At Catholic institutions, unions and employers negotiate tensions for the sake of mission

(OSV News) -- As 2023's "hot labor summer" grabbed blazing headlines of repeated union victories, mainstream media attention was only intermittently focused on one of the strongest traditional defenders of the right for workers to organize: the Catholic Church.

It's a reminder that's once again current, even in the afterglow of America's Labor Day celebrations.

The privilege of unionizing and seeking workplace equity -- and striking, if necessary -- is fundamental to Catholic social teaching. Pope Leo XIII, St. John XXIII, St. Paul VI, St. John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis have all expounded on unionized labor topics, in both official and unofficial pronouncements.

That history might lead casual observers to conclude that all Catholic institutions -- such as Catholic hospitals and universities, which employ more than 1 million Americans -- are the ideal and automatic supporters of the benefits of a unionized workplace, including protection from dangerous conditions and policies, the opportunity to negotiate contract terms, and living wages for employees.

But even Catholic institutions have their struggles in this area.

Earlier this year, aided by National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United -- the largest and fastest-growing union of registered nurses in America, with nearly 225,000 members nationwide -- nurses at Ascension Via Christi St. Joseph and St. Francis hospitals in Wichita, Kansas, ratified their first-ever union contracts earlier this year.

The achievement followed a historic strike and lockout, during which the nurses accused Ascension of union-busting tactics.

Registered nurse Carol Samsel -- assigned to the Critical Care Unit at Wichita's Ascension Via Christi St. Joseph -- told OSV News that prior to the agreement, short staffing and extra patient loads created an impossible situation, resulting in potential errors and exhaustion.

"You went home being morally distressed every day, getting burned out," she said. With an audible ache in her voice, Samsel recalled being "in tears a couple of times from things I had seen."

Samsel said a lot of hirable nurses are no longer working simply because "they do not want to work in those conditions, so people do not stay."

With a contract ratified, "at least we have a voice to communicate with management, and hold them accountable. Before," emphasized Samsel, "we did not have that."

Ascension -- the largest nonprofit and Catholic health system in the United States as of 2021, with 140 hospitals in 19 states -- has come under fire from the NNU and other labor advocacy groups. In April, the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health, a worker health and safety advocacy group, listed Ascension among its annual "Dirty Dozen" list of employers, alleging poor safety practices and "severe staff cuts" that "create unsafe conditions for patients and workers" in its report.

A January 2024 NNU report stated that Ascension "has eliminated labor and delivery services at 16 hospitals since 2012, which represents about 26 percent of their units nationwide. Since just 2022, Ascension has cut five labor and delivery units."

Ascension, however, has pushed back against the allegations.

"We are committed to providing high quality care while respecting and supporting our dedicated team of nurses, support staff and providers at our health ministries across the country," Ascension spokesperson Sean Fitzpatrick said in a statement emailed to OSV News.

Fitzpatrick also denied that Ascension was unfriendly to unions.

"We respect our associates' right to organize themselves through union representation," he said. "Ascension is guided by our Catholic identity and Catholic social teachings. This calls us to respect the human dignity of all and ensure we are acting in a fair and just manner with our associates and our union partners."

Fitzpatrick also emphasized that Ascension's "staffing guidelines ensure our hospitals have the necessary staff to safely support the quality care, treatment and services we provide. These guidelines also provide the ability to tailor our staffing approach for the specific needs of the patients in our care."

He added, "Providing holistic care that respects the dignity of every individual, especially the poor and vulnerable, is at the core of everything we do. Our Mission is reflected in every aspect of our work -- it drives our decision making, inspires our teams, and ensures we continue to provide safe, quality care to all those we are privileged to serve."

John Dewling, a registered nurse in the intensive care unit at Ascension St. Agnes hospital in Baltimore, said unionization was essential to give nurses a strong voice with hospital leadership.

"We can speak up, with their help," Dewling said. "We're advocating for our patients now. And we're doing all this to make our patient care at the hospital better."

Making St. Agnes better, said Dewling -- a Catholic, and a nurse for eight years -- includes ensuring access for low-income patients.

"We're in West Baltimore, which is one of the poorest parts of Baltimore," he noted. "So we are on the front lines of our community. A lot of patients cannot get primary care -- and they are in our hospital for that care."

But Dewling emphasized that having unions also helps keep Ascension accountable to its mission.

"I think that Ascension -- being the largest Catholic health care agency -- needs a little more push-back from nurses," said Dewling. "And the union gives us that backing. When we know something isn't right and will affect our patients, it's very helpful to have the union behind us -- to have our back."

Academia is another area where Catholic employers and unions can experience friction.

Fordham University in New York and Georgetown University in Washington -- both Jesuit-run institutions of higher education -- have, according to organizers, had very different responses to unionizing efforts by student employees.

"Bargaining was a very slow and unfortunately arduous process that lasted about 19 months," Molly Crawford, a doctoral candidate in theology and representative of the Fordham Graduate Student Workers-Communication Workers of America (FGSW-CWA) Local 1104, told OSV News.

Recognized in April 2022, 98% of the union's members voted on April 9 of this year to give union leaders strike authority absent a fair settlement with Fordham. President Tania Tetlow was accused of delays, and failure to offer proposals in line with other universities. Fordham graduate student workers had among the lowest pay in the nation.

On May 9, a three-year contract was finally ratified and announced -- with an approximate 39% first year wage increase and 3% annual raises thereafter; improved medical insurance coverage; dental insurance; and intellectual property rights to graduate student-created instructor course materials.

The journey of union organizing, Crawford shared, "really challenged me to see how institutions don't often live up to their stated values -- and the struggle to sort of push institutions to live them out has been very strong here at Fordham."

In a statement posted to its website following the ratification of labor agreements, Fordham said it appreciated the "passion, care and commitment" shown by the student worker unions for their members.

"We also gained a deeper understanding of how best to support our students, and we look forward to collaborating with them in the coming academic year," it stated.

In contrast, the unionizing experience at Georgetown University, said Sam Lovell -- a resident assistant, coordinator for the Georgetown Resident Assistant Coalition-Office and Professional Employees International Union (GRAC-OPEIU) Local 153 -- was much smoother.

"The university has responded really positively," Lovell reported.

As a result, GRAC-OPEIU Local 153 was rapidly organized and recognized -- from a March 22 announcement of intent to a 96% vote to unionize on April 16.

Resident assistants -- undergraduate students hired by the university to live in its dormitories and apartments -- oversee more than 6,000 undergraduate residents. Among the grievances claimed by organizers are that differences in the number of residents overseen -- as well as the number of nights on call -- have not been reflected in pay, which varies considerably with financial aid, as well as supervisory issues with community directors who oversee RAs. Next steps include contract negotiations between the union and the university, which began Aug. 29.

"It is about defining a positive relationship that is more equitable toward the employee," explained Lovell, "but it is not one that is about causing chaos in the workplace, or about making unreasonable demands. It's simply asserting the interests of employees."

In a statement on its website, Georgetown stated it is "committed to working in good faith with OPEIU to negotiate a collective bargaining agreement."

Clayton Sinyai, executive director of the Catholic Labor Network told OSV News that Catholic institutions' own example is key to upholding the credibility of the church's teaching.

"Catholic social teaching has long defended the right of workers to organize in labor unions," Sinyai said, emphasizing that "America's Catholic bishops taught in their 1986 pastoral letter "Economic Justice for All" that employees of Catholic institutions enjoy these rights."

He said, "When Catholic institutions honor these rights we evangelize the world. When they fail to do so they create scandal."