What are workers' rights?

Catholics see two sides to Michigan's new union limits

Workers in a Michigan factory. Michigan is considered a longtime union stronghold. CNS photo/Jim West.

This Catholic News Agency story reports that Catholic commentators have weighed in on both sides of the controversial “right to work” labour bill in the longtime union stronghold of Michigan, with some warning that the law puts workers’ rights at risk while others say the bill reflects workers’ individual choices.

Dr. Maria Mazzenga, an education archivist at the Catholic University of America’s American Catholic History Research Center, said the passage of the law in Michigan is “a sign of labor’s declining power in the face of corporate interest.”

“Michigan has been a leader in unionization historically, and labor leaders and union workers might use this as an opportunity to rethink strategies, do some self-evaluation, and arrive at renewed ways of guaranteeing worker rights,” she told CNA Dec. 13.

For full story see The B.C. Catholic website.