1. 1 2 - Catholic Social Justice: Justice and Work Sweatshop Facts and Empowerment Options Focus on the “Worker” and not the “Work” Worker Rights/Duties Objective/Subjective Dimensions of Work Rerum Novarum (Pope Leo XIII) “Economic Justice for All” Deacon Edward P. Munz Notes taken from the document “A Race To The Bottom” from the National Labor Committee

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4. Examples From Around the World Workers from Bangladesh earn.05¢ for each $17.99 Disney shirt (15hr/day, 7 days/wk) Mattel (Wal-Mart) from China earn.13¢, 104° factories (18 1/2 hr/day, 7 days/wk) Alcoa workers from Mexico selling their blood to survive in cardboard huts “Made in U.S.A.” could be Vietnamese women in U.S. territory of American Samoa.

5. Did You Know? 65% of all apparel operations in N.Y.C. and L. A. violate federal minimum wage laws U.S.A. lost 1.8 million manufacturing jobs in 2001 Wal-Mart is larger than 161 of the 189 countries in the world Women in Bangladesh paid 1.6¢/$17 Harvard cap - total cost of hat $1.23 = 1300% markup Kathie Lee demanded a change, but Wal-Mart continued sweatshop practices in China 46% of workers indentured - owed money to factory.

6. 6 Trademarks, Logos, Labels Protected by global trading laws as intellectual property through copyright law Cannot violate without penalty or prison 16 year old workers who make the product? NO! Impediment to free trade! Dolphin-free tuna? Yes. Workers treated with dignity and respect? No.

7. Congressional Testimony November 28, 2001 “There were 3 pregnant women…Mr. Lee demanded that they undergo abortions. He fired them when they refused.” “At the workplace, Mr. Lee regularly groped and kissed the female workers in front of everyone.” “Ms Quyen was held by her arms on 2 sides by 2 guards. A third guard thrust a pointed stick into her eye. She has now lost that eye.” “On November 28 of 2000, there was a dispute between a supervisor and a female worker. Mr. Lee ordered the supervisor: ‘If you beat her to death, I will take the blame.’ The supervisor dragged the female worker out. Other workers came to her rescue. The American Samoan guards, already holding sticks and scissors, jumped in and beat us. Everyone was frightened. We ran for our lives.” “Another male worker was pinned to the floor and repeatedly beaten at the temple, his blood spilling all over the floor.”

8. Let’s Do The Math Single Salvadoran Mother with 3 Children CATEGORYINCOME/EXPENSEBALANCE Average Daily Wages Based on.60¢ per Hour$ 4.80 Round Trip Bus Fare to Work$ 1.14$ 3.66 Breakfast of Beans, Rice, Roll and Coffee$.91$ 2.75 Lunch of Chicken, Rice, Beans, Tortilla, Lemonade$ 1.37$ 1.38 Rent (2 rooms, outhouse, no running water) $51.37/Mo.$ 1.68($.30) Supper of Rice, Beans, Tortillas, Plantain Coffee$ 1.96($ 2.26) Milk for 3 Children Each Day$.80($ 3.06) Daily School Fees for Children in School During the Day$.72($ 3.78) Informal Daycare for Children Not in School$ 1.12($ 4.90) Shoes for Children (Average School Shoes per Pair)$11.00($15.90) Doctor Visit for 1 Adult with 1 Child$ 3.42(19.32) AVERAGE DAILY SAVINGS FOR BASIC NEEDS (Taking Out Shoes, School, Daycare, Doctor Visits) ($19.32) If Nike Doubled Wages, a $140.00 Jersey would only have 4/10ths of 1% labor in cost!

9. 9 What Can We Do? U.S.A. Market biggest in the world Big If We Speak, They MUST Listen or Loose Big Business Wal-Mart, JCPenney, Sears, AEO, The Gap, Kmart Abercrombie & Fitch, will not abandon the U.S. market 32 million teens in U.S.A. (Aged 12-19) Average $110.00/month on clothing = $155.0 billion/year Customer and Brand loyalty is critically important to retailers They Want You - They Must Listen To You or they’re dead! Check out the “No Sweat” label or ask why they don’t have it Sign petitions to Congress Make retailers aware that you are watching and demanding change - Shop with a conscience. It would take a sweatshop worker 210 years to earn what Michael Eisner earns in 1 hour

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11. 11 Focus on the Worker Work consumes 2/3 of our day Dominates our lifestyle (What we talk about) 1973 Average Work Week = 40 hours 2000 Average Work Week = 46 hours 10 Fewer Leisure Hours/Week now Work is the means of livelihood, not livelihood in itself.

12. 12 Focus on the Worker (cont.) Potential to express worker’s gifts/talents Up to 200 million children forced to work U.S. House of Representatives findings: 300 children work in carpet factory in Pakistan Pay is.20/hour Hours 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sleeping on the job? $60.00 fine Cry for parents? Beaten with sticks, chains, carpet forks.

13. 13 Two Dimensions of Work: Objective and Subjective Work: sustained effort with the intent to produce or accomplish something Intellectual or manual Paid or unpaid Performed by laborers or directed by managers Parenting requires work Being a student is work.

14. 14 Two Dimensions of Work: Objective and Subjective Work is Objective: The product or outcome of our work is the objective part of work The tools or means to accomplish our task is also the objective part of work Technology, machinery, products of research - how we achieve our results is the objective part of work.

15. 15 Two Dimensions of Work: Objective and Subjective The Human Person - the subject is the subjective part of work The value of human work and the basis of its dignity is the subjective part of work The basis of value is the person (subjective) part of work, not the work being done (objective) part of work.

