Defending Workers

The Board of Directors at Interfaith Worker Justice have issued a clarion call for all churches to defend workers against the onslaught against their rights being perpetrated in Wisconsin and elsewhere. "Our religious traditions insist that workers, as human beings with inherent dignity, have the right to form associations to improve their conditions at work. Statements issued by a wide array of Catholic and Protestant denominations, the Union of Reform Judaism, the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of the Conservative Movement of Judaism, the Council on American Islamic Relations, the Muslim American Freedom Foundation, the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations, and other faith bodies support the right of workers to organize and bargain with their employers over wages, benefits, and a voice on the job," the staement says.
In an accompanying press release, Rabbi Renee Bauer, Director of the Interaith Coalition for Worker Justice of South Central Wisconsin, said, "Governor Walker’s bill is an affront to the human dignity of public sector workers. As a religious leader I recognize this as a moral crisis. Jewish tradition makes protecting the weak from exploitation by the mighty, treating laborers fairly and recognizing their rights to organize a religious obligation."