Right-to-Work Laws
President Johnson, in pledging to seek repeal of the
Taft-Hartley’s “right to work” provisions, has touched
upon a sensitive nerve in American Catholicism. In his
State of the Union address, the President said that by
removing the Taft-Hartley’s right-to-work section, he
hoped to “reduce conflicts that for several years have
divided Americans in various states.”
Time and again such conflicts have broken out
among Catholics. In the past decade-and-a-half the U.S.
Catholic community has produced impassioned declara
tions on both'sides of the right-to-work issue.
5 We take our stand on the side of those who oppose
section 14-B of the Taft Hartley Act, which authorizes
state right-to-work laws. We do so in the belief that such
laws are anti-labor and anti-union in their intent and ef
fect, and with the conviction that unions are a sometimes
evil but unquestionably necessary means to justice in re
lations between employers and employees.
It has often been pointed out that right-to-work laws
are not at all what their name implies. “They give no
one the right to work, nor do they oDtain jobs for anyone
out of work,” declared a recent statement of the Social
Action Commission of the New Mexico Council of
Churches. What these laws do instead is to outlaw “union
shop” arrangements under which new employees of a
business are required to join a union within a month or
so after being hired.
Supporters argue that it is wrong to compel workers
—as a condition of employment—to join unions which
are corrupt, dominated by communists, or otherwise
undesirable. But it seems to us that the welfare of the
group demands that good men enter and remain in such
unions, lest while they are doing nothing, evil should
prevail.
Supporters will also argue that compulsory union
membership benefits corrupt unions; and foes will count
er with the point that right-to-work laws benefit the “free
loaders”—workers who profit from unionism without
contributing their time, energy, or dues. These conten
tions seem to us, however, to be secondary arguments
blown up to divert attention from the basic issue in ques
tion.
It cannot be denied that right-to-work laws are anti
labor in their thrust. The Protestant theologian, Rein
hold Niebuhr has declared that their real purpose is “the
weakening of labor under the guise of preserving or re
storing individual liberties.”
As we look across North Carolina, the need for
unions is all too apparent. In town after town the pres
ent prosperity and future hopes of the entire populace
hinges entirely on the judgment (or whim) of the owner
of the local mill. Not a few owners have callously stated
that they would close their mills (and leave thousands
unemployed) rather than have to bargain with their em
ployees. In many places New Year’s Day, the Fourth of
July and other holidays are simply ignored, and business
goes on as usual. New industry is kept out, lest the labor
force be placed in a bargaining position.
True, many of the magnates lavish their profits upon
the communities. With a sort of benevolent paternalism
they donate to churches, civic organizations, recreational
facilities and other worthy projects. But the point is that
they have no right to be “donating” what they should be
paying in the form of adequate wages and benefits to
their employees.
At present there are nineteen states which have
right-to-work laws on the books. It should be no surprise
to anyone that twelve of these states are below the Mason
Dixon Line, where wages, education, standards, and all
other indices of progress lag behind the rest of the nation.
We hope the outlines of the President’s effort to strike
out the right-to-work provision from the Taft-Hartly Act
will soon take shape.
The Butterfly
Take a lesson from the butterfly.
Through metamorphosis, it reached the sky.
Like the caterpillar crawling earth
We shall be beautiful in the second birth.
...Antoinette Daria
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NORTH CAROLINA CATHOUC
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February 7, 1965
Volume XX, No. 16 _
llimmMIIMIIIIIIMHMIMIMMMMtMMMIMMatMMMMMtl
Mission for Journalists
FEBRUARY
• CAT/SOL /C
PRESS MONTH
Catholic Press Month Theme Evaluated
By Msgr. Robert G. Peters
(N.C.W.C. News Service)
[Msgr. Robert G. Peters, presi
dent of the Catholic Press Asso
ciation and editor of the Peoria
(III.) Register, diocesan news
paper, in his statement on the
1965 observance of Catholic Press
Month during February, analyzes
the theme of the observance, the
words of Pope Paul VI — “Your
Scouting in the Diocese
As Boy Scout Week is observed across the nation, it
is fitting that we survey Scouting in the Diocese of Ral
eigh. Most of the parishes have scout troops and the pas
tors and parents are well satisfied with the good accom
plished. We would like to comment further on this point.
Most boys desire a program in which they can find
an opportunity for adventure blended with discipline which
helps them to grow into the type called the “man’s man.”
In Catholic Scouting we try to guide and direct this growth
in order to turn out a “man’s man” whom Jesus Christ
would be proud to call His brother.
The Scouting program offers boys the opportunity for
outdoor life and adventurous activities which are not avail
able in the home community. Canoeing, sailing, riding,
rifle shooting, and other activities which give a boy a
sense of accomplishment and provide him with incentive
to achieve goals, are provided by the program in the camps
over the state. Costs are low, thereby enabling all boys
to take advantage of the opportunities. Many boys go
astray for lack of activity which satisfies their eager and
restless hearts which yearn for manly pursuits.
As we look over North Carolina, we find good pro
fessional leaders who are backed up by volunteer scouters.
They have established many fine camps over the state,
where throughout the year scouts flock on weekends for
their Jamborees. These camps are not too distant from
home communities and offer much to the boys who attend.
We admire and appreciate the scouting leadership in
North Carolina, both professional and volunteer.
Finally, Catholic Scouting has an award for the boys
known as the AD ALTARE DEI CROSS. To receive this
award a scout has to fulfill a set of requirements including
a knowledge of the catechism, an intelligent understand
(1 ing of the Mass, evidence of good living according to the
i teachings of Christ, and evidence of service to better the
world around him. In striving for this award a scout serves
Christ, and in winning this award a scout has been brought
into a friendship with Christ which we hope will endure
and enrich his life here, that he may have his eternity
enriched forever.
J. K., Belmont, N.C.
Catholic press . . . mirror of the
world . . . telling things as they
are . . . in truth.”']
The theme of this year’s Catho
lic Press Month gives everyone—
readers and writers — reason to
consider the task of the Catholic
press. They are the words of
Pope Paul VI: Your Catholic
press . . . mirror of the world
. . . telling things as they are . ..
in truth.
To mirror the world is not the
simple task it first appears. For
one thing, a mirror can be imper
fect, setting up distortions in its
reflections. A mirror can be too
small to tell the full story. A mir
ror can be faithful to the surface
of things and miss what lies be
hind the obvious facade.
A mirror that tells all things
as they are must be a mirror
that seldom limits its area of re
flection. And the press that at
tempts to be such a mirror must
concern itself not only with the
obvious ecclesiastical aspects of
the world, but with every walk
of life, every slightest concern of
morality.
A mirror that tells things as
they really are must reflect not
only the object in question but
the surrounding world that af
fects what must be told. The pub
lication that mirrors the family,
the factory, the field, and the for
um must include the Christian
principles needed for a proper in
terpretation of the question it
self.
Anything else is not “things as
they are” or things “in truth.”
Anything else is not the Catholic
press that the popes have advis
ed to place itself in the world
and interpret that world for read
ers in the light of Christian prin
ciples.
Catholic readers should be hap
py to have at hand a press that
dedicates itself to so important a
task.
North Carolina
Catholic
Subscribe Sunday
February 7