The Church, the worker, and the call to justice

On this year’s observance of Labour Day June 19, Fr Stephan Alexander, General Manager of the Catholic Commission for Social Justice (CCSJ), joined Altos to reflect on the Church’s enduring role in defending workers’ rights and confronting injustice in society.

“Today, the Church’s message is consistent,” Fr Alexander affirmed. “It continues to speak for workers’ rights.”

Citing the landmark 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum by Pope Leo XIII, he reminded viewers that “the whole idea of that document was to identify the reality that workers are being infringed, their rights. They’re not being treated well.”

The Church, from that moment to now, “prioritises the rights of workers…to promote the dignity of each human being, which is at the heart of all social justice.”

In a climate of economic uncertainty and political transition, Fr Alexander called on employers, especially, to reflect on their role and responsibility. “We who have been gifted to serve those who enter into our paths,” he said, reversing the typical power dynamic. “It’s a misguided idea that only the workers serve. The Church calls all of us to recognise the dignity of the other.”

When asked about the balance between ethical business practices and financial viability, Fr Alexander was firm: “Fundamentally, it’s about putting people before profit.”

While acknowledging the need for profit, he warned against the temptation to reduce human beings to mere instruments or commodities. “If profit is the be-all, the end-all, and if it means infringing the rights of others, then… the Church would say: redirect, recalibrate, and have a look at this again.”

One pressing issue raised was the national debate over a living wage. Fr Alexander, drawing on his years of study and mission in Latin America, explained how his experiences shaped his view of poverty and economic justice. “Living in Latin America really helps one to understand poverty from a different perspective,” he said. “Until you’ve gone to Brazil or other places, you haven’t seen poverty.”

He sees the idea of a living wage not as a demand for more, but as a call for economic balance and justice. “We have to understand scarcity, manipulation of terms, and the basket principle—what does it take to fill a grocery basket?” he asked.

Quoting Pope Francis and invoking the concept of the ‘Economy of Francis,’ he said that justice, from a Catholic perspective, “is nothing more than right relationship or right living… giving each person his or her due.”

Yet, he cautioned, justice works both ways. “At times, there is oppression from employers,” he admitted, “but also at times there might be oppression from workers… who seek something not in accordance with what an employer can justly afford.”

Turning to migration, Fr Alexander responded to the recent closure of the UNHCR office in Port of Spain. “I don’t like the phrase ‘the closing of the door on migrants’,” he said. Instead, he viewed the development as a call for the Church to “step up”.

He noted that the Archdiocesan Ministry for Migrants and Refugees (AMMR) was launched as early as 2018, “the Church has always been at the forefront.”

Structures were already in place within parishes to minister to the needs of migrants and refugees, and now, more than ever, “we have a responsibility we cannot overlook”.

If one principle captures the Church’s position, it is solidarity. “We have to reach out and help,” he urged, especially in the face of dwindling financial support for NGOs and agencies.

The Church’s motivation, he said, is “not philanthropy… not to look good or feel good. It’s about Jesus Christ. It’s about that call in Deuteronomy: to care for the alien, the stranger—because when you were in a strange land, I cared for you.”

Asked to comment on the diplomatic tensions between Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela following a recent high-profile incident, Fr Alexander declined to enter the political fray. Instead, he echoed Pope Benedict XVI, noting that “the primary responsibility [of politics] is for the just ordering of state and society.” He urged leaders to remember the deep shared histories of both nations: “There are places in Guiria where you can see a Trinidad flag and hear Soca music… and right here, where we have that Venezuelan essence.”

He warned that any fallout from diplomatic tensions “would not be good for our nation… and it would be really, really difficult for our people and for those Venezuelan persons who have been seeking recourse to a better and more improved life here in Trinidad and Tobago.”

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