Redeemer students plan rally for teachers

From the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader, April 29, 2008:

Redeemer students plan rally for teachers

WILKES-BARRE – Holy Redeemer High School students are organizing an after-school rally Wednesday in support of efforts to unionize teachers.

Seniors Kevin Hourigan and Carl Frank said the plan is to have those interested assemble outside the school after dismissal at 2:30 p.m. and walk to Public Square, where a brief rally will be held. Students then will return to the school and disband. Frank said the idea for the rally developed after numerous students asked if they could do more to show support for teachers.
Nearly 300 students walked out of Holy Redeemer immediately after the morning bell rang on Feb. 29 as a show of support for unionization.

The administration had warned a walkout during school hours would result in disciplinary action and followed through with 2-1/2 hours of Saturday detention served March 8. Teachers pushing for a union thanked the students for their support but urged them not to hold similar rallies during school hours.

Frank said he and another student told Principal James Redington of the plans for Wednesday’s rally, and that he voiced concern about their safety but did not approve or disapprove of the idea.

Frank also said the group submitted an application to the city for a permit for the rally and was told there would be no problem. The permit asked for an estimate of the number of participants, but Frank said “it could be anywhere from about 50 to 300. I have no idea how many we’re going to get. It might even be more.

“One thing we agreed is that anyone who wants to support the teachers’ right to unionize is welcome to come. It’s a student-organized rally, but we’re inviting anyone.”

Teachers at Holy Redeemer and other area schools had been represented by the Scranton Diocese Association of Catholic Teachers until the diocese restructured the school system last year, eliminating the small parish and local school boards the union had negotiated with. The diocese formed four regional boards, and in January three of those rejected requests from SDACT to represent teachers under the new system.

The union has staged rallies, informational pickets, public meetings and sick outs at several schools in an effort to be recognized, but Bishop Joseph Martino has repeatedly issued a statement insisting the decision is “final and irrevocable.” The diocese is implementing an “Employee Relations Program” it promises will provide fair representation to all school employees.

Holy Redeemer students plan rally to support teachers

From the Wilkes-Barre Citizens" Voice, April 29, 2008


Holy Redeemer students plan rally to support teachers

Students at Holy Redeemer High School in Wilkes-Barre are planning a rally Wednesday supporting the Catholic teachers’ fight to have their union recognized by the Diocese of Scranton.
The students will meet after classes — approximately 2:50 p.m. — in front of the school on Pennsylvania Avenue. They will walk to Public Square where the rally will take place, then head back to Holy Redeemer, according to student Carl Frank.

“I don’t know how many students are going to get to do it. It might only be 50 people or a lot more,” Frank said.

Students were given word that they are to be respectful during the demonstration, he said.

Anyone interested in supporting the teachers can join the rally or the walk, Frank said. Teachers and parents have also been invited.

Mike Milz, president of the Scranton Diocese Association of Catholic Teachers, believes most of the teachers will attend.

Bishop Joseph Martino issued a statement in January that the teachers union would not be recognized, and the diocese was instead implementing an employee-relations program. The diocese has held firm on its decision, but the union continues to demonstrate. Teachers are still picketing daily in front of the chancery in Scranton, Milz said.

What Can You Do To Help? Write a letter in support of our cause.

If you support SDACT's efforts for justice and dignity for our lay teachers, or simply oppose Bishop Martino's overall unwillingness to dialogue with the faithful in Scranton, we ask that you write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper, as well as letters to both of the following Cardinals in Rome:

Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski, Prefect
Congregation for Catholic Education
Piazza Della Cancelleria
00186 Roma, Italia

and

Cardinal Giovanni Re, Prefect
Congregation for Bishops
00120 Vatican City State

Here are two examples of letters that have been sent to the above mentioned Cardinals. You may use them as a template for your own missive. Click on the following links:

Sample letter to Cardinal Grocholewski:
Sample%20CardinalGrocholewskiLetter.doc
Sample letter to Cardinal Re:
SampleCardinalReLetter.doc

WHY WE FIGHT - PART 1: We fight to prevent returning to the status of "at-will employees"

Today we begin a series of postings on why the members of the Scranton Diocese Association will never accept the denial of our rights to organize a union, and to have that union recognized to bargain on behalf of our lay teachers. This right is sanctioned by the social justice teachings of the Roman Catholic Church (several earlier postings to this blog note those teachings). The denial of such a right affects the basic human dignity of all employees and makes a mockery of the notion of justice. Moreover, it undermines the credibility of the Church in Scranton as the institution which promotes Catholic social teaching.

In this series of postings we will explain how, should we be denied justice and dignity, such a denial would have an adverse affect on our teachers' careers and on their lives, those of their families, and on the lives of the students and parents we serve in our Catholic schools. In other words, the reason why SDACT will fight to the bitter end any attempt to strip away our God-given rights.

WHY WE FIGHT: REASON # 1: TO PREVENT A RETURN TO THE STATUS OF AT-WILL EMPLOYEES

Without a union contract, all teachers would become at-will employees. Prior to the first unions forming in 1978, that was the status of our teachers.

What does this legal jargon mean if you are presently a teacher in a Scranton Diocesan school?

"At will" means that your employer can terminate your job on a moment's notice for any reason - good, bad, indifferent -- or no reason at all. Unless the termination violates federal or state law, company policies, or an implied contract, there is very little that an at will employee can do to protest such action.

