PAN-METHODIST RESOURCES FOR WORKER JUSTICE

rom its beginnings with , has expressed concern and affirmation for working people. Justice, dignity and equality for workers are Fhallmarks of Methodist social teachings. This manual reaffirms the tradition of worker justice that unites the African Methodist Episcopal (AME), the African Methodist Episcopal Zion (AME Zion), the Christian Methodist Episcopal (CME), and The United Methodist (UM) Churches. You will find the current statements of the denominations, highlights and quotes from Methodist history, liturgical resources and suggested actions for the local church. It is our hope and prayer that this volume will deepen one’s understanding of and rekindle the Wesleyan passion for justice and equality in the workplace. Special thanks go to the Pan Methodist Commission for help in the distribution of this manual and to the United Methodist Concern for Workers Task Force for helping to edit the material. Methodist Statements on Worker Justice

AME Statement gospel to bear on institutions and systems of Liberation for Working Persons: A Statement in power. Congregations therefore will seek God’s Support of Labor Unions on behalf of the guidance to become agents of challenge and African Methodist Episcopal Church Adopted change institutions on labor issues. July 1997 There are precious few resources for pastors and congregations that lift up the concerns of ince their inception Labor Unions have Labor Day Weekend during the worship experi- served as a liberation force for American ence. However, workers are losing ground on the workers. Labor Unions were established, battlefield for just and equitable wages and the S church is uniquely positioned to partner with much like the African Methodist Episcopal Church, to insure that their members received cer- unions and workers to effect change. tain immutable rights. The guarantee of safe working conditions, fair pay, health and retire- UMC Statement ment benefits remain Labor Unions’ lofty agenda. The Social Principles, paragraphs 163.B-C Even in 1997, a mere three years before the dawn of the twenty-first century, Labor Unions are as e support the right of public and private critical and necessary to the American worker as (including farm, government, institu- they were nearly a century ago. Labor Unions are Wtional, and domestic) employees and endeared to our church as they and their leg- employers to organize for collective bargaining endary leaders showed unwavering support for into unions and other groups of their own choos- African American civil and voting rights move- ing. Further, we support the right of both parties ments. The African Methodist Episcopal Church to protection in so doing and their responsibility affirms and upholds the outstanding accomplish- to bargain in good faith within the framework of ments and achievements that Labor Unions have the public interest…. We reject the use of violence made in the past benefiting the entire spectrum of by either party during collective bargaining or any the American economy; and we support their labor/management disagreement. We likewise efforts at reformation as well as strengthening reject the permanent replacement of a worker who themselves for the new millennium. engages in a lawful strike. Every person has the right to a job at a living CME Statement wage. We support social measures that ensure the By Rev. James B. Walker, pastor of Phillips Christian physical and mental safety of workers, that pro- Methodist Episcopal Church in Hartford, vide for the equitable division of products and Connecticut. services, and that encourage an increasing free- dom in the way individuals may use their leisure selected portion of the of the time. We believe that persons come before profits. Christian Methodist Episcopal Church We deplore the selfish spirit that often pervades states “Jesus taught us...to be concerned our economic life. We support policies that A encourage the sharing of ideas in the workplace, for the welfare and the well-being of others, to love our neighbors as ourselves, to be concerned cooperative and collective work arrangements. for justice… For the church to be silent in the face We support rights of workers to refuse to work in of need, injustice, and exploitation is to deny the situations that endanger health and/or life with- Lord of the Church.” out jeopardy to their jobs. The creed is meant to serve as a springboard for a larger and more salient dialogue on the ideal of justice for workers within a society where jus- tice often lies dormant. The Social Creed is meant to usher the church to a platform of advocacy and action in a way that brings the message of the

2 National Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice • www.nicwj.org No One Is Really Free Until People Can Live with Dignity

