Your letters: St. John's faculty union, the bishops and Trump

"For more than a century, Catholic social doctrine has affirmed the dignity of workers and their right to organize. Pope Leo XIII taught clearly that workers must be free to form associations to defend their interests. This is even in the Catechism as a moral mandate grounded in human dignity. More recently, Pope Francis repeatedly affirmed that unions are essential defenders of justice in the workplace and a necessary counterbalance to concentrated institutional power."

"To invoke Catholic identity while dismantling a faculty union is not institutional neutrality, it is a contradiction. A university that claims a Catholic mission cannot selectively apply Catholic teaching only when convenient. The tradition is clear: solidarity is not a slogan; it is a responsibility."

"Faculty working conditions are student learning conditions. Undermining collective bargaining weakens the very community Catholic education claims to serve. When an institution benefits from the moral authority of the Church yet rejects the Church's consistent defense of labor rights, it risks reducing Catholic identity to branding rather than witness."

A former union president and current AFT employee argues that St. John's University's decision to abandon recognition of its faculty union fundamentally contradicts Catholic social teaching. Catholic doctrine, from Pope Leo XIII through Pope Francis, consistently affirms workers' rights to organize and the essential role of unions in defending workplace justice. The writer contends that invoking Catholic identity while dismantling a union represents a contradiction rather than institutional neutrality. Faculty working conditions directly affect student learning, and undermining collective bargaining weakens the community Catholic education serves. The letter emphasizes that Catholic institutions cannot selectively apply Church teaching for convenience and must practice the justice they teach to maintain moral credibility.

Read at National Catholic Reporter