Workers in peril, N.Y. bishop tells group

National Catholic Reporter, May 12, 1995 by Ed Griffin-Nolan

ALBANY, N.Y. -- The fate of working people is in greater peril than at any time in recent history, a New York bishop told a state labor and religion coalition late last month.

Workers receive inadequate pay and are "uprooted capriciously with little or no regard for the stress such changes cause," Bishop Howard Hubbard of Albany said in an address to the New York State Labor-Religion Coalition.

Nearly 150 people representing three faiths, a dozen denominations and at least as many labor organizations gathered in Albany in late April to reinvigorate the decades-old alliance between faith communities and unions.

The theme of the gathering, held in conjunction with Interfaith IMPACT, was "Renewing Community in Changing Times and Celebrating Diversity in Frightening Times."

Hubbard chairs the Labor-Religion Coalition along with Thomas Hobart, the president of New York State United Teachers, who has been one of the loudest opponents of cuts in social services proposed in the recent state budget. New York's new governor, George Pataki, has proposed cutting spending by $4 billion, chopping some social service programs by as much as 40 percent.

The Labor-Religion Coalition met intermittently through the early 1980s, but its work had dwindled in recent years. Now the threat to jobs and the social safety net is bringing religious and labor groups back together. Last year, the coalition hired a part-time staff person and selected two issues to work on.

In addition to the budget cuts, the coalition decided that one of its priorities should be to make a concerted response to the work of the religious right in the state. The Christian Coalition, which had no presence in New York three years ago, now claims 20,000 members statewide and has formed alliances with business and tax-cut advocacy groups, according to conference organizers.

Amid discussion of work to be done, there was time to celebrate work already done through cooperation between labor and religion.

* Brenda Wolpert and her colleague from Local 1199 of the National Health and Human Service Employees Union, received a standing ovation when she described the six-month strike that won a new contract for nurses at Mercy Community Hospital in Port Jervis (NCR, March 17). Wolpert fasted for nearly a month along with a coworker to bring attention to the nurses' demands. The support of religious leaders and communities around the state in the form of food, donations, letters and joining strikers on the picket line helped hold the nurses together, Wolpert said.

* The Coalition for Economic Justice, which links church, union and community groups in western New York, has been campaigning hard since last November's elections to defeat the budget proposals. Statewide, unions have been conducting a media, direct-mail and lobbying campaign opposing Pataki's service cuts.

* Across town at the state capitol, 100 farm workers and supporters marched and lobbied in support of a bill permitting farm workers to bargain collectively for the first time. The march was organized by the ecumenical Rural and Migrant Ministry based in the Hudson Valley.

In his address to the conference, Hubbard declared, "At no time in recent history has the fate of working people been more in peril." He emphasized the principles that have united religious groups with labor over the decades. It is our common belief that the dignity of all people should not be sacrificed to the false gods of greed, exploitation and self-interest. "We can work together to guarantee that the successes of the workers' movement not be sacrificed to the demands of the global market."

Edgar Romney, a 30-year union veteran, echoed Hubbard's sentiment from labor's side. "At no time has our common struggle been more important than now."

Brian O'Shaughnessy, coalition staff person, said he hoped the group could articulate a vision for renewed community. He cautioned participants to stick to common ground and avoid issues that may divide them. Efforts to unite religion and labor in the 1980s were weakened, he added, when organizers sought to address too many issues at once.

As the conference ended, both religious and labor participants climbed onto a yellow school bus to join in one of organized labor's oldest traditions. Just 15 minutes from where the meeting was held, members of an electrical workers union were holding a rally to support nine members who had been fired. The closing session of the conference was held on the picket line.