When Leo Mendoza's parents got COVID-19, both had to go without pay while they recovered. His father, who drives pilots and airline crews in Los Angeles to and from the airport to their hotel, and his mother, who packages lunches served at public schools, are both immigrants from Mexico who came to the United States with the hopes of working and providing for their family. Yet during the pandemic, Mendoza's father was expected to come to work even while he was sick.
Millions of Americans are protesting work conditions by leaving their current jobs as part of what is being called the "Great Resignation." While the Mendozas have not left their jobs yet, they say they are frustrated with how they were treated during the pandemic and are beginning to consider their options.
What does the church have to say about this? Not only has Catholic social teaching emphasized that Catholics are called to treat workers with dignity and respect, but the church's long support for labor unions may offer a Catholic response to "the Great Resignation."
"I think in many ways, we're in the middle of a slow moving general strike in which millions of workers are no longer willing to accept the kind of low-wage, no-benefit jobs that have left them feeling so burned out and insecure,” said Lane Windham, associate director at Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor at Georgetown and co-director of WILL Empower (Women Innovating Labor Leadership).
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