Holy Cross | Joe McCartin on the Dual Fall of Workers’ Rights and Democracy and How Catholic Teachings Can Provide Guidance

Posted in In the News  |  Tagged catholic, Catholic Church, democracy, Joseph A. McCartin, unions

In this talk, McCartin connects the current crisis of democracy in our politics, which is visible in this year when 2020 election deniers are poised to win election in many states, to the crisis of democracy that is increasingly visible in the workplace as a growing number of workers struggle to organize unions at companies like Amazon and Starbucks in the face of aggressive corporate opposition that routinely tramples on their rights.  The fights for a democratic voice in politics and at work have always been connected, he argues, and we will not be able to successfully defend democracy in politics unless we can also successfully defend it in our labor relations.  Catholic social teaching, he suggests, can provide us with a potent moral language for defending democracy on both fronts in this urgent and precarious time.