"For cause" employment means the opposite: the employer cannot discharge the employee without a legitimate reason -hence the term "for cause." Examples of situations where your boss cannot fire you without a good reason:

(1) you are a member of a labor union and protected by a collective bargaining agreement
(2) you are a government employee under the protection of civil service laws
(3) your state’s law prohibits at will terminations (Pennsylvania's does not)
(4) your termination would violate protective state or federal law (such as whistleblower's protection, civil rights, age, or disability protections).

For thirty years prior to the current crisis, teachers enjoyed the fruits of union contracts. During that time the security our teachers enjoyed was predicated on the "for cause" relationship dictated by our contracts. We refuse to make those days no more than a pleasant memory in the ugly reality of an at-will present moment. Our status as professional educators demands that we insist upon a contract that protects our rights, and a union to achieve that end.

This is one of the reasons why we fight.

Parents Supporting the SDACT begin fund raising efforts

PARENTS SUPPORTING the SDACT
Po Box 342
Mountain Top, PA 18707

April 18, 2008

Dear Parent/Friend,

We are writing to you today to ask that you consider making a monetary contribution to our campaign of support for the Scranton Diocese Association of Catholic Teachers. Up to this point all of our costs have been covered by donations from a few individuals and we feel that we will be more effective if we have a more substantial fund. By raising funds we are hoping to create more public awareness and generate additional support for our teachers. Additionally, we hope to be able to educate more individuals within our diocese about the plight of our teachers.

We will utilize different types of media such as full page newspaper ads, yard and business signage and our “I Support the SDACT” pins. The newspaper ads will cost about $1000.00 each. These will be placed in the Citizen’s Voice and the Times Leader. If additional funds are available, we will place the ads in other newspapers as well.

Yard signs and business signs will also keep the campaign alive in the public’s mind and will be very effective in creating support. We have depleted our supply of 2000 pins and have decided to purchase 2000 more. Yard signs and pins will be available at the Union office and during planned events.

Additional funds raised will be used for a direct mail campaign which will target the parents of students attending high schools within the Diocese.

Please make your checks payable to Parents Supporting the SDACT. Be advised that this donation is not tax deductible. All donations should be sent to the following address:

Parents Supporting the SDACT
PO Box 342
Mountain Top, PA 18707

Thank you for continued support for our teachers.

Most Sincerely,

Parents Supporting the SDACT

Committee Members: Sharon Hourigan, Jane Frank, Maria Bocci, John Rose, Susan Rose,
Amy Martin, Matthew Martin, Katie Lambert

A little inspiration for SDACT Members on the informational picket line

"Step by step, the longest march
Can be won, can be won;
Single stones will form an arch
One by one, one by one
And, by Union what we will
Can be accomplished still
Drops of water turn a mill,
Singly none, singly none."


From the cover page of the Constitution of the American Miners'
Association, 1864

Will Bishop Martino heed the Pope's advice?

The following is an excerpt from Pope Benedict XVI's address to the United Nations, April 18, 2008.

"Experience shows that legality often prevails over justice when the insistence upon rights makes them appear as the exclusive result of legislative enactments or normative decisions taken by the various agencies of those in power. When presented purely in terms of legality, rights risk becoming weak propositions divorced from the ethical and rational dimension which is their foundation and their goal. The Universal Declaration, rather, has reinforced the conviction that respect for human rights is principally rooted in unchanging justice, on which the binding force of international proclamations is also based. This aspect is often overlooked when the attempt is made to deprive rights of their true function in the name of a narrowly utilitarian perspective. Since rights and the resulting duties follow naturally from human interaction, it is easy to forget that they are the fruit of a commonly held sense of justice built primarily upon solidarity among the members of society, and hence valid at all times and for all peoples. This intuition was expressed as early as the fifth century by Augustine of Hippo, one of the masters of our intellectual heritage. He taught that the saying: Do not do to others what you would not want done to you "cannot in any way vary according to the different understandings that have arisen in the world" (De Doctrina Christiana, III, 14). Human rights, then, must be respected as an expression of justice, and not merely because they are enforceable through the will of the legislators."

Can a bishop be a union basher?

The following editorial appeared in the Canadian publication, The New Catholic Times, March 28, 2008.


“Unions helped my grandfather and my father, and the Catholic Church stood behind those unions,” she said, noting she has a grandson at Holy Redeemer high school in Wilkes-Barre. “I never thought I’d see the day the Catholic Church would abandon the common worker.”

Can a bishop be a union basher? A sad tale in from the Pennsylvania coal fields.

It was Pope Leo Xlll in 1891 who responded to the great labour crisis of the nineteenth century by championing the free association of workers. Every pope since then has done the same. Perhaps the most forceful of all has been the late John Paul ll who quite correctly saw the radical imbalance between capital and labour in this age of globalization.

In one of the most brilliant papal encyclicals ever, Laborem Exercens (1981) the late pope reminded the Catholic people about "the indispensable" need for unions. In section 21 of this prophetic statement, John Paul ll says:

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. These associations are called labour or trade unions. The vital interests of the workers are to a certain extent common for all of them; at the same time, however, each type of work, each profession, has its own specific character which should find a particular reflection in these organizations.