An interview with Rev. Michael Rouse, Pastor of St. veniences of life while others have none, some- Catherine A.M.E. Zion Church in New Rochelle, NY and thing is wrong. It is a violation of God’s covenant member of the National Interfaith Committee for with us. Worker Justice (NICWJ) Board of Directors. Interview conducted by Rebekah Jordan, Intern, NICWJ. Are there special challenges workers face today ow did you first become involved in that were not there in the past? labor issues? MR: The biggest challenge we face in labor today HMR: I first became involved because I was is to get all people to understand that without the a member of the Teamsters’ Union. I worked in the labor movement, until there were labor unions, trucking industry for 18 years, and was a shop some of them didn’t enjoy the comforts and bene- union for about five years. When I fits they enjoy today. Labor is not an evil force, but entered the ministry and was pastoring in the something that is necessary. Modern day workers Chicago area, I was approached to help form the suffer because they don’t know the history of the National Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice. labor movement and they don’t understand that they can win. They don’t understand that what From your perspective, why should people of they enjoy today someone else suffered for. All of faith be involved in worker issues? us have some flaws, and there are some negatives MR: Well, you know, I think it’s theologically to [the labor movement], but there are negatives sound, biblically sound [to be involved in worker on both sides. Our biggest challenge today is to issues]. We have to be concerned not just about educate people in the workforce about how things ourselves but about total community. People of really came into being. We also have a global com- faith are charged with caring for all people, being munity in which big business can spread its wings good neighbors. We bring a different perspective and exercise its power beyond even one govern- of serving than perhaps union leadership would. ment. All that is part of the struggle. Those of us who are people of faith contribute our time and talents and sometimes even gifts of our If a Methodist church told you they wanted to own substance because of our faith, because God become involved in worker justice issues, what would have each person have the right to a living would you suggest they do as a first step? wage and decent working conditions. We believe MR: I would refer them to the National Interfaith in the good of all people and for the good of all Committee for Worker Justice. I know that it is one people. We’re sort of the conscience of what’s of the major resources for information about how going on in our work. to get involved in worker rights. The Interfaith Committee is open and willing to the idea of net- Are there particular reasons that the A.M.E. Zion working with other bodies, and if someone was church should be involved in worker justice? trying to get a project off the ground, it would be MR: In the AMEZ, we call ourselves the freedom a marvelous place for someone to get started. church. In the early beginnings of our church, we separated from the Methodist Episcopal Church Any final words for us? for not being able to exercise our spiritual gifts. MR: I wish more people would get involved, that Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, and we could get more people around the table to dis- Sojourner Truth were all members of AMEZ cuss the issues and weigh in where we are on mat- church. We believe in justice; we believe in fair- ters. I talk about a sense of urgency. We’re not talk- ness. People have a right to exist with dignity and ing about taking something that rightfully belongs honor, even in the workplace. Until no human to someone else. But it has to be about sharing the being wakes and finds that the sky is the roof over wealth of the world in a way that all people can their head and the earth is their bed, then no one exist in human dignity. We have to use whatever is really free. We need to work together across the vehicles are available that allow us to do it from a globe so that all people can live with dignity. religious perspective and yet let people know that When there are those of us who have all the con- we mean business.

National Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice • www.nicwj.org 3 A Heritage of Advocacy for Workers Ninety years after adoption of the Social Creed, United Methodists continue to uphold the rights of working people.

By Darren Cushman Wood, pastor of Speedway UM in Pullman and the Swedish Methodist pastor Church in Indianapolis, Indiana were alone in their support for the workers. 1812 Carwadine publicized their plight and organ- In 1812, nearly 80% of the class leaders in New ized the Pullman Relief Committee. York City were journeymen, master craftsmen, 1908 or unskilled laborers. In 1908 the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church adopted the first 1820Rev. William Stillwell helped to found the New Social Creed declaring the church’s opposi- York Society for Promoting Communities in the tion to child labor, unsafe working conditions 1820s. The Society issued an “anti-capitalist and a reduction in work hours. manifesto” based on Leviticus 25. Stillwell also 1919 provided support for the AME Zion Church. Methodist Episcopal Bishop Francis J. McConnell led the Interchurch World 1830In the 1830s in Baltimore, class leaders Richard Movement’s investigation of the 1919 Steel Donahue, David Parr, John H.W. Hawkins and Strike. several founding members of the Strawbridge 1927 Methodist Church were leaders in the hatters Rev. A.A. Geist and Grace Community and cordwainers strikes and advocated for the Methodist Episcopal Church of Denver ten-hour day. opened their doors for union meetings during 1834 the 1927-28 miners strike. In 1834 six British farmers were convicted to 1929 hard labor for organizing a union. The leader, Winifred Chappell of the Methodist James Loveless, was a Methodist local preacher. Federation for Social Action helped organize They became known as the “Tolpuddle textile workers in North Carolina in 1929. Martyrs.” 1932 1844 The 1932 General Conference of the “When Lord Londonderry evicted strikers after Methodist Church declared that “the present the 1844 coal strike [in England], two-thirds of industrial order is unchristian, unethical and the Durham Primitive Methodist circuit became antisocial.” homeless.” (E.J. Hobsbawm, Labouring Men) 1938 1870 In 1938 Bishop Bromley Oxnam made a radio Before becoming a bishop in the AME Church, appeal to listeners to support the passage of Henry McNeal Turner introduced a bill mandat- the National Labor Relations Act. Throughout ing the eight-hour day in the Georgia state leg- the 1950s he served on the Public Review islature in 1870. Board of the United Auto Workers. 1872 1946 Boston ship carpenter and Methodist local Rev. Charles Webber of the Methodist Church preacher Edward Rogers helped start the was known as the “chaplain of organized Christian Labor Union in 1872, the first organi- labor” for his work in creating the Denver zation dedicated to labor and religion. Rogers Labor College in the 1920s, serving as presi- served in the state legislature and served on dent of the Virginia CIO in 1946 and as direc- committees that investigated the apprentice sys- tor of the Office of Religious Relations for the tem and work hours. AFL-CIO until 1963. 1894 1975 When workers went on strike in 1894 against the Bishop Eugene Slater was instrumental in Pullman Palace Car Company, Rev. William supporting melon field workers in Texas. Carwadine of First Methodist Episcopal Church

