To Redress Forgetting: 2012 Walmart Labor Organizing and a Theology of the American Workplace

This paper applies theology of the workplace and cultural cognition studies to support recent “open source” labor union action at Walmart in North Americ and redress the lack of clear 2012 teaching on the social question by the U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops. In an era of diminished cultural awareness about the role and significance of labor unions, insight-based critical realism, as a component of workplace theology analysis, can complement cultural cognition legal research for more effective labor organizing as well as Roman Catholic engagement in the social question. Comparative employment ecology workplace models, focusing on the U.S., Germany, and Japan, help in the historical derivation of practical, normative benchmarks for organized labor and management in respect to enacting more
authentic employment relations. The benchmarks are grounded in theology of the workplace guidelines drawn from Roman Catholic encyclical teaching. Two basic parameters are shown to
be particularly salient for the U.S. case: just cause dismissal protection and employee participation in managerial prerogative. Specific legal enactments and a strategic organizing model are offered in the conclusion for both union strategizing and collaborative church support.