The modern unions grew up from the struggle of the workers--workers in general but especially the industrial workers--to protect their just rights vis-a-vis the entrepreneurs and the owners of the means of production. Their task is to defend the existential interests of workers in all sectors in which their rights are concerned. The experience of history teaches that organizations of this type are an indispensable element of social life, especially in modern industrialized societies. Obviously this does not mean that only industrial workers can set up associations of this type. Representatives of every profession can use them to ensure their own rights.

In summation: There is a need for solidarity movements among and with the workers. The church is firmly committed to this cause, in fidelity to Christ, and to be truly the "church of the poor." (LE #6)

THE SCRANTON SITUATION

Which brings us to the lamentable situation in the Scranton, Pennsylvania diocese where the bishop Joseph Martino is denying the teachers the right to form a union - one they have had for thirty years. The bishop prefers "an employees relations program." He maintains despite massive support from students, the media, parents and even priests that "the decision is final and will not be revoked, and the implementation of the employee relations program has begun." Martino, in style more akin to a dictator than a pastor, communicates through the diocesan website.

At a rally a grandmother Anna Jesse held up a sign that read "I'm old, I'm cold, but I support unions." A second sign read simply "solidarnosz," the Polish word for solidarity associated with the famous union organization which defied the state-run unions in Poland under communism. Jesse's grandfather emigrated from Poland and her father worked in the local mines.

"Unions helped my grandfather and my father, and the Catholic Church stood behind those unions," she said, noting she has a grandson at Holy Redeemer high school in Wilkes-Barre. "I never thought I'd see the day the Catholic Church would abandon the common worker."


These echo the sentiments of Holy Cross priest-professor Patrick Sullivan, who teachers at King's College in Wilkes-Barre. Sullivan, apparently more conversant then Bishop Martino with Catholic social teaching, vigorously supported the teachers. In an open letter to Martino which was reprinted locally, Sullivan challenged the bishop's thinking, suggesting he was unwisely guided by a management consultant who seemed to be promoting a "company union.". Sullivan's letter to Martino questioned the bishop's reasoning and asked him to break his silence on the issue. He suggested Martino was being unwisely guided by a management consultant rather than the rich vein of Catholic social teaching.

IS THIS REALLY 2008?

It is absolutely astounding that the bishop of Scranton is refusing to recognize a teachers' union in the Catholic system there. The teachers were quoted as saying that "the loss of their union status has left them overworked, underpaid and without a voice." Exactly why unions were formed!

Bishop Martino's office stated that "Bishop Martino has a solemn obligation to protect the Catholic identity of our schools, to ensure that a quality education is provided to our students in a safe, healthy environment, and to make Catholic education affordable for families and parishes. If personnel practices result in a tuition increase that prevents parents from enrolling their children in our Catholic schools, then the very mission of Catholic education is in jeopardy."


This statement is nonsensical. Is the good bishop saying that the mere formation of a union which may result in a living wage for teachers will jeopardize "the very mission of Catholic education?"

It is apparent that the opposite is true! If the Catholic teachers are not allowed to form a union and protect themselves and their families then "the very mission of Catholic education is in jeopardy."

Bishop Martino is sadly walking down the wrong path.

As the official spokesman of the Church in Scranton he needs to heed the words of his brother bishops who said in Justice in the World (1971):


While the Church is bound to give witness to justice, she recognizes that anyone who ventures to speak to people about justice must first be just in their eyes. Hence we must undertake an examination of the modes of acting and of the possessions and life style found within the Church herself.(40)

A final thought.

Pennsylvania is not far from Ontario and Quebec where unions are better established than in the USA. Surely Catholic teachers unions could send a delegation to the front lines of this struggle. It would mean a lot to these beleaguered teachers and it would send a strong message of social justice solidarity to a bishop who needs a serious reminder that Catholic social teaching is one of the distinguishing factors of modern Catholicism.

Does the Pope Care About Workers' Rights?

FROM ONE OF AMERICA'S OLDEST MAGAZINES, THE NATION, APRIL 28, 2008 EDITION:


Does the Pope Care About Workers' Rights?


Catholic education will be front and center this week when Benedict XVI makes his first papal visit to America. On April 17, at Catholic University in Washington, DC, he will address more than 400 college, university, elementary and secondary school leaders. His subject will be the importance of Catholic education, and he'll probably argue for strict adherence to the usual orthodox Church teachings--a call for academics to behave and for bishops to insure that they do.

What Benedict is unlikely to address is the failure of many in the church hierarchy to abide by another social teaching that is far more pertinent to Catholic education right now: workers' rights. The workers in question are beleaguered Catholic elementary and high school teachers around the country.

Benedict may soon come face to face with their plight if members of the Lay Faculty Association, one of New York City's two teachers' unions, goes on strike as planned on the eve of his arrival. These Catholic school teachers have been working for eight months without a contract and have failed to settle with the Archdiocese.

To the casual observer, this strike makes it seem like Catholic school teachers are secure in their right to fight for just wages and working conditions. Yet in reality, they have legal protection for union activities only in a handful of states, thanks to the obstructionist tactics of Catholic bishops.

Despite literally centuries of Catholic social teaching promoting the right of workers to organize, Church authorities have fought Catholic teachers' organizing efforts since the 1970s, when they blocked union elections in Philadelphia and refused to accept the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) as a bargaining agent for teachers in Chicago.