4 National Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice • www.nicwj.org Sample Worship Service This worship service can be used in full or adapted for special times to honor workers, such as Labor Day Sunday or Workers Memorial Day (April 28).

By Rev. James B. Walker, pastor of Phillips Christian Methodist Episcopal Church in Hartford, Connecticut. Prayer of Confession

The Call to Worship Tender and Fierce God, whose : Today we gather to reflect upon the importance of work work is justice and whose delight and the value of that work to our world. is mercy, forgive us for ignoring People: We gather to acknowledge the worth of those who labor the cries of workers who labor and the need to join in efforts that promote justice in under the tyranny of harassment, the workplace and eradicate poverty in our society. violence and poverty. Minister: Today we reflect upon Paul, not only as a missionary, Free us from greed that comforts but we also see him as the tentmaker. our bodies and eats away at our People: Today we recall the image of Jesus not only as savior, souls. but also as a carpenter. Free us for a life of joyful resist- ance to evil, injustice and oppres- The Opening Hymn sion in whatever forms they pres- “ACharge to Keep I Have,” “Come thou Fount of Every Blessing,” ent themselves; through Jesus “Hark the Voice of Jesus Calling” Christ our only Lord, Amen.

Responsive Reading Minister: Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to Dedication of an Offering afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou L: Great Creator whose work is call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD? the redemption of the world; People: Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let P: Accept the fruits of our labor. the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? (symbols of the various occupa- Minister: Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou tions of the are placed on the bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou alter) seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? L: Consecrate our daily lives so People: Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and that we may be a reflection of thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy right- your grace; eousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy reward. P: Accept the offering of our- selves. (offering plates are placed Minister: Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou on the altar) shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the L: And bless our gifts so that they finger, and speaking vanity; may be a channel of your love, People: And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satis- peace and justice through our fy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and Savior Jesus Christ. thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. P: Amen. Minister: And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many gen- (from the United Methodist erations; Workers’ Rights Manual) All: and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.

National Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice • www.nicwj.org 5 Worker Justice Worship Reflection and Litany

