Earlier, two books were completed on the U.S. Catholic Church and labor-management issues by this author. In 1985, Catholic Institutions and Labor Unions appeared. In 1986, Blue Collar - Roman Collar - White Collar: U.S. Catholic Church and Labor-Management Controversies appeared.
This volume covers the period, 1960 to 1980. It draws on the same material: U.S. Catholic periodical literature. Yet, this book's focus is very different. Unlike the earlier books, this book does not reveal how Catholic leaders dealt with their own institutional employees' efforts to organize for purposes of collective bargining nor what Catholic leaders told other employers about not violating their own workers' moral and legal rights to organize. Rather, this book traces Catholic social thought about labor-management issues, as found in the Catholic periodical literature from 1960 to 1980. Hence, this book presents what Catholic leaders should practice in their own institutions and preach to others about labor-management relations. Furthermore, in view of the fact that the source material of this book is derived from selections contained only in U.S. Catholic periodical literature, the book should not be construed as presenting a complete or exhaustive treatment of Catholic social thought on labor-management issues from 1960 to 1980.
Catholic social thought on labor-management issues, like U.S. Catholic involvement in labor-management issues since the 1960s, did not hold a central position in U.S. Catholic life, as was true in the earlier two-thirds of the twentieth century. The many reasons mentioned in the author's two earlier publications provide explanations. However, at a time when economic aspects of personal and social, domestic and international life assume such crucial importance, a significant contribution to the resolution of many problems of our times could very well be "Catholic Social Thought on Labor-Management Issues." Such is the author's hope!
This book is arranged according to thirteen topics: Basic Principles of Catholic Social Teaching, Econmic Systems, Collective Bargaining, Strikes, Labor Unions, Automation/Technology, Productivity, Wages / Benefits, Health / Safety, Government, Business, Employment, Industries. Each topic will be presented first by Vatican-related statements and second by International Hierarchy statements (arranged by continents and countries in alphabetical order). Each topic embraces several sub-topics.