Another blow for organizing came in 1979 when the US Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Chicago Archdiocese, deciding that Catholic school teachers did not have the right to organize under the NLRB. The court ruled not on the constitutionality of such representation but on a technicality--that the 1935 National Labor Relations Act did not specifically include Catholic school teachers. That's not surprising, since nearly all teachers in 1935 were nuns or religious brothers, not lay people who had to earn a living.

Legal protections for organizing Catholic school teachers currently exist in New York because the Lay Faculty Association prevailed against the Archdiocese of New York in the US Court of Appeals, which determined that the teachers were indeed covered by the New York State Employment Relations Board.

In New Jersey, protection for unionizing workers exists only because the Camden Catholic teachers union fought the Camden diocese all the way to the state Supreme Court, which determined that Catholic school teachers could unionize and bargain collectively under the state constitution. The Minnesota State Supreme Court also has upheld protections for unionizing Catholic school teachers.

However, in recent years in other parts of the country, Catholic bishops have been busting longstanding Catholic school teachers' unions and stripping teachers of their right to unionize. In 2004, Archbishop Sean O'Malley ended thirty-six years of the Boston Archdiocese's negotiation of a single contract with the high schools by decentralizing the system and then refusing to recognize the union any longer.

Mary Chubb, a veteran Catholic school teacher, spent nearly ten years trying to gain recognition for elementary school teachers in St. Louis, Missouri. Bishop Raymond Burke summarily killed that movement in 2004 by issuing an unequivocal written decree stating that, "Neither the Archdiocese nor individual parishes will recognize or bargain collectively with any organization as a representative of the teachers."

In Scranton, Pennsylvania, the teachers are currently up in arms, picketing and threatening to strike because Bishop Joseph Martino, like O'Malley, reorganized the school system and then refused to recognize their union, which had been bargaining collectively for many area schools for roughly thirty years.

Some bishops defend their actions by accusing teachers of blatant self-interest, an unseemly focus on money and endangering the financial health of the schools. This is a shocking and unfair charge to make, considering the fact that the priest pedophilia crisis alone has already cost the American church over $2 billion.

These Bishops hope to pit teachers against parents--a strategy that is failing in Scranton, where both parents and students are joining the picket lines. They have also attempted to replace unions with employee relations programs, as Bishop Martino is doing in Scranton--a tactic that labor experts liken to the manipulative company-controlled "company unions" of the early twentieth century.

This anti-union activity threatens the Church's lay teachers, who are not in traditional labor unions and who make up an estimated 90 percent of the Church's 152,000 professional teaching ranks. They could all be forced to accept compromised salaries, benefits and pensions; sham grievance procedures; and the status of employees who can be fired at will. It also bears noting that women make up the overwhelming majority of Catholic school teachers, accounting for 75 percent of the teachers overall and more than 90 percent of elementary school teachers.
As for the treatment of the women trying to organize in St. Louis, Mary Chubb has characterized it as "real bullying and rudeness, and so disrespectful."

That the history of Catholic social teaching on workers' rights is unlikely to make it into the Pope's speech shouldn't surprise anyone who's followed his tenure in the papacy. The Church under Benedict has its own hierarchy of inviolable teachings. For instance, Benedict kicks off his US tour with a face-to-face meeting with President George W. Bush. Yet the fact that Bush has the blood of hundreds of thousands of men, women and children on his hands by failing to wage anything remotely resembling a "just war" in Iraq will pose no impediment to an amiable photo shoot between the two.

Despite the Church's opposition to discrimination, the historical record of women priests, deacons and bishops, and an escalating priest shortage, Catholic bishops unequivocally denounce the theologically well- educated as well as deeply pastoral Catholic women who are called to the priesthood and are moving ahead with ordination. Benedict set the tone for this culture of denunciation when, as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, he excommunicated the first seven women ordained Catholic priests, the earliest members of the thriving Roman Catholic Women Priests movement.

On the other hand, Benedict has never issued a similar public sanction against a single priest found guilty of raping, sodomizing or sexually terrorizing a child or against a single bishop who enabled such crimes to occur.

In fact, on this trip Benedict has chosen to avoid Boston, where the sex abuse crisis erupted in 2002. Nor does he plan to meet with any organizations representing the nation's more than 10,000 survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy, yet another callous and stunning violation of his pastoral responsibility.

On his visit, Benedict is also unlikely to acknowledge the most recent bad news, coming from a new study by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. It found that of the major religions in the United States, Catholicism has experienced the greatest loss of net members. That loss is partly offset by the high number of Catholic immigrants, primarily Latinos, joining the Church, but that should give Church leaders little comfort. If past surveys are any indication, these Catholics will eventually bring their own challenges to the Church's priorities and its intransigence on a host of critical issues.

For now, as the Pew survey shows, some 10 percent of all Americans--nearly 30 million people--are ex-Catholics, members of what one besieged progressive priest calls "the fastest-growing church in the United States."

Some disaffected and disillusioned Catholics are forming vibrant new spiritual communities that still identify themselves as members of the Church. Though Benedict will meet with the ecumenical leaders of other Christian denominations and with leaders of non-Christian traditions worldwide, he has no plans to address these disinherited Catholics. Their numbers include the unionizing teachers, errant theologians, married priests, women who aspire to the priesthood, clergy sex abuse survivors, homosexuals, the divorced and anyone remotely pro-choice.
In the Church of Benedict, some Catholics are in. Many are out. What Christian teaching countenances that?

