Yesterday, over 50 religious leaders from a diverse range of faiths and denominations came to Washington, DC to lobby members of Congress on support of the Employee Free Choice Act. The newly-formed coalition of religious leaders and people of faith--Faith Leaders for Workplace Fairness--publicly announced their support for the labor reform bill on a conference call with press last week, calling the legislation a "moral imperative" and a civil and human right.
The lobbying day begin with an early a.m. prayer breakfast at the U.S. Capitol Visitors Center, where clergy, union members and political figures gathered to hear uplifting music sung by a multicultural choir, and pray for the passage of the Employee Free Choice Act. "Unions are indispensable for a just social order," said Dr. Joseph Fahey, a Manhattan College religious studies professor and founder of Catholic Scholars for Worker Justice. "They are not something that just gains better wages and working conditions for workers---on a far wider level, we won't have a just social order unless we have unions to bring justice to workers and their families." The event featured speakers that included SEIU's Anna Burger, Rev. Sue Gaeta of the Gamaliel National Clergy Caucus and SEIU Virginia home care worker Athena Jones. Longtime labor supporter Congresswoman Donna Edwards (D-Md.), also appeared at the breakfast to give a speech, telling the crowd that "the faith community has always been on the side of workers."
At the (tpress conference afterwards held with Sen. Tom Harkin he original sponsor of the legislation in the Senate), the senator called the Employee Free Choice Act "one of the real social justice issues of our time," expressing his determination to get legislation passed in 2009 that will restore balance and fairness to the organizing process. "For too long, our constitutional right to organize a union has been systematically undermined," said Harkin.
Watch faith leaders discuss why, more than ever, we need the Employee Free Choice Act to restore balance to economy and our society:
After the press conference, union members, workers and religious leaders dispersed to lobby their individual Members of Congress. During the lobby visits, religious leaders were able to have a face-to-face discussion about the legislation with newly-Democratic Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter--an exchange sponsoring organization Catholics for Working Families caught on tape. Watch a video clip of the exchange between Fr. Jack O'Malley and Sen. Specter.
Select photos from yesterday's event here. To join the campaign for workplace fairness, visit http://faithforworkplacefairness.org/
