Tuesday September 23, 2008 12:52 PM
Posted by Mark Guydish mguydish@timesleader.com