16. 16 The Real Purpose of Work … “The real purpose of work is to fulfill our own humanity and to benefit the humanity of those our work serves” 1 An executive secretary is the “subject” of the work, the work being done is the “object” Work exists for human beings; human beings do not exist for work. 1 “Catholic Social Teaching: Learning and Living Justice, Michael Pennock, Ave Maria Press, Notre Dame, Indiana, 2000, page 225.

17. 17 The Real Purpose of Work … Any ideology, culture, nation or employer that puts the human person second, making the end product the central and most important element of human effort, violates human dignity and is, therefore, immoral.

18. 18 Positive Dimensions of Work … 1. Work is a fundamental means for people to express and develop themselves as human beings 2. It is the ordinary way for us to provide for our material needs 3. Work enables people to contribute to the well- being of the larger community 4. “Work serves to add to the heritage of the whole human family, of all the people living in the world.” (On Human Work, Paragraph 10, Pope John Paul II)

19. 19 Rights/Duties of Workers The three factors in a Nations Economy Include: Governments - Employers - Workers Government must: Enact laws to protect individual freedoms and to protect private property Guarantee a stable money supply and efficient public services Provide the security necessary for workers and owners to earn honest livelihood Oversee and direct the exercise of human rights in economic sector.

20. 20 Rights/Duties of Workers Business Owners Must: Have a right to make a profit on their investment Create employment opportunities Consider the ways they are “responsible to society for the economic and ecological effects of their operations” Never abuse workers or consider the worker only a means to the end Not consider profit the supreme god of business.

21. 21 Rights/Duties of Workers Workers Must: Fulfill the obligations they agree to with the employer Have the right to employment, a just wage, rest, safety in the workplace, association (unionize) Have the right to a fair, equitable and affordable healthcare system Work to their full potential Be able, through employment, to Thrive and not just Survive.

22. 22 Rerum Novarum (Of new Things) Papal Encyclical of Leo XIII (May, 1891) Addressed condition of working classes Relationships between government, business, labor, church Supported right to form labor unions Rejected socialism Affirmed rights of private property ownership Fundamental principle = equality between employer / employee Reciprocity = Labor needs capital, Capital needs labor.

23. 23 Rerum Novarum Worker’s right to rest, worship important Worker not exposed to “corrupting influences and dangerous occasions” “To exercise pressure upon the indigent and the destitute for the sake of gain … is condemned by all laws, human and divine” Workers must respect employer property Employer must pay a “just wage.”

24. 24 Economic Justice For All Pastoral letter on Catholic Social Teaching and U.S. Economy (1986) Key Points… Measure economy “…not in dollars/cents but on how it touches human life and whether it protects or undermines the dignity of the human person” Economic decisions help or hurt people Economic decisions strengthen or weaken family life Economic decisions advance or diminish quality of justice.

25. 25 Economic Justice For All Everything begins with the human person “Human dignity is from God, not from race, nationality, gender, economic status or human accomplishment” THE HUMAN PERSON IS SACRED Principle of the “End in Itself” We are never a means to the end, but the end in itself - Always!

26. 26 Catholic Social Teaching The Changing Face of the Workplace Prevalent trends in the workplace include: Corporate downsizing International trade and competition Reduction or loss of benefits Corporate relocation Full time to Part time (strikers) Relationship between employee and employer Balance of work and family life Declining wages Lack of training for laid-off workers.

27. 27 Catholic Social Teaching The Changing Face of the Workplace Work is more than a job or making a living Work is both a duty and a right It is an expression and reflection of human dignity Church’s work for justice carried out in workplace Employer sets stage - dignity enhanced or denied Rights of workers respected or frustrated Decisions on profit have human/community costs Social contract between employer/employee unraveling.

28. 28 Catholic Social Teaching The Changing Face of the Workplace Trade unions? Good as long as the pursuit of common good is sought Single-minded goals don’t serve employer or employee Women’s pay must be commensurate w/men’s pay Women less likely to have healthcare Women more likely to earn less Women more likely to have greater home responsibilities Women more likely to head single parent homes Women more likely to experience sexual harassment at work. (Office of Social Development and World Peace, USCCB)

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30. 30 Based on the two sweatshop undercover films produced by the National Labor Committee, please write a one-page response paper to the situations seen in Nicaragua and Bangladesh. Understanding of the social justice implication of sweatshop labor = 50% Use of ethical terms / principles learned during the first semester = 20% Grammar, spelling, punctuation, syntax and general writing = 10% Depth of knowledge gained through the two videos (examples) = 10% Conclusion based on the social justice implications of sweatshops = 10% This paper is due as agreed. Please do not be late on this assignment. Because of the lead time and that I have posted this to my website which all students have full access, I cannot accept any late work. Missing work will result in a “0” zero for the assignment.

31. 31 Pair up with one other person in this class. Go to the mall to observe where merchandise is made. Note the countries and product lines being observed. Note any pricing variations based on countries of origin. Apparel and other merchandise lines should be shopped. Maybe ask a sales associate or store mgr. under what conditions the merchandise was made. Write up findings – be creative in your reporting: film, posters, interviews, PowerPoint, audio clips, etc. Make it fun! Tour your own closet. Where is your stuff made? Each student submit a Position Paper (see website)

32. C hoose a partner G o to a local mall C heck out labels D ocument observations R eport observations to class W rite a Position Paper (individual assignment) Due as Agreed

33. 33 Questions Comments Concerns Problems