Teachers begin daily picketing

The following story appeared in the Scranton Times Tribune, April 15, 2008

Teachers begin daily picketing with video

On Monday after school, about 150 Diocese of Scranton teachers and supporters marched along Wyoming Avenue, from the chancery to Holy Cross High School.

That scene will be replayed until the union’s dispute with Bishop Joseph F. Martino is resolved, union officials say.

The teachers first protested outside the chancery more than two months ago, at the first rally after the diocese announced it would not recognize the Scranton Diocese Association of Catholic Teachers as a collective bargaining unit.

Monday’s picket was the kickoff to scheduled daily demonstrations.

At least four to five teachers will picket outside the chancery after school on weekdays through the end of the school year, union President Michael Milz said.

“As long as we see our support continue to grow and our teachers remain adamant, you’ll see us around,” he said, as drivers honked their horns and gave thumbs up as they drove by.

Teachers carried signs that read “It’s about human dignity” and “Practice what you preach or we won’t teach.”

After repeated statements by the diocese that the decision is final and that union actions would make no difference, teachers said Monday they wouldn’t let that discourage their efforts.

“We’re willing to go the distance,” said Mary Humiston, a chemistry teacher at Holy Redeemer High School in Wilkes-Barre. “We’re just not giving up.

”After Monday’s demonstration, diocesan spokesman William Genello reiterated that the decision was not going to change.

Bishop Martino believes dignity and fair treatment can be achieved through the newly implemented employee relations program, Mr. Genello said.

“We all want the best for Catholic education and the students. Where we disagree is the best way to accomplish that,” he added.

Follow the links below for similar stories in:

Wilkes-Barre Times Leader, Arpril 15, 2008: Union backers picket at diocese chancery

Wilkes-Barre Citizens' Voice, April 15, 2008: Scranton Diocese teachers, supporters begin daily picketing

Bishop, union get closer on disagreement (literally)

The following column by Mark Guydish appeared in the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader, April 15, 2008:

Bishop, union get closer on disagreement (literally)

The Scranton Diocese Association of Catholic School Teachers, the union that once represented many local Catholic teachers and hopes to do so again, took their fight to Bishop Joseph Martino's doorstep almost literally by staging a picket outside the Chancery office this afternoon, beginning at 3 p.m.

Martino has repeatedly said the the rejection of the union in favor of an "Employee Relations Program" is final and irrevocable, and union president Michael Milz keeps saying that's "not acceptable." That makes this picket -- the start of daily pickets until school ends, Milz promised -- a meeting of the proverbial irresistible force running into the immovable object.

Without further comment, here are a few pictures of that proverbial meeting.

Catholic teachers will picket Scranton Diocese chancery

From the Wilkes-Barre Citizens Voice, April 14, 2008 - Page Two

Catholic teachers will picket Scranton Diocese chancery

Catholic school teachers, frustrated with the Diocese of Scranton’s refusal to recognize their union, kick off a “permanent picket” at diocesan offices today.

Scranton Diocese Association of Catholic Teachers will be in front of the diocese’s Chancery building, 300 Wyoming Ave., Scranton, from 3 to 5 p.m. At least 200 people are expected, according to union President Mike Milz.

After Monday’s demonstration, teachers will take turns doing the duty, he said.

“We’re going to picket every day, for varied times at varied lengths,” Milz said. “At least once a day, somebody will be picketing in front of the chancery.

”The building contains the diocese’s main offices. Bishop Joseph F. Martino is headquartered there.

“That’s the logical place to set up,” Milz said.

The diocese announced in January it would not recognize the Scranton Diocese Association of Catholic Teachers as a collective bargaining unit, but instead was starting an employee relations program. Statements from the diocese have repeatedly stressed that the decision is final.

Scranton Diocese Association of Catholic Teachers appealed the diocese’s decision to the Congregation for Catholic Education, and is awaiting word from the Vatican office on whether it can be overturned.

In the meantime, union supporters will continue their campaign for union recognition, including making a bus trip to demonstrate during the visit of Pope Benedict XVI to St. Joseph’s Seminary in Yonkers, N.Y., on April 19.

Milz said the union is trying to build coalitions with people who have similar problems with Martino. There is considerable criticism for many things he has done — particularly closing churches and schools — and opposition to his management style and his refusal to have dialogue with people, Milz said.

Follow this link for a similar story in the Scranton Times Tribune, April 14, 2008.

To Catholic School teachers: Don’t surrender, don’t retreat

The following letter to the editor appeared in the Wilkes-Barre Citizens' Voice. April 14, 2008.

To Catholic School teachers: Don’t surrender, don’t retreat

Editor:

In response to Christopher Calore’s letter to the Voice, I have the utmost respect for Bishop Martino, but I think he is getting the wrong advice.

Thirty years ago, The Times Leader newspaper was given the same bad advice, resulting in two newspapers.

Calore said that Jesus did not form a union. Jesus’ union was his disciples, who gave up more than money to follow Him.

The question I would ask in this situation is, “What would Jesus do?”

