SDACT RESPONSE TO DIOCESAN STATEMENT OF "MISINFORMATION"

See today's media coverage connected to the post below:

Wilkes-Barre Citizen's Voice

Diocese strikes back at union

Scranton Times-Tribune

Diocese answers union’s claims

Yesterday, the Diocese released for insertion in this Sunday's bulletin a leaflet entitled: "Facts Regarding False Accusations Made by Scranton Diocese Association of Catholic Teachers."

Last week we were told that missives such as this constitute "dialogue." It is only fair then that we too speak our mind. So here goes point by point:

"SDACT Accusation: The Diocese of Scranton has acted in violation of Church teaching on unions; especially the 1891 encyclical of Pope Leo XIII entitled Rerum Novarum. (On Capital and Labor)
Fact: Rerum Novarum shows no objection to programs such as the diocesan Employee Relations Program. Paragraph 49 reads, '...it is most clearly necessary that workers' associations be adapted to meet the present need. It is gratifying that societies of this kind composed of either workers alone or of workers and employers together are being formed everywhere, and it is truly to be desired that they grow in number and in active vigor.' Neither the civil law nor the Canon Law of the Catholic Church require the recognition of unions in Catholic schools. A union, then, is not required, essential or mandated."

SDACT Response:

Rerum Novarum was only the first of many labor encyclicals put out by the Church, but in no way was it the last word on the right to found labor unions that rise from the desire of the workers. Without going year by year and encyclical by encylical or through various statements made by several conferences of US Catholic bishops, here is what current official Scranton Diocesan School Policy #417 has to say on the issue:

"Catholic social teaching strongly supports the rights of lay teachers to organize and to bargain collectively. A corollary of the right of lay teachers to organize is the right which they possess to determine the agency or organization which is to represent them in the collective bargaining process. Catholic lay teachers also have the right to free elections, full negotiations, mediation, conciliation and similar services under the auspices of a neutral body."

Secondly, this is what Pope John Paul II had to say in his encyclical, Laborem Exercens:

"In a sense, unions go back to the medieval guilds . . . 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. Thus there are unions of agricultural workers and of white-collar workers; there are also employers' associations. All, as has been said above, are further divided into groups or subgroups according to particular professional specializations."

For more on the Church and labor, we suggest you view the website "The Catholic Labor Page." ,and then you be the judge.


"SDACT Accusation: By not recognizing SDACT, the Diocese of Scranton is now out of the Catholic mainstream. Moreover, contrary to the above citation from Rerum Novarum, SDACT claims that a union is "the only real representation that provides for justice and dignity for workers anywhere."
Fact: Not every diocese has a union in its Catholic schools. In Pennsylvania alone, where unions have a long history in secular employment, teachers laboring in the dioceses of Harrisburg and Erie are not unionized. Other dioceses in the nation do not have unions. Are all of them violating Catholic teaching? Are they denying justice and dignity to their workers? While unions are appropriate in some situations, they are not the only means to achieve justice for workers.
By establishing the Employee Relations Program, the Diocese of Scranton has shown a commitment to Catholic social teaching consonant with other Catholic dioceses in Pennsylvania and the nation as a whole."

SDACT Response: Six of Pennsylvania's eight dioceses have unions. And to answer the question posed above. If an employer anywhere is denying teachers or other workers the right to freely formed labor unions to represent them, then "yes" they are denying justice and dignity to their workers as well. If the workers do no want a union, and that too is their free choice, then so be it.

"SDACT Accusation: Teachers in Diocesan Catholic schools are grossly underpaid. Although money is not their primary aim, they need a union to ensure they are paid a "living wage."

Fact: On February 28, classes at Holy Redeemer High School in Wilkes-Barre had to be cancelled because a majority of the teachers refused to report for work. The average salary for the 67 full-time teachers at Holy Redeemer is $49,100. This does not include administrators. Salaries for teachers range from $23,400 to $61,465. The various salary ranges and the number of teachers in each range are:
15 teachers: $60,000 - $70,000
15 teachers: $50,000 - $60,000
20 teachers: $40,000 - $50,000
11 teachers: $30,000 - $40,000
6 teachers: $20,000 - $30,000 (these are first- and second-year
teachers)
These figures do not include health care benefits, which total $536,946.
This is the amount paid by the Diocese; it does not include the employee contribution. In addition, children of Holy Redeemer teachers who attend Catholic schools are receiving free tuition totaling $146,000."

