By Gretchen Keiser

Pope John Paul II says that "trade unions are indispensable" to the struggle for social justice, but the public climate in the United States right now is increasingly antagonistic to the labor movement, according to Monsignor George Higgins.

Speaking on the first anniversary of the issuance of "On Human Work," the papal encyclical on labor, Monsignor Higgins traced a portrait of a movement still forced to justify its existence in the United States and increasingly challenged by critics and some in the business and economic community. Monsignor Higgins, who for 36 years headed the social action arm of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops in Washington, D.C. spoke to an ecumenical gathering at the Baptist Tabernacle on Luckie Street in Atlanta, addressing the Ecumenical Coalition of Working People.

The labor encyclical of Pope John Paul II was lauded by several speakers as breaking fresh ground in its style and assimilating a broad spectrum of thinking in its analysis of the relationship that ought to exist between man and his work. The two key principles emphasize that "work is for the person and not vice-versa" and that labor takes priority over capital, Monsignor Higgins noted.

In addition, the encyclical expresses the viewpoint that trade unions "are indispensable in the struggle for social justice," he said.

While that is the viewpoint of the encyclical, "many Americans would gag at the notion that unions are indispensable," Monsignor Higgins said.

In addition to the traditional opposition in some quarters to the organized labor movement, there is a limited vision of the role of the trade union in social justice struggles, he noted. For example, while American newspapers have continually portrayed the struggle of Solidarity in Poland to overcome Communist oppression, the efforts of Brazilian trade unions to win recognition from a right-wing military government have received little notice in the United States, he said. Both the Communist government in Poland and the military government in Brazil "have one thing in common," he said. "They will not tolerate free and autonomous labor unions."

The climate in the United States right now is more openly antagonistic to labor, he said after his talk. Citing a July 12 Fortune magazine article asking "Who Needs Unions?" and other articles critical of the late George Meany, Monsignor Higgins said they were signs of "a new atmosphere" that questioned publicly the value of labor unions.

The preamble to the National Labor Relations Act of 1932 encouraged collective bargaining and has formed the basis for the relationship that developed over the years among government, management and labor, he said. "Any attempt to turn back the clock … could pit labor and management against each other in the worst sort of class struggle." Later he added that the times seemed to be "a kind of a turning point" needing a cooperative effort between labor and management to plan for the "total good of our economy and our people." Instead, he saw signs that "we're going the other way," particularly noting the Reagan administration's effort to withdraw government from certain arenas and rely on private initiative.

In other comments to the audience of some 75 to 100 people, Monsignor Higgins criticized the administration's claim that government gradually had "co-opted" the social service work done by churches and private agencies away from churches against their wishes "does violence to the historical record," Monsignor Higgins said. In fact, he said, government became involved in social welfare because the problem was "too big" for churches to handle. And, he said, administration officials are "whistling in the dark" if they think churches can handle social welfare responsibilities without help. Citing the recent collection for the Campaign for Human Development, Monsignor Higgins noted that, after great effort, the collection raised $6.8 million nationally for social justice problems. That amount, he said, "is what a Cabinet department spends before breakfast."