Would he choose to ignore the people who want a decent wage and benefits for themselves and their families?

We are talking about good, solid people, teachers, educators, Jesus’ children.

I have been union all my life. I was president of Local 406 for 32 years.

Bishop Martino’s plan if put into effect is nothing but a union busting tactic.

. Calore, I’m sure some of your benefits today came from unions.

To all the union teachers I say, no surrender, no retreat.

Lou Yanora
Wilkes-Barre
Past President Local 406

Local commentary supports SDACT campaign

The following letter to the editor appeared in the Scranton Times Tribune, April 12, 2008

Similar situation

Editor: From a human rights perspective, Bishop Joseph Martino’s refusal to allow the unionization of diocesan teachers flies in the face of reason. Historically, labor unions have brought dignity, improved working conditions and worker representation to the coal fields and to the garment industry that fueled this nation’s economy for decades.

Accordingly, there appears to be strong support in the area for the right of Catholic school teachers to unionize. Thus, many Catholics disagree with the position of Bishop Martino and the Diocese of Scranton.

On Easter Sunday, however, tens of thousands of Catholics attended Mass in churches across the diocese. Does this represent a contradiction by loyal, churchgoing Catholics who disagree with their bishop yet choose to worship in diocesan churches? Should those Catholics have scorned their bishop and their churches and led their families out of church because they didn’t agree with a position taken by their bishop and the diocese? The answer must be, surely not!

The Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has been criticized over his continued attendance at the sermons by his minister, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Would any person of reason expect that Barack Obama should scorn Rev. Wright and his church and lead his family out of church because he doesn’t agree with a position taken by Rev. Wright? Again, the answer can only be, surely not!True equality means, in part, that we are all entitled to be measured by the same standards. Northeastern Pennsylvanians should have a better perspective over the Rev. Wright controversy. A similar issue exists in the Scranton Diocese.

TERRY McALLISTER
DUNMORE

Diocesan teachers ready to renew campaign

FROM THE WILKES-BARRE CITIZENS' VOICE, APRIL 11, 2008 - PAGE ONE

Daily protests and a trip to New York City to demonstrate during the visit of Pope Benedict XVI are in the near future for Diocese of Scranton teachers.

After two weeks of planning and re-energizing, teachers are now pushing the campaign forward once again.

“This is not going away until there’s some kind of resolution,” union President Michael Milz said Thursday.

In January, the diocese announced it would not recognize the Scranton Diocese Association of Catholic Teachers as a collective bargaining unit, and instead it has implemented an employee relations program. Since then, teachers have campaigned against the decision.

On Monday, supporters will hold a picket outside the chancery on Wyoming Avenue, Scranton. The rally, which will be from 3 to 5 p.m., is expected to draw a couple hundred people, Milz said.

The rally will be the start of daily picketing in front of the chancery, in which groups of people will demonstrate outside the building every day for an hour or so, Milz said.

During the pope’s visit to New York City on April 19, the union will have an “informational demonstration” outside St. Joseph’s Seminary in Yonkers where he is scheduled to speak.

“We hope to at least wave to the pope and have him read our banner,” Milz said, adding that he hopes to fill 50 seats in a bus that a parent has donated for use on the trip.

The union’s campaign has already gotten the attention of the Vatican, as the Congregation for Catholic Education will soon review the case and issue a decision that could uphold or overrule Bishop Joseph F. Martino’s decision. Milz said he expects a preliminary decision within a month.

In addition, several labor unions are planning a “sizeable labor rally,” which may be held at a local stadium or arena, Milz said.

“We’re looking at this to be thousands of people coming to the area to march or campaign on our behalf,” Milz said, adding he would know more details later this month.

That rally could include the display of a giant inflatable rat, which labor unions have used in various demonstrations across the country.

Despite the demonstrations and events planned, the decision to not recognize the union will not change, the diocese said in a statement Thursday.

“The decision regarding recognition of SDACT is final and will not be revoked … SDACT’s continued opposition to the program is pointless and will not change the decision,” the statement read.

READ A RELATED STORY IN THE SCRANTON TIMES TRIBUNE, APRIL 11, 2008
Diocesan teachers to ramp up efforts

Bishop in another diocese questioned for heavy hand

The following letter to the editor appeared in the Wilkes-Barre Citizens' Voice, April 5, 2008:

Editor:

Most of people in this area are not aware that there is a Catholic Bishop who is causing dissension in his diocese. It seems that in the last year he has made important decisions without consulting the people of the diocese or even the priests that have to implement these decisions. The people and priests have tried to talk to him but he refuses to listen or even respond to them. Although there are still people who support the bishop it has gotten to the point where one third of the active priests and several retired priests in the diocese have decided that he is causing such great harm they have written a letter of “No confidence” and sent it to the Vatican.

His name is James Braxton, and he is the Bishop of The Diocese of Belleville, Illinois. The priests that wrote the letter realized that although Bishop Braxton is in authority in the diocese, a bishop is just a man and he can make mistakes. They realized that when a man makes a decision that harms many people and he will not correct his mistake it is up to other men of conscience to do something to correct the problem, even if it may cost them personally.

