George Weigel is no doubt a respected scholar and pundit. However, after reading his last column (CR, March 24), it would appear that his plutocratic musings belong more in the pages of a reactionary publication than a Catholic newspaper. Weigel’s observations on “workers rights” would make Dorothy Day cringe.
His reading of “Rerum Novarum” is typical of those who see capitalism as the answer to every problem of society. Pope Leo XIII sought to ensure that workers, being the ones largely responsible for the profits, would be able to share in those profits and live their lives with some level of dignity. Unions have (played) and continue to play a huge role in accomplishing the aforementioned goal.
Day once noted, “ … man alone is weak and adrift, that he must seek strength in common action.” For over a century unions have provided the workers with the common action needed to secure their rights. Weigel is wrong to disparage them.