ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, September 21, 1996 TAG: 9609230104
SECTION: RELIGION PAGE: B9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DAVID BRIGGS ASSOCIATED PRESS
Toilet seats are one of the first things that come to mind when retired United Methodist Bishop Jesse DeWitt attempts to put into perspective the journey of organized labor during the past half-century.
When DeWitt finished high school and joined a Detroit assembly line in the late '30s, the company he worked for allowed employees to use the bathroom twice a day but provided no place to sit in the stalls, making sure that workers would not spend any extra time in the toilet.
The union that came in not only raised DeWitt's pay from 35 cents to 70 cents an hour but negotiated another much-appreciated benefit - toilet seats.
Today, as the president of a new interdenominational group of religious leaders interested in labor issues, DeWitt fears that changes in labor laws have weakened unions and that old problems such as the use of immigrant and child labor in sweatshops are resurfacing.
``We feel this is a critical time in U.S. history,'' said DeWitt, president of the National Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice. ``What we gained in the '30s and '40s is in jeopardy.''
The new national alliance is led by a 40-member board with prominent individuals from 18 denominations, religious orders and faith groups. The goals of the national group include developing congregational study resources, engaging religious employers in dialogues on labor issues and nurturing regional interfaith coalition on labor issues.
``This is a fundamental social justice issue, and one that people of faith must address powerfully together,'' DeWitt said.
The first national issue the group is tackling is improving what the committee refers to as the ``often brutal'' working conditions and low wages in the poultry processing industry, where they say immigrant laborers are particularly vulnerable to mistreatment.
In addition to discussing the issues with individual plant operators, the committee is developing a set of ethical guidelines for poultry production.
Unions have been in a period of decline for some time, said Kent Wong, a committee member and director of the Center for Labor Research and Education at the labor studies program at UCLA.
But new activism among union leadership and the moral concerns of religious groups about the growing gaps between the rich and poor, the economic insecurity of Americans and the pressures put on congregations and social service agencies with the downsizing of government make the time ripe for a coalition of labor and religious groups.
``I'm very excited about the concept of bringing people from the religious community together on a national scale'' to address workplace issues, he said. ``This is something that churches should be concerned about.''
DeWitt agrees.
Throughout the Bible, from Isaiah and Amos to the Gospels, there are admonitions to treat workers justly, based on such principles as loving one's neighbor as oneself, DeWitt said.
Out of this scriptural context come religious concerns for such issues as the safety of workers, the legitimacy of workers having a fair share in profits, opposition to the exploitation of children and minorities, and the dignity of work.
``Work,'' DeWitt said, ``is an opportunity for individuals to give expression to the creative genius God places in each one of us.''
LENGTH: Medium: 64 linesby CNB