|
compulsory strikes For teachers who have religious reasons for abstaining from labor strikes, union membership presents a sticky situation. Section 4(c) of the WEA Bylaws threatens that its members may be "expelled or suspended from membership, censured, and/or fined" for "working as a strikebreaker" or "crossing a picket line of any WEA affiliate in the event of a work stoppage."1 Teachers aren't even allowed to "give information to a struck employer which tends to undermine the position of the WEA and its affiliates." Under these bylaws, teachers who join the union may be forced to strike against their will -- and they're not allowed to exercise their right to free speech if their opinion doesn't line up with union policy. Several walks of faith take strong positions against participating in a strike. For instance, Reverend John A. Heys of the Protestant Reformed Church of America believes there is a "magnified evil in the strike, for then the demand is enforced with a threat. In the strike the employee assumes the position of being the authority. For by the strike he declares, 'You cannot take my job away; but I can do you much harm by stopping production for you.' Where, in all this, is the honor God's Word demands of the employee?"2 Heys appeals to passages from the Bible that command submission to those in authority. Colossians 3:22 issues the following command: "Servants, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord," and 1 Peter 2:18 demands submission even under trying circumstances: "Servants, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh."3 Heys further explains, "No one denies the employee in our system the right to refuse to work for an unjust and cruel employer. Let him quit and seek work elsewhere if his unreasonable master will not heed his reasonable requests."4 But under some forms of religious expression, this freedom does not give an employee the right to threaten or dishonor his employer. In Regarding My Religious Beliefs Concerning Unions, Charles W. Baird, Professor of Economics at California State University, confesses to witnessing "many episodes of gratuitous violence during [union] strikes that took place in my home town."5 Baird explains that his father "was a union member only because he was forced to be. He taught me that the violent strikers, who were almost all professing Christians, were hypocrites because Christianity forbids such behavior." Participating in a strike amounts to hypocrisy in many religious circles. Baird takes his belief a step further, claiming strikes are in conflict with the teaching of the Catholic church for two reasons: 1) through coercion and compulsory association, strikes do not allow individuals to express their God-given freedom of choice to work during a strike; and 2) he believes Pope John Paul II would consider such behavior an abuse of society by withholding goods and services from the general public. He concludes by stating: "I cannot support a labor union that seeks to limit rights I believe are God-given," and "I sincerely believe that I am forbidden by my religious convictions to support the [union] in any way."6 1 WEA Bylaws, Section 4(c), www.wa.nea.org, 2002. |