The Catholic Weekly

The
Catholic Weekly
Online

Sydney
21 November 2004

Aust group at congress

Working poor numbers on the rise: bishop

Help the needy to happy Christmas

English translation of Mass is ‘top priority’

First priest remembered as friars mark jubilee

‘Separation centre’ trials

Solo parent ministry

Strong new voice in abortion debate

Youth crusader warns on child sex trafficking

Tick for trials

Letters

Working poor numbers on the rise: bishop

By Sandra Murphy

A GROWING and unacceptable number of Australian families are joining the ranks of the working poor, says Bishop Kevin Manning of Parramatta.

The bishop is seeking the introduction of legislation for the protection of workers’ rights to allow the arbitration system to become “a watchdog with teeth”.

And he said the right to organise, bargain and strike, must be protected and for a higher value to be put on unpaid work, especially that of nurturing children.

His comments come as the Federal Government plans to introduce wide ranging industrial reforms.

Bishop Manning said that as a young boy growing up in the small town of Coolah, NSW, he witnessed the injustices experienced by labourers on farms.

“ These farmhands were so underpaid that they could barely survive,” he said. ”

“ We still hear stories like this, especially among young people who are increasingly becoming victims of an unjust system,” he told The Catholic Weekly.

Just three years ago, Bishop Manning said he was incensed when he heard of a case where a woman was sacked on Christmas Eve because she refused to work on Christmas Day

” Workers have rights, too, and the Government must work for the common good,” he said.

While Bishop Manning believes industrial relations have improved since he was a boy, he said more legislation is needed to lift hard working, underpaid families off the breadline.

” They feel pressed to accept contracts that do not deliver a living wage."

“ Low wages, insecure short-term contracts, casual work and seasonal work are frequently the lot of young people, migrants and holders of Temporary Protection Visas, unskilled or semi-skilled workers,” he said.

Bishop Manning said these patterns of employment are making inroads into white-collar work, while at the same time; top executives are earning “preposterous salaries”.

“Not all meaningful and productive human effort is paid for directly,” he said. ”Raising children, nurturing household and community life, and seeking knowledge are rarely remunerated.”

In an article written for Online Catholics to celebrate the centenary of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission, he cited principles enunciated in Pope Leo XIII’s 1891 landmark encyclical Rerum Novarum.

Although its language may seem archaic, Bishop Manning said its message is remarkably contemporary to industrial relations.

“ Nearly 100 years later, more and more Australian families are joining the ranks of the working poor.”

Bishop Manning concluded by acknowledging that the Church is also an employer, and that Catholic social teaching must be effected in Catholic workplaces.

“ I am mindful of the need to set the Church’s house in order,” he said.

“ Church workers, like all workers, have a right to decent pay, safe and healthy conditions, and reasonable workloads that enable a proper balance between paid work and family life.”