When a man of integrity is approached by thousands of people and told he made a mistake he thinks to himself maybe I erred, maybe I got bad information and advice, maybe I should talk to these people to find out their point of view and rethink my decision. When an arrogant man is told by thousands of people he has made a mistake he gets angry and stubborn. He refuses to listen to facts or reconsider his decision. He lashes out at the people that he feels are against him saying, “My decision is final.” It seems from the information coming out of the Belleville diocese that Bishop Braxton is the second type of man. Catholics here in the Scranton Diocese should be thankful that a man like Bishop Braxton is not in authority here, and our priests do not have to take such action to fight for justice.

Eugene Gowisnok
Swoyersville

Calling Catholic teachers greedy is a blatant and terrible untruth

The following letter to the editor appeared in the Wilkes-Barre Citizens' Voice, April 5, 2008:

Editor:

Reading the most recent idiotic and unreal accusations being made against the teachers working for the schools in the Diocese of Scranton appalled me almost beyond disbelief.

In the latest, badly executed diatribe against those educators, Bill Genello, a diocesesan public relations representative, petulantly parroted Bishop Joseph Martino’s ongoing allegations of greed as motivation for the teachers’ unthinkable and selfish desire to choose their own union representatives.

Has anyone at the diocesesan headquarters even remotely contemplated the possible consequences of the ever-increasing swell of public support for the teachers? Probably, no.

Parochial school educators historically, and on a national basis, earn a lower salary than any public or secular private school teacher.

I know this because, for the last 30-plus years, my two younger sisters have been hard-working, faithful Catholic teachers in parochial school systems; one in an elementary school and one in a high school.

They have both gone far beyond the call of duty, both in and out of the classrooms for their students — not due to any wish for a larger paycheck.

They have both given unselfishly of their own time, energy and personal finances to enrich the learning process for their students — not because it was part of their job requirements.

They have both demonstrated an unflinching loyalty to their faith, their schools and their dedication to their chosen professions — not due to any unrealistic hopes for cash and/or benefit increases.

The office solemnly charged with the local religious community’s spiritual and educational well-being is publicly treating our local teachers like money- and power-hungry monsters intent on trying to destroy the very fabric of the educational system and the diocese. This scenario would be ludicrous if it weren’t so damaging to all involved.

I defy anyone to claim that any teacher in any state in this country goes into the parochial school system with visions of dollar signs dancing in their heads.I defy anyone to claim it is the right of this bishop to defame and vilify any member of his religious community for merely requesting of him the simple human decency to take the time to listen with an open mind.

I defy anyone to claim that the teachers in this diocese are being herded about like sheep by the leaders of the SDACT with alleged malicious intent to harm their students and the Catholic apostate.

To Bishop Martino: In letter you wrote in February on the personnel practices for the Diocese of Scranton, members of this community were reminded about how “unions protected coal miners, factory workers and other laborers from being exploited by unscrupulous companies.

”If, as you stated, “our classrooms are not coal mines,” why is your attitude so reminiscent of a mine boss?

Sue McCarty

Sugar Notch

Teachers to Picket Pope in New York City

From the New York Post, April 3, 2008

One of two Catholic-school teachers unions is turning up the heat in its labor dispute with the Archdiocese of New York - threatening a strike to coincide with the pope's visit this month.

No disrespect intended to Pope Benedict XVI , insists the Lay Faculty Association, which represents teachers at 10 high schools, including five in the city.

But union members, working with out a contract since August, said they decided to take advantage of the His Holiness' visit to highlight their grievances over salary, pension and health-care shortfalls.

"A lot of people from the Catholic community are going to be coming into New York, and we want them to know there's a problem," said union rep Henry Kielkucki.

Archdiocese spokesman Joseph Zwilling called the threatened strike "an insult" to the pope.

He said teachers had been offered "generous" salary increases of 17 percent to 19.5 percent over a three-year period.

The bumps would raise low-end salaries from $38,107 to $44,585. High-end salaries would move from $45,757 to $54,701 in the last year of the deal.

Zwilling said Catholic schools would close April 17-18 as part of the pope's visit to New York, which is scheduled to start April 18.

But Kielkucki questioned the closing April 17, suggesting it was a pre-emptive move against the embarrassment of a strike.

BISHOP'S UNION BUSTING BECOMES NATIONAL STORY: "Union ban provokes firestorm of criticism"

FROM THE NATIONAL CATHOLIC REPORTER, APRIL 4, 2008.

Union ban provokes firestorm of criticism

When Bishop F. Martino closed four unionized Catholic high schools in a reorganization of the Scranton, Pa., diocese last year, he said he would permit the Scranton Diocese Association of Catholic Teachers to continue to organize in schools.

In June, the bishop changed his mind. He refused to meet with the union and in its place implemented an employee relations program that critics have dubbed a “company union” -- one in which the diocese is in control. Teachers who had previously agreed to labor contracts with individual schools were told the union would no longer be recognized.

The bishop’s move has ignited a firestorm in this heavily unionized and Catholic region of northeastern Pennsylvania. The dispute has also gained the attention of the Vatican Congregation for Catholic Education, where, according to union president Michael A. Milz, the case will come under review.

In the Scranton diocese, two high schools each closed for a day after association teachers called in sick. At one, Holy Redeemer in Wilkes-Barre, students also took part, with 275 staging a short walkout and another 175 calling in sick, according to Milz, a high school teacher in the diocese. The union counseled students to remain outside the dispute after those involved were penalized, with some losing their right to play on school athletic teams.

