NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS |
WHEN FAITH AND LABOR MEET
For 15 years, the workers’ rights group Portland Jobs with Justice has organized an an-
nual “Faith Labor breakfast” to strengthen ties between church activists and labor ac-
tivists. They’re often the same individuals. Jobs with Justice’s Faith and Labor Commit-
tee is one of the reasons that local clergy are frequently seen on Portland-area picket
lines and union rallies. At this year’s breakfast, 140 participants gathered around 22 ta-
bles at a dining hall in St. Andrews Catholic Church to share fellowship and trade sto-
ries. The Labor Press brought a camera, a notepad and a question for believers and
faith leaders: “What does your faith have to say about justice for working people?”
“A laborer deserves his wages. …
The worker has only his hands, his
mind and his body to give, to make
enough to take
care for their
family and
themselves.
And if that is
not respected
then you’ve
taken away
their dignity.…
In Rerum Novarum, Pope Leo XIII
talks about labor justice. It contin-
ued with Pope John Paul and our
current pope. So we have a strong
tradition of supporting labor and
workers in the Catholic Church.”
— Father Jack Mosbrucher, now retired,
served as a parish priest at St. Charles and
St. Therese parishes in Portland
“In Islam, there’s a very famous
quote from the prophet Mo-
hammed: ‘Pay your workers be-
fore their sweat dries.’ It means
you make sure that they have
their compensation. You’re sup-
posed to be kind to your work-
ers.”
— Morjenna Snead, home care worker
and member of SEIU Local 503, attends
Masjid as-Saber mosque in SW Portland.
“I’m a person who really believes that following Jesus
means both being in touch with what heaven does as well
as what heaven does here on earth. The faith that we’re
called to is a faith that engages the marginalized, the poor.”
— Howard Kenyon, a member of Mosaic evangelical church, spent 20
years as a Pentecostal missionary in China, and now is chief finance and
operations officer at Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon
“In what we Christians call the Old Testament, the prophets
— Amos, Isaiah, Jeremiah, in particular — have a lot to say
about work and about the sanctity of labor and economic
justice. Isaiah talks about wages that have been withheld
crying out to heaven against those who withhold them. …
The apostle Paul said that the laborer is worthy of their
wages. In other words, if you work, you deserve the pro-
ceeds of your work.”
— David Wheeler is the senior pastor of First Baptist Church in downtown Portland
Jill Alcantar
360.787.6975
March 3, 2017 | PAGE 5
State of Washington
legislative update
Feb. 24 was the cutoff deadline
for bills in the Washington Leg-
islature to pass out of commit-
tees in their houses of origin.
That means that hundreds of
bills—good and bad—are now
considered “dead” and can only
become undead via extraordi-
nary procedural means. The bills
that have survived now have un-
til March 8 to pass a floor vote
in their house of origin.
Following is the status of
some working family bills that
the Washington State Labor
Council has taken a position on:
DEAD (Opposed by the WSLC)
RIGHT-TO-WORK—SB 5692
(prime sponsor Sen. Michael
Baumgartner; co-sponsor Sen.
John Braun) making Washing-
ton a so-called “right-to-work”
state, dramatically weakening
union rights and bargaining
power. At its public hearing,
more than 1,100 people signed
in as opposing the bill, while just
one supported it. The bill died in
Labor committee (chaired by the
sponsor) without a vote.
DEAD (Supported by the WSLC)
WAGE THEFT: MISCLASSIFI-
CATION—HB 1300 (Rep. Mar-
cus Riccelli) discouraging delib-
erate misclassification of
workers as independent contrac-
tors. Passed Labor committee
but died in Appropriations.
WAGE THEFT: RETALIA-
TION—HB 1301 (Rep. Cindy
Ryu) discouraging employers
from retaliating against workers
who report wage theft. Passed
Labor committee, but died in
Appropriations.
ALIVE (Supported by the WSLC)
APPRENTICESHIP UTILIZA-
TION—HB 1849 (prime spon-
sor: Rep. Mike Sells) strength-
ening compliance with existing
apprenticeship utilization stan-
dards. Passed Capital Budget
committee, now in Rules.
COLLEGE FACULTY PAY—HB
1237 (Rep. Mike Sells) allowing
full-scope collective bargaining
so colleges can use local funds
in negotiating faculty/staff
wages. Passed Labor and Appro-
priations committees, now in
Rules.
ELECTRICAL LAW ENFORCE-
MENT—SHB 1952 (Rep. Brian
Blake) improving enforcement
of state electrical laws. Passed
Labor committee, now in Rules.
WORKERS’ COMP: HAN-
FORD—SHB 1723 (Rep. Larry
Haler) would remove barriers
that prevent seriously ill Hanford
workers from getting workers’
compensation benefits. Passed
Labor committee, now in Rules.