“For just as the body is one and has many members, with his words make us unaware of their incredible and all the members of the body, though many, are consequences. one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit It can sometimes be difficult for members of a we were all baptized into one body.” body who are so diverse to identify with each others’ I Corinthians 12:12-13 joys and sorrows. What does it mean when a worker ost Christians have heard these words has stayed with a company for 12 years but is stilled many times. Paul gives us a beautiful and called a “temporary” worker and can receive no ben- Mstartling image, but perhaps our familiarity efits? What does it mean when the poultry process- ing plant in a small town where there are few other employment options sud- Litany denly lays off half of its workforce? What does it One: Let us gather as members of mean when a group of day one body before one God. care workers finally bargain All: By one Spirit we were bap- a union contract after years tized into the body of Christ. of trying? Perhaps these situations One: As one body, we share com- would look different to us if mon hurts, common joys, and a we heard with new ears the common labor. When poultry work- news that we are members ers’ dignity is abused on the job, of each other by our mem- All: We all suffer with them. bership in the body of Christ. Our very bodies and One: When a group of janitors souls are knit to each other finally get health care after months Our very bodies and through baptism in the Holy of struggle, souls are knit to Spirit. Our working and All: We all rejoice with them. each other through dreaming are bound up in each other. We must suffer One: When health care workers are baptism in the Holy together. We must call for fired for trying to organize a union, justice together. We must All: We all suffer with them. Spirit. Our working heal together. Members of and dreaming are the body may live drastical- One: When managers find the bound up in each ly different lives, yet our courage to call for change in their common bonds can not be companies, other. We must suf- broken, even if we do not All: We all rejoice with them. fer together. We recognize those bonds. Lives of separation are ended. Let One: We are members of one must call for justice us remember our baptism another in the body of Christ. Let together. We must into the one body and be us celebrate our baptism in our heal together. thankful! worship and our living. All: Thanks be to God! by Rebekah K. Jordan United Methodist By Rebekah Jordan, United Methodist Deacon and former intern at the National Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice.

National Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice, 1020 West Bryn Mawr, 4th Fl., Chicago, IL 60660 Phone: (773) 728-8400 • Fax: (773) 728-8409 • E-mail: [email protected] • www.nicwj.org

6 National Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice • www.nicwj.org Reflections of a Union Methodist By Michael J. Sullivan, Sheet Metal Workers’ International Association

s a boy, my attitude toward Church was remi- wrong with this baby is that she is hungry.” Her niscent of the classic Sunday scene from the mouth was clear. Her disease healed. I would not have AAdventures of Tom Sawyer. Determined to believed it. But I saw it. And I began to understand impress the Reverend Thatcher’s beautiful daughter, what we can do for one another with God’s help. Becky, Tom trades his prized possessions for enough Imagine my mother’s joy when I decided to Bible verse tickets to be ceremoniously presented with become a Methodist minister. But God – who ulti- his own copy of the Good Book in front of the entire mately makes those determinations – had other things congregation. Astounded at Tom’s achievement, the in mind for me. And before long, just as others had Reverend tests our hero’s knowl- prodded me into attending Sunday edge of scripture by asking him to School, others were encouraging name two of the 12 Apostles. Tom, I realized that labor’s me to run for offices in my union. who had never legitimately memo- goals – living wages, That’s when I discovered something rized a Biblical fact in his young life, secure jobs, safe work- wonderful – the deep connection replies, “David and Goliath.” between my religious convictions Fortunately, because of my places, health care, and my desire to help others. mother’s best efforts, my brother education, civil rights, I realized that labor’s goals – liv- and I were not like Tom. Mom social and economic ing wages, secure jobs, safe work- taught Sunday School at our places, health care, education, civil Methodist church in Indianapolis, justice for all...are the rights, social and economic justice and to her, a proper Sunday morn- works that all who have for all people are the works that all ing consisted of song, prayer and received the gift of who have received the gift of grace fellowship. My brother and I had grace are charged to do. are charged to do. different ideas. Our Sunday morn- The heros of Labor, Reverend ing ideals were sleep, playing out- Dr. Martin Luther King, Lech side and a big bowl of sugared cereal. Accordingly, Walesa, and Cesar Chavez have devoted their lives to we’d usually try to dodge church with convenient, helping others. John Wesley, who reminded us that but nonexistent, headaches, stomach upsets and flu. beyond meeting the needs of our families, our money My mother’s response was equally predictable: “If and energy should be directed to “feed the hungry, you can’t give two hours a week to the Lord,” she’d clothe the naked, help the stranger, the widow, the say, “you can stay inside the rest of the week to get fatherless; and indeed, as far as it will go, to relieve well.” Our recuperations were quick and miraculous. the wants of all mankind.” That is Labor’s goal. And Suffice to say I started going to church at the that is the Church’s goal. Together, we much contin- behest of others. Didn’t appreciate it. Didn’t really ue to be activists and organizers for change and understand it. But somehow, all that talk about lov- improvement in how we treat each other. ing and helping and caring and justice began to stick. “We ask for (the Church’s) presence beside us,” Not to say that my transformation was quick or com- said Chavez. “To sacrifice with the people for social plete. But over the years, my attitude toward God change, for justice, and for love of brother. We don’t and his role in my life began to change. ask for words. We ask for deeds.” I’d see the power of prayer first hand when my I see every day the social injustice that is caused baby sister fell seriously ill. After six months of hospi- by greed, ambitions, materialism and the lack of a talization, given little chance to live, her mouth filled moral conscience. As a union president I have the with blisters, she was sent home to spend what we opportunity to work for the cause of a living saving feared would be her final short days on Earth. But my wage for all. As a man raised and guided in a aunt, a faith healer, would have none of it. She took Christian home I have the moral responsibility to the child into my mother’s room and began to pray. practice social charity – to me they go hand in hand. She prayed loudly. She prayed all night. Early the next I am thankful that God has given me the opportunity morning, the doctor arrived and examined my sister, to reach out to others throughout my life and use who promptly began to cry. The doctor carried her to those values that I have been taught at home and in the living room and announced “the only thing church to help workers.

National Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice • www.nicwj.org 7 Additional Resources

United Methodist Workers Rights Manual. Published The National Interfaith Committee for Worker by the United Methodist Concern for Workers Justice offers the following resources for congrega- Task Force. Contains Bible studies, worship tions. They are available by contacting NICWJ, resources, suggested activities for congregations, 1020 West Bryn Mawr, 4th Fl., Chicago, IL 60660, etc. Order from the General Board of Church and (773) 728-8400, [email protected]. Those noted can be Society for three dollars at (800) 967-0880 or downloaded from our website at www.nicwj.org. www.umc-gbcs.org. • Why Unions Matter. An 8 page resource on the role of unions in U.S. society and the process of The following survey reports are available in the how and why workers form unions. Cost: 50 2000 Book of Resolutions of the United Methodist cents each. (available online) Church: • Justice for Poultry Workers: A Study and Action • Concern for Worker Task Force Guide for United Methodists. Provides a basic • Environmental Health and Safety in the Workplace introduction to problems that poultry workers and Community face and provides worship materials, Bible • Rights of African American Farmers studies, a study of the United Methodist Social • Rights of Farm Workers in the US Principles, and action ideas to support poultry • Rights of Workers workers. Cost: two dollars each. • The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively. • What Faith Groups Say About the Right to Organize. A one-page guide to the teachings of Social Protest Thought in the AME Church, 1862- eleven faith traditions on the rights of workers, 1939, edited by Stephen W. Angell and Anthony B. including the CME and UM Churches. Cost: Pinn, University of Tennessee Press, 2000. ten cents each. (available online) • Building Projects and Religious Values: Ethical Good News to the Poor: John Wesley's Evangelical Questions for Congregations to Ask Building Ethics, by Theodore Jennings, Abingdon Press, 1990. Contractors. Cost: 50 cents each. (available online)

What You Can Do

1. Seminary Summer interns from a variety of faith 4. Participate in a Labor Day march sponsored by traditions are working across the country on your local labor community. Contact the local many worker organizing campaigns. Invite one central labor council for one in your area. See to speak about his or her experiences. For avail- #2 for contact information. ability in your area contact Regina at NICWJ at 5. If you are United Methodist, consider starting (773) 728-8400 x 15; or e-mail [email protected]. an adult discussion group about poultry work- 2. Invite a labor speaker to talk to your congrega- ers. Use the Justice for Poultry Workers: A Study tion. A Labor in the Pulpits brochure is avail- and Action Guide for United Methodists resource. able to assist you; contact Toure at NICWJ at For more information contact Michael at (773) (773) 728-8400 x 24; or e-mail [email protected], 728-2800 x 47 or e-mail [email protected]. or contact your local AFL-CIO office. AFL state 6. Join or help form a local interfaith committee federations and central labor councils can be for worker justice. Visit www.nicwj.org or con- found at www.aflcio.org or call (202) 637-5000. tact Kristi at (773) 728-8400 x 45; or e-mail At your Labor Day service, use worship mate- [email protected] to find local contacts in your rials found in this booklet. area. 3. Highlight the needs of immigrant workers by 7. Hold a special Labor Day collection for your holding a special “Remember the Immigrant local interfaith committee or for the National Prayer Service.” Bulletin inserts are available Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice. For from NICWJ to use with this service. Contact brochures and special collection envelopes con- Toure at (773) 728-8400 x 24; or e-mail tact Peggy at (773) 728-8400 x 11; or e-mail [email protected] [email protected].

8 National Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice • 1020 W. Bryn Mawr, 4th Fl., Chicago IL 60660 • (773) 728-8400 • www.nicwj.org