In mid-March, the diocese issued a statement that said: “The tactics of SDACT’s leaders will not benefit anyone, and they will not succeed. SDACT will not be recognized, and this decision is final.”

Although the union has been in the diocese for 30 years, the bishop has the law on his side. The 1935 National Labor Relations Act does not include protections for Catholic lay teachers, and a 1979 U.S. Supreme Court case upheld the exclusion. Only three states -- New York, New Jersey and Minnesota -- have enacted laws to protect lay Catholic teachers’ unions.

Still, the bishop’s decision has drawn criticism from all corners of the diocese. Milz said the union will keep pressure on Martino to dialogue with the association, but the option to strike is also on the table.

As Milz sees it, support for the union from teachers and the public is overwhelming, an assessment affirmed by a local reporter familiar with the issues. Milz got a standing ovation from a crowd of 700 parents and teachers who attended a March 9 informational meeting in Wilkes-Barre, and more than 150 union-backers walked together in the city’s annual St. Patrick’s Day parade.

While diocesan priests have remained quiet, Holy Cross Fr. Patrick J. Sullivan, a professor at Wilkes-Barre’s King’s College, wrote Martino and local newspapers criticizing the bishop’s actions.

“Why must the teachers have to suffer financially and be denied not only their moral right to unionize, but also their moral right to an adequate living wage -- a bedrock of Catholic social teaching?” wrote Sullivan, who teaches sociology and theology with an emphasis on labor. “When the U.S. Catholic bishops issued their 1986 pastoral, ‘Economic Justice for All,’ they supported real unions, not ‘company unions.’ ”

A diocesan priest who requested anonymity said Martino won’t back down. Describing the standoff as “a disaster” in terms of diocesan unity, the priest predicted, “This doesn’t have a happy ending.”

Martino has turned down interview requests, including one from NCR.

Milz said he’s not sure why the bishop decided to cut off the union. He said he learned of Martino’s decision from an article in the Jan. 24 issue of the diocesan paper, The Catholic Light. Until then, Milz said, he had received repeated assurances from diocesan officials that the union could remain.

Six of Pennsylvania’s eight dioceses have union representation (Scranton, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Greensburg, Altoona-Johnstown and Allentown). Erie and Harrisburg have never organized.

In a full-page ad placed in major newspapers in Wilkes-Barre, Scranton and Williamsport, the bishop wrote: “The primary goal of SDACT’s leaders has always been the acquisition of the greatest financial gains and other contractual concessions it could obtain from the parishes that formerly governed the schools.”

In response, Milz wrote: “First, we make no excuses for what our contracts have called for financially. Even at those schools that had the highest-paid teachers, wages and benefits ran far below those enjoyed by public school teachers. ... We have always looked on our job as a ministry or vocation, one in which we have had a chance to mold the next generation of Catholic adults into productive and Christian members of society.”

An e-mail reply to NCR from the diocese included seven documents from the diocesan Web site. “This information represents any comment the diocese would make,” wrote Bill Genello, the diocese’s executive director of communications.

Regarding the Vatican’s role, Rita Schwartz, president of the National Association of Catholic School Teachers, said if the Congregation for Catholic Education sides with the diocese, the union will appeal to the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura -- often called the Supreme Court of the church.

Milz, who also serves as executive vice president of the Philadelphia-based National Association of Catholic School Teachers, said union battles between bishops and Catholic institutions are all too frequent, given church teaching in support of workers’ rights. In the past, teachers have been fired outright for union activities, and last year in St. Louis, teachers gave up an eight-year battle to organize Catholic elementary school teachers.

In St. Louis, the “union was systematically broken” by the hierarchy, Milz said. “It is as if the church’s social justice teaching [on labor] didn’t exist at all.”

Patrick O’Neill is a freelance writer in Garner, N.C.

National Catholic Reporter, April 4, 2008

Northeast Region PSEA Backs SDACT Campaign

Below is a link to a letter from the Northeast Region of the PSEA endorsing the SDACT campaign for justice and dignity. We are extremely grateful to all of our brothers and sisters from PSEA for this and many other acts of kindness shown to us during our campaign.

PSEA%20letter.pdf

Follow the link below to related stories in today's newspapers:

The Wilkes-Barre Citizens' Voice

The Scranton Times-Tribune

The Wilkes-Barre Times Leader

Martino is far from fatherly when he refuses to communicate

The following letter to the editor appeared in the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader, April 1, 2008.

Martino is far from fatherly when he refuses to communicate

It appears that the news about Bishop Joseph Martino is fading, but what is the truth?
I have said someone should tell him what he should do, and if you check your history books, you will see that someone did. Pope Leo XIII wrote an encyclical telling the entire church how they should treat this situation, and this bishop is in serious violation of the teachings of this important doctrine.

I am a father and I resent him calling himself a father figure to the people of the diocese. He refuses to talk to the people. I do, and so did Jesus. He preached and healed the people.

This man refuses to speak with the people of this union. A father is understanding, and this man could hardly be accused of this.

It seems funny that all of his predecessors had no problems with the leaders of this union. They worked with them, and if you looked at the wages these teachers are getting paid you could hardly accuse them of being self-seeking.

This man would be good in a diocese at Antarctica, but certainly not here.

John Bartoli
Kingston