by Tom Gallagher on Jun. 22, 2012
"The conservative Archbishop John Nienstedt of St.
Paul-Minneapolis is channeling his inner Scott Walker, the controversial,
union-busting Republican governor of neighbor Wisconsin. Archbishop Nienstedt
is unilaterally terminating the archdiocese's Catholic newspaper
union. This really comes as no surprise given the tenor of these Tea Party
Catholic times. Instead of working through whatever managerial challenges the
archbishop might have had with the 13-member newspaper guild, he just disbands
it.
And with a presumably straight face, he puts
forward a worker-protection policy implemented by his predecessor, Archbishop
Harry Flynn, called "Justice in Employment," which created certain safeguards
for archdiocesan employees prior to being fired. Back in early 2009, I wrote an NCR story about the Archdiocese of St.
Paul-Minneapolis' Justice in Employment policy.
The purpose of Justice in Employment was to
eliminate cases where a new pastor unilaterally fires the janitor or the cook or
a case where a principal comes in and fires a teacher without any due process or
an opportunity for improvement, and so on. The purpose of Justice in Employment
was not to bust up unions. And it didn't. The policy has worked well alongside
the existence of the 13-member newspaper guild.
Also in 2009 I wrote a story on whether church employees have any benefits or
rights in the event that they are fired by dioceses, parishes and schools. Not
much.
Meanwhile, the Fortnight for Freedom rolls on.
Jeesh..."
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