The Benedictine Sisters of Erie support the United Electrical Workers Union in their strike. There are many issues at stake in the controversy between Wabtec Corporation and UE Locals 506 and 618 in Erie, but two stand out as especially important (from the UE website):
• The union wants to ensure that workers will have the right to strike in the future, in order to ensure that grievances between the workers and the company can be settled fairly.
• Also, workers want to pivot toward making green locomotives, which will dramatically lower the carbon footprint of the production. The change to producing green locomotives is also projected to create thousands of jobs.
Currently, Wabtec opposes these initiatives, and negotiations between the union and the company have stalled.
As Benedictine Sisters, we stand with workers. Catholic social teaching is clear that workers “should be assured the right to strike” (Laborem Exercens, Pope John Paul II, section 20) especially in cases when the common good is at stake. Collective bargaining power helps to protect the rights of the most vulnerable, and limiting the right of unions to organize is impossible “without attacking human dignity itself.” (Economic Justice for All, U.S. Catholic Bishops, 1986, #104)
Additionally, Pope Francis has made it clear that it is essential to make decisions that prioritize the health of the Earth, our common home. Laudato Sí, his 2015 encyclical, says, “Along with the importance of little everyday gestures, social love moves us to devise larger strategies to halt environmental degradation and to encourage a ‘culture of care’ which permeates all of society.” The change to green locomotives is one concrete way to reduce pollution and move toward a healthy future for the planet, as well as provide dignified work opportunities for many more people.
The Benedictine Sisters of Erie pray for a swift and just end to the dispute between Wabtec and the union workers and are grateful for the courage and good zeal of those who are on strike over these critical concerns.
To learn more, visit the UE website here and the Wabtec statement on the strike here.
