Human greed is at the root of efforts to limit the collective bargaining powers of public employee unions, according to speakers at an annual gathering of liberal Episcopalians.
Meeting February 23-26 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the 31st assembly of the Episcopal Urban Caucus (EUC) adopted resolutions in support of unions, cited greed as the primary motivation for disagreement with their political aims and warned about disputes in Wisconsin spreading to neighboring states. Wisconsin’s governor is trying to limit some collective bargaining rights by state employees because of budget shortfalls, prompting weeks of union organized protests at the state capital.
“Oppression — environmental, economic, racism, war — they’re all motivated by greed,” assessed Episcopal Network for Economic Justice (ENEJ) President Dianne Aid. “That feeds all of these oppressions.”
Founded in 1980, the EUC consists of about 130 clergy and lay members from urban parishes across the Episcopal Church. The caucus promotes liberal politics within the 2 million member U.S.-based denomination and has a successful record of submitting resolutions at General Convention, in partnership with the larger progressive umbrella group called the “Consultation.” Two other Consultation members, the ENEJ and the Episcopal Peace Fellowship (EPF) also host events at the annual EUC assembly.
Wisconsin Unrest
Although the EUC describes itself as focused on urban issues, many speakers at the annual assembly were linked by references to the ongoing collective bargaining and budget disputes in Wisconsin, which overshadowed the environmental, war and anti-violence themes that dominated previous assemblies.
Aid was one of several speakers who addressed the controversial efforts of Republican lawmakers in Wisconsin to restrict powerful public employee unions in the Midwestern state.
“What’s happening in Wisconsin is being shared across the nation,” Aid said. “Some of it is about union busting, some is about immigration raids. Wherever you go home to, there are people who are organizing. They are the living Gospel for us.”
Aid was joined by Tim Yeager, a deacon in the Diocese of Chicago who was recognized for his activism at the ENEJ luncheon with the group’s Hugh White Trumpet of Justice award. White, described by past ENEJ President Geoffrey Curtiss as “the Saul Alinsky of the Episcopal Church,” was a Detroit priest who worked to link the labor movement and the church.
Yeager said it was a challenging time for labor, citing the economic crisis and “the rise of the ultra right.”
“After victories in the elections they’ve been put in positions of power and are attempting to carry out a coordinated agenda against working people, all for greed,” said Yeager, a union attorney who also serves as an official with the Communist Party USA and is on the steering committee of the Consultation. Yeager called for a closer collaboration between the labor movement and the church. He had come to Pittsburgh from Madison, where he had rallied with public employee unions protesting the state legislature.
“The Spirit of the Lord is in that place,” Yeager said of the Madison protests.
Other speakers echoed the comments.
“We must stop what’s happening in Wisconsin,” insisted Will Thompkins of Pittsburgh UNITED, a coalition of liberal advocacy groups working in western Pennsylvania. Thompkins was one of several Pittsburgh UNITED leaders who accepted an award from the ENEJ on behalf of the group. Also among the Pittsburgh UNITED members was the former head organizer of Allegheny County ACORN, whose membership dissolved following the national organization’s financial collapse. Much of the membership of the local group has reconstituted as the new group Action United.
“ACORN was cut off at the knees, now it’s the unions’ turn, according to the right,” warned Maryellen Deckard of Action United in accepting the award.
Labor Advocacy
The assembly conducted a workshop titled “Churches and Ethical Practices Regarding Labor” that was re-designated a closed meeting due to the presence of an IRD reporter. All other workshops and plenary sessions remained open.
During the assembly, caucus members were given the opportunity to join a solidarity march with union members in Pittsburgh to support demonstrators in Wisconsin. A prayer for the rights of public sector workers was also distributed. Produced by the organization Interfaith Worker Justice, the prayer listed four policy bullet points to recite to God, among them that “we applaud the efforts of workers all over the world, in Wisconsin and other countries, to stand up for their human rights for basic health, safety and dignity.” Budgetary concerns that have threatened they layoffs of state employees were not addressed. Taxpayer rights were unmentioned.
Two of the five resolutions adopted by the EUC assembly specifically addressed labor issues. The first, titled “Solidarity with Hyatt Workers” calls for a boycott of a hotel at the site of the 2012 General Convention of the Episcopal Church. Citing a union effort to organize workers at the Hyatt Regency Indianapolis, the resolution calls upon the people of the Church to adhere to the boycott by not eating, sleeping or meeting there during the General Convention.
The Episcopal Church has a history of adopting resolutions that are favorable to unions, including a 2006 policy to hold future conventions in union-staffed hotels, when possible. Indianapolis, the 2012 General Convention site, does not have any major unionized hotels.
Another resolution, titled “Solidarity with Public Employees,” declares support for collective bargaining and deplores “recent attempts by elected officials in several states who are seeking to deny public employees these basic human rights.”
Specifically naming the states of Wisconsin, Indiana and Ohio, the resolution warns against a “coordinated campaign to reduce or eliminate the rights of working people.”
As background, the resolution includes a statement of support from the Episcopal Bishop of Milwaukee.
“I believe we can all agree that our baptismal vow to ‘respect the dignity of every human being’ is not served by a majority simply pushing through legislation because they have the votes necessary to do so,” Bishop Steven Andrew Miller wrote.
Both resolutions were submitted by Yeager and Aid, representing the EPF and the ENEJ.
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