Contents:
Editorial: The Spin Off Fiction
A Page From Our History: Church Teaching, Teacher Unions & Bishops
Sign of the Times?
Previous Issues
 
 

Editorial:
The Spin Off Fiction 

In 1994, the Camden NJ bishop told local union officers that, even though Catholic elementary schools in Buffalo NY were unionized on a school by school model, the Camden diocese was not Buffalo and the Ordinary would not allow union representation for Camden diocesan elementary school teachers using the Buffalo model.
It was clearly communicated to the union officers that each Ordinary acts independently of any other bishop.
The union officers fully acknowledged the local bishop’s autonomy and went about organizing Catholic elementary teachers school by school anyhow, eventually winning a unanimous NJ Supreme Court ruling in favor of the teachers’ right to bargain.
The 1994 episode now seems predictive of upcoming employer - labor relations in US Catholic education as schools move on from 2003-2004, the Year of the Spin Off in Catholic Education.
In at least three dioceses with NACST teacher representation, i.e. Camden NJ, St. Louis MO, and Boston MA, schools which had previously been “diocesan” were declared independent of the diocese - “spun off” - with local boards of trustees appointed [by the diocese].
 “Independent” becomes a nefarious term when used by diocesan employers.
One of two processes have developed since the spinning off has begun.
First, local boards have refused to negotiate with the diocesan teachers’ bargaining representative.
In Boston, BATA officers were informed that as of September 1, 2004 all secondary schools currently under archdiocesan control would be independently run by boards of trustees.
Further, while maintaining control of the boards, the Archdiocese claimed it could not force the "independent" schools to recognize the teachers' current representative, i.e. BATA. 
Second, when negotiations have taken place, local school officials have to submit negotiation terms, proposals to diocesan oversight and approval.
Whatever the reason for creating “independent” schools, the diocese [not surprisingly] has retained as much control as possible in labor relations.
Independent, in name, still dependent in reality.
The effect of the spin off is predictable in labor terms.
With fewer teachers to threaten action, administrators are sure they can ignore traditional negotiated items without any repercussions. 
To combat the union-busting program of "spinning off," teachers, unfortunately, must turn to the civil courts.
From Camden NJ in 1994 through Boston MA in 2004 the locals and NACST are forced to turn to civil authorities to enforce labor rights guaranteed by Church teaching.
NACST and the locals remain committed to fighting for labor rights throughout the nation’s Catholic schools, especially among those which have recently become “independent” of diocesan control. 
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Church Teaching, Teacher Unions, & the Bishops
a page from our history

from the US Bishops' 1989 Labor Day Statement
It is the God-given dignity of workers that gives them the right to make that choice [to organize and bargain collectively] freely, without interference or intimidation from management or labor representatives.
Since unions can only fulfill their important functions for their members and for society when there is full participation, it is important for workers to take their social obligations seriously and to use well their opportunity for union membership.

from a November 8, 1990 Catholic New York article by Msgr. George Higgins
It is essential, then, for Catholic institutions, which in the aggregate employ tens of thousands of professional and non-professional employees, to unequivocally recognize their employees' right to organize if they so desire.
Any attempt to circumvent or interfere with the free exercise of this right will predictably lead to serious trouble - the kind that could divide the Catholic community for years to come and neutralize the effectiveness of ongoing Church-related programs of social justice both at home and abroad.

from an August 1991 Letter written by the Bishop of Fort Wayne-South Bend IN
I have made the following decision as the best course to follow for the pastoral well-being of the diocese as a whole.  For the present, as well as for the foreseeable future, no organization or union will be recognized by the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend as the bargaining agent for the elementary school teachers.

from a March 28, 1992 America article by Rev. Andrew Greeley
I note in passing that there is no greater hypocrisy in the history of Catholicism than that of bishops who issue a pastoral in which they announce that they are on the side of the poor and then pay poverty salaries to their employees.  It is a sin that cries to heaven for vengeance.
Moreover, I have to ask how school leaders can claim to be Catholic when they do not encourage their members to form unions.  Unions may make life more difficult for administrators, but they're a part of papal social teaching.  Anyone who claims to have exercised an option for the poor and to endorse the most recent social encyclical, and does not urge unions on teachers, is a hypocrite.

from a May 1992 Letter written by the Bishop of Fort Wayne-South Bend IN
In order to strengthen the Catholic schools, create an improved educational atmosphere in our high schools, prevent further false allegations against the bishop and protect the teaching mission of the bishop, CATCH [the secondary school teacher union] will no longer be recognized by the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, nor accepted as a bargaining agent on behalf of high school teachers.
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Sign of the Times?
The following excerpts are from a May 4, 2004 letter from the President of St. Mary's Press to high schools which have been using SMP religion textbooks.  The company has been producing religion textbooks for the past 61 years, each edition having both the imprimatur and nihil obstat.

St. Mary's Press has suspended development of revised or new editions of our existing high school religion textbooks.
We reached our decision to suspend further development of textbooks in light of the negative judgments made by the [USCCB's] Ad Hoc Committee to Oversee the Use of the Catechism on several of our textbooks, and in light of the Committee's general position on the nature of Catholic high school religion textbooks
We continue to cooperate with the Ad Hoc Committee.  We are seeking appropriate ways of addressing our legitimate differences with the hope that we will find a way to address the rightful and appropriate concerns of the Committee while maintaining our experience of publishing textbooks that are not only faithful to the Church but also wholly effective in awakening young people to the beauty of the Christian message.
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Previous Issues
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