SDACT RESPONSE: First, we make no apologies for what our teachers earn. Even those at the top of the scale fall far behind others in the teaching profession. Moreover, those who have reached the top have done so after no less than 37 years, and with advanced degrees (at least two have PhD's). Were these public school teachers, they would have been long since retired, but lack of sufficient pension neccesitates otherwise. Moreover, cited are only the salaries at Holy Redeemer. Salaries elsewhere in the Diocese are considerably lower.

"SDACT Accusation: The Diocese has hired a 'union busting' firm, and/or used anti-union websites, to help shape its personnel practices.
Fact: The Diocese has not hired a 'union busting' firm, nor used anti-union websites or other such resources. The Diocese does consult with a Wilkes-Barre law firm specializing in labor relations, just as SDACT consults with a Philadelphia law firm with expertise in this area of the law."

SDACT RESPONSE: If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it is still a duck (it does not have to be a specialized duck). In any case, this was not our charge but that of experts in the field of labor relations. Go to the following link for a related story;"Expert: Bishop’s message anti-union"

"SDACT Accusation: The Diocesan Employee Relations Program is a sham, and representatives on the program's Employee Councils were hand picked by the Diocese or the school administrations, or somehow were coerced into participating.
Fact: Representatives for the Employee Councils were chosen by their peers. Each school was instructed to conduct a secret ballot election to accomplish this. The Employee Relations Program covers teachers as well as support staff such as aides, administrators, office staff, cafeteria staff and maintenance personnel. The program involves the formation of Employee Councils, Wage and Benefit Committees, Health Care Sub-Committees and Grievance Committees for each of the four regional school systems that were established last year in the restructuring of Diocesan Catholic schools."

SDACT RESPONSE: We have already addressed this issue above, but we'll say it again. Not being freely chosen and established by workers themselves, this type of company union can never have legitimacy. It would be an illegal creation in any other workplace in America.

"SDACT Accusation: When Bishop Martino stated in a letter published in local newspapers that 'This association's leaders have reasons based on self-interest for wanting to retain their role in some of our schools,'SDACT President Michael Milz charged that this was a 'despicable'
union-busting tactic. In a subsequent letter to the Bishop, Mr. Milz claimed that 'We do not request recognition out of greed or avarice...'
Fact: Prior to the decision regarding its recognition, SDACT's dues-paying membership had significantly declined from 282 in 2001 to 219 in 2007. There are currently 713 lay teachers employed in the Diocese of Scranton. Despite the 63-person reduction in membership, SDACT's leadership received the following annual stipends:Michael Milz, as executive vice president of National Association of Catholic Schools Teachers: $25,660,Michael Milz, as president of SDACT: $12,872, Jim Lynch, as vice president of SDACT: $5,000
(Source: Form LM-3 Labor Organization Annual Report, U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Labor-Management Standards, as of Dec. 31, 2006 - the most recent period for which data is available.)"

SDACT RESPONSE: "Yes it is dispicable to characterize the motives of our officers as motivated by self-interest, and now by allusion to greed and avarice, as well. (Moreover, the use of "we," cited above, was in reference to all of our teachers, not the union leadership). Stipends for union officers are determined by the elected members of the Association's Executive Board and thus reflect the will of the membership. As noted, those stipends are public record and published yearly by the Labor Department and IRS. Were those officers to return to their second jobs which they gave up years ago to serve the union, they would be substantially better off financially. "Stipend" is indeed the correct term - defined as "small coin or a contribution in small coin." Mike Milz, our Association President, prior to serving in both union roles, which constitute a second-full time job, made more money bartending for far fewer hours than he puts in at present.

Finally, Jim Lynch, Association Vice-President, is set for retirement at the end of the present school year. President Milz, is following close behind. The current campaign, as every teacher and parent knows, has nothing to do with their self-interest and continuing to receive their stipends. They are both concerned only with the future of Catholic education and the welfare of those who will follow in their footsteps.