Open letter cites Resurrection Health Care’s intimidation of employees  

CHICAGO— More than fifty prominent Catholic theologians and scholars are calling on Chicago-based Resurrection Health Care (RHC) to respect the rights of its employees to organize a union. RHC is Illinois’ largest Catholic health care chain and one of the largest in the nation.

The scholars, from Catholic colleges and universities across the U.S., have signed an Open Letter situating the rights of workers within the framework of the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Catholic social teaching

Citing long-standing Catholic tradition that affirms the rights of workers to form unions free from management interference, the letter criticizes Resurrection Health Care for its intimidation and harassment of employees who are union supporters.

Employees at the eight Resurrection hospitals in the Chicago metropolitan area have been working with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) in their efforts to form a union.  

The letter also points out that RHC has hired Seyfarth Shaw, a law firm specializing in anti-union tactics, resulting in a climate of fear among the hospitals’ employees

The scholars criticize Resurrection’s refusal to engage in a dialogue to establish a fair process for employee choice regarding unionization “despite the clear call to do so embodied in the working paper, A Fair and Just Workplace: Principles and Practices for Catholic Health Care…”, a document promulgated by a working group of health care and union representatives convened under the auspices of both the National Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Catholic Health Association.

The letter concludes: “We urge Resurrection Health Care to engage in a good faith dialogue with the workers’ organizing committee in order to establish a fair process by which employees can freely decide on unionization. Anything less threatens to stifle the authentic voices of workers seeking fundamental justice in their working lives.”

The letter was initiated by five leading Catholic intellectuals:

• The Hon. David Bonior, former 26-year Member of Congress, Professor of Labor Studies at Wayne State University and chairman of American Rights at Work;
• Fr. Robert Drinan, SJ, former Congressman and noted Professor of Constitutional Law and Human Rights at Georgetown University law Center;

• Dr. Teresa Ghilarducci, Director of the Higgins Center for Labor Research at the University of Notre Dame;
• Dr. David O’Brien, Loyola Professor of Catholic History at the College of the Holy Cross; and
• Dr. Joseph Fahey, a leader in Catholic peace and justice studies and Professor of Religious Studies at Manhattan College.

*The text of the letter and the list of signatories are available by clicking here.