Please contact me regarding P H O T O G R A P H S "Never before in history has a society made up chiefly of self-determining, self-selected immigrants and their descendants come into being in a place that offered so much opportunity for gain for those who would work for it; never before in history has a unified nation of continental dimensions been created in less than three centuries by the work of millions of persons freely combining and organizing themselves politically and economically to their best advantage. That exceptional accomplishment has been the principal historical experience of the American people. It is the principal fact of their cultural history. And it required ceaseless labor." author John Harmon McElroy <TITLE>Papal Encyclicals; Association of Catholic Trade Unions

I. Papal Encyclicals; Association of Catholic Trade Unions

The Pope encouraged Catholic unions in Rerum Novarum, 1891. While an International Confederation of Christian Trade Unions (French initials CISC) was founded in 1920 there was no American participation. Quadrasemo Anno, 1931; and Laborem Exercens, 1981

In 1937, the Catholic Worker movement inspired the Association of Catholic Trade Unions, which engaged in mainly anti-Communist, short-lived activity. It appeared that the Catholic Bishops never implemented any of the papal encyclicals to any degree.

Who reads the encyclicals? Are we bound to implement them?

How many Polish Americans gained leadership roles in the ACTU?

Finally, Pope John Paul II, commonly referred to as the "Polish Pope," declared in Laborem Exercens:

A ... the modern unions grew up from the struggle of workers ... Their task is to defend the existential interests of workers. ... The experience of history teaches that organizations of this type are an indispensable element of social life
(His emphasis, p. 48)

A ...One method used by unions in pursuing the just rights of their members is the strike or work stoppage, as a kind of ultimatum to the competent bodies, especially the employers. This method is recognized by Catholic social teaching as legitimate in the proper conditions and within just limits. In this connection workers should be assured the right to strike (His emphasis), without being subjected to personal penal sanctions for taking part in a strike (p. 50). Laborem Exercens, 14 September 1981

McGill University Professor Gregory Baum wrote that the Pope was inclined toward socialism in his book, "The Priority of Labor," Paulist Press, 1982.

N.B. St. Joseph, the patron saint of workers

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