Pope Leo XIII: Rerum Novarum

A Reflection Paper

This reader found Pope Leo XIII’s Rerum Novarum very enlightened for its time. Most of
the ideas he raised: the improvement of the working poor’s situation; the challenge to
the wealthy to alter their unfortunate view of the poor; the plea towards the privileged
sector to form institutions that support and aid workers; the practice of employer ethics;
the creation of unions; the appeal for just worker rights specifically on salary, work
hours, safety and health precautions, and labor exemptions; and the scope of
government duties and responsibilities, all these points, the reader is in complete
agreement with. However, there are two points that leads the reader to strongly argue
against: the suppression of strikes and the public authority’s non-intervention on
injustice in worker-employer relations.

First, the reader is of two minds regarding the Pope’s conviction that modern times
shows inhumane treatment to the working poor by greedy and unscrupulous capitalists.
Perhaps, the current worker-employer relations are not ideal but the reader feels that it
is not as bad as to call it inhumane. Business owners are practicing more and more
their social responsibilities towards their workers, as evidenced by the Philippines
despite being a third-world country ceased to be ranked among the cheapest labor in
Asia. But this reader commends and supports Pope Leo’s sympathy and plea to better
the conditions of the working people since their struggles are evident, especially on the
news, and this reader feels that focusing the wealthy and society’s attention on their
plight might lead to a more substantial movement to alleviate their situation.

According to the Pope’s belief, the poor work so that they can provide for their living,
and most of the working poor prefer to improve their lives through honest labor. This
may be true, based on news of outgoing President Aquino’s last accomplishments’
update: unemployment has decreased significantly, estimated at 6%. Pope Leo did,
however, acknowledge that the working poor are resentful of the rich, and he thought
that they might be incited to perform strikes. And so, the Pope aimed a message at the
poor calming and consoling them, encouraging them to accept their lot and strive to
betterment without doing harm to others, and above all to avoid strikes, thus preserving
order and peace. To the reader’s mind, having a strike is just a natural outlet for the
working man’s dissatisfaction. Plus, it is a vehicle with which the workers can
communicate their desires and needs more visibly. Also, nowadays strikes are
performed with the minimum of disorder, one rarely hears of any violent incidents or
altercations during a strike on the news anymore, proof that strikes are not evil. So, this
reader is definitely against the Pope Leo’s petition not to perform strikes, the reader
feels that it infringes a bit on the right to freedom of rally.

In line with pacifying the rallying workers and preventing the need for strikes, the Pope
challenges the rich, entrepreneurs and employers, as well as government officials
regarding their uncharitable outlook and disparaging treatment of the poor; considering
the poor even the working poor, a burden on society. To this, Pope Leo carefully
pointed out that the poor are equal in citizenship to the rich and that their work is the
source of the nation's wealth. In this, the reader wholeheartedly agrees. This reader
believes that the poor is the where the workers from factories and assembly lines, staff
and crew of food and service establishments, manual labor of construction enterprises,
come from, in other words, our blue-collar workers. They are the backbone of any
business. As such, they are entitled to decent treatment and are on equal footing with
the wealthy, with all the same rights and privileges, given humane conditions and
compensation. It is also only practical thinking to treat the poor well; you need your poor
worker, so treat your worker well. Besides there have been cases where a poor man
rises to the ranks of the rich through hard work. . In line with this, he declared that less
of the wealth should be in hands of the few rich and there should be fewer poor people.
Here, the reader is not so concerned whether the wealth and resource are in the hands
of the few rich, to the reader’s mind, if only a few people worked for it, then only a few
earned the right to that wealth. What the reader definitely agrees on however, is that
there should be fewer of the poor masses. Herein comes in the assistance that the
wealthy can provide, through the private institutions that aim to provide for the working
people.

With Pope Leo’s challenge to contribute help and resources for the working poor’s well-
being, for those who are amenable to offer help, they have the following recourses:
associations for giving material aid, privately-funded agencies to help workers, and
foundations to care for dependents. This reader believes this is a long-term solution to
the prevailing problem of the working poor’s condition, provided these institutions are
run with strict rules and regulations in place to avoid corruption from within. The reader
always hear testimonials on how these foundations have risen to the occasion to extend
help to the unemployed poor by looking for jobs for them, supporting the worker’s widow
and children in case of death, extending aid during calamities and sickness, providing
for the orphans and elderly relations of the worker. The most common occurrence of
their good work is dispensing relief aid to typhoon casualties, especially the poor among
them.

Also enclosed in the Rerum Novarum is a message to those who deal with the working
poor. The overlying concern of Pope Leo’s encyclical is that the working poor must be
cared for. This certainly put him in conflict with the advocates for maximum profit, who
believe that businesses and industries should not be taxed with moral concerns about
the welfare of workers. For Pope Leo, employers should have clear moral obligations to
their workers: they are not to be treated as slaves; the dignity of your workers’ must be
preserved. Employers are not to give impossible or inappropriate work. They are to give
every worker what is justly due him. The reader strongly agrees will all these points. In
point of fact, this reader has worked as an employee for a private retail brand before
and can attest that companies nowadays have more ethical practices toward
employees’ welfare, social awareness, and environmental responsibility. Their human
resource departments generate plans for the well-being and growth of their employees.
An example of this are after-work hours’ exercise programs to promote better health, as
well as a relaxation outlet. Another example of the care that employers provide their
people, when there is a bereavement in the family they extend their condolences and
offer financial help. Aside from that, they are also active in their chosen charities.
Business owners are also more active in the movement to preserve the environment.
This approach is on a high moral plane, but it is also very practical. And it is also in the
best interest of business and management. You give back to the people and the
environment what you take from it.

The Rerum Novarum also discusses a number of specific issues relating to the
condition of workers. Workers have a natural right to form unions which is beyond the
authority of the government. The associations that he imagined could comprise of
workers alone or better yet, of workers and employers. The encyclical strongly favors
the unions, stating that workers are to use their unions to secure just compensations
and conditions. And the union should seek to insure that every worker has sufficient
work and that workers in need are provided for. But they should keep in mind that the
organization should suit their purpose. The proper operation of unions involves offices,
funds, and arbitration. In the reader’s opinion, unions are peaceful vehicles to open lines
of communication with the employers in order to come to an amicable compromise. The
reader believes that this is a powerful tool to avoid the need for strikes. The unions can
spur discourse and negotiation with the management and eliminate the threat for a
strike. This is a win for both sides, with no accompanying losses in cost for the
management and no threat of violence on the part of the workers.

In addition to worker rights, Pope Leo further states that on the issue of wages, it must
go beyond only the agreement of the employer and employee; they must go beyond the
dictates of the employer; and they must at least be enough to support a worker and his
family. If a worker accepts less than this, he is the victim of injustice. This is true and the
reader very much agrees on this. As a personal experience, whenever this reader goes
to job interviews and receives job offers, the scenario is exactly as Pope Leo describes.
There is a negotiation between the potential employer and the employee-to-be on salary
and benefits to be received. Of course, on the reader’s part, one will quote a salary that
is commensurate to the job and factor in one’s daily living expenses, regardless of the
employer’s need to cut down on costs. Depending on the outcome, both come to a
mutual agreement and compromise. But nowadays, there is not that much disparity on
quotes during salary negotiation since companies make their salary and benefits
competitive to entice job applicants. This is because of the coveted term “preferred
company” which lends prestige to a corporation’s image. The term means that the
company is the top of mind of applicants and employees-to-be since they feel that the
company offers the best compensation among its competitors.

Aside from wages, according to the Pope, work should not be so long that it dulls the
mind or that the body gives out from exhaustion. The factors that should be considered
with determining the hours of work are: the nature of the work, the circumstances of
time and place, and the physical condition of the workers. A worker should have regular
intervals for break and rest, and he should be given enough vacation time for his body
and mind to recuperate and recharge. Pope Leo used religious obligations as a motive
to lower the seven days a week workday for factories to six days, and he insisted that
rest should not be at the expense of attending Mass. Special care must be taken that
women and children are not treated unjustly in the workplace, and health and safety
precautions are to be provided for all workers in the workplace, especially in factories.
All these are part of employee rights taken for granted in the current employment scene.
This reader is amazed at how oppressed the rights of workers have been then. The
reader has come to the realization that employees and workers nowadays have it easier
with all the accompanying rights, privileges, benefits, and safeguards in place in all job
fields.

Finally, and in connection with the safeguards for worker rights, there comes the
purpose of the government that is to ensure public and individual well-being. The
government must protect the community and its constituent parts, and it should protect
equally each and every class of citizens. And provide special consideration to the weak
and poor. Pope Leo further entreats the government to improve the condition of workers
and part of its task is to safeguard the well-being and interests of workers. The
government does not have the authority to forbid unions, but it can oppose, prevent,
and dissolve unions when their objective is at cross-purposes with morals, justice, or the
welfare of the state. It cannot abolish private property but it can control its exercise,
although exploitation of taxes should be avoided. Civil power should not interfere within
the privacy of homes, but the government can and should give public aid to families in
extreme difficulty. It can restore rights within the family. Public authority should
intervene whenever injury or violence has been done or endangers the common good
or the interests of individuals or groups. This reader is in agreement with all the above
duties and responsibilities that the government should undertake. It is the right of every
person, rich or poor, employer or worker, male or female that the government should
protect and enforce those rights. There are only two government obligations that the
reader has strong reservations on: that the government cannot intervene in matters of
wages, hours, and working conditions, since it is believed that these matters should be
worked out between employers and employees. But how about in the case of salary
delays or enforced overtimes or extreme conditions like in sweatshops? Should not the
government police these injustices? These are infringements on worker rights. And
another thing that the reader feels strongly on, is that the government is tasked to
suppress strikes. This should not be the case, people have the freedom to express their
dissatisfaction in an orderly manner. Strikes are not synonymous with riots. There are
such things as peaceful rallies. Perhaps, the public authorities can monitor the situation
but up to that point only. There is no need for violent containment procedures like what
one sees on the news. Also, the government’s duty should be not to suppress but to
root out the cause of a strike thereby preventing the need for it.

Reading this encyclical was an eye-opener. It made the reader aware of the differences
and improvements on worker rights then and now, plus it also presented the feel of the
political and social scene more than a century ago. It allowed the reader to critically
reflect upon the current labor rights. Pope Leo presented many valuable points that will
help this reader in future study of labor law.