Justice must be practised every day

By Fr Stephan Alexander

General Manager, CCSJ and AMMR

The observance of Labour Day on June 19 and World Refugee Day on June 20 has given us the opportunity to reflect on the deeper connection between these two annual commemorations, including how different struggles for justice are often linked by shared concerns about human dignity, rights, and inclusion.

Although Labour Day and World Refugee Day focus on different groups, both draw attention to people whose voices are often overlooked and whose rights have often had to be defended through persistent advocacy and sacrifice.

Workers seek fair wages, safe working conditions, and respect at work. Refugees and asylum seekers seek protection, security, legal recognition, and the opportunity to rebuild their lives with dignity.

Looking back on these observances, we are challenged to confront an important question: do we truly recognise the dignity of every human person, or only that of those who are powerful, comfortable, and socially accepted? The answer to that question lies at the heart of Labour Day, World Refugee Day, and indeed Catholic Social Teaching (CST).

Labour Day in Trinidad and Tobago reminds us that many of the rights workers enjoy today were not freely granted. They were secured through sacrifice, courage, organisation, advocacy, and persistent resistance to injustice.

The legacy of Tubal Uriah ‘Buzz’ Butler and other labour leaders teaches us that progress often begins when ordinary people refuse to accept unfair treatment as the norm. Rights such as collective bargaining, workplace protections, reasonable working hours, safer working conditions, and fairer wages emerged because workers were willing to challenge unjust systems.

The Catholic Church has long supported such efforts. In Rerum Novarum (1891), Pope Leo XIII defended workers’ rights and challenged both exploitation and indifference.

Successive popes further developed this teaching, insisting that work is not merely an economic activity but participation in God’s creative plan. Human beings must never be treated as tools, commodities, or disposable resources. The economy exists for people, not people for the economy.

Compassion and protection

World Refugee Day invites us to consider another group whose dignity is often overlooked or questioned. Across the world, millions of people have been displaced by war, persecution, political instability, economic collapse, environmental disasters, and violence.

Refugees and asylum seekers frequently leave behind their homes, professions, possessions, communities, and support networks in search of safety and survival.

Yet many encounter suspicion, hostility, discrimination, and legal barriers after arriving in new countries. Too often, they are viewed first as problems to be managed rather than as persons deserving of compassion and protection.

CST insists that every human being possesses an inherent dignity that comes from God and not from citizenship, legal status, ethnicity, religion, or economic contribution.

Scripture repeatedly reminds God’s people to care for the stranger and the foreigner. “You shall not oppress a stranger; you know the heart of a stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt” (Exodus 23:9).

Jesus, Himself a refugee (Mt 2:13–15), identified with the vulnerable and the displaced, teaching that whatever we do for the least among us, we do for Him.

The themes of dignity and justice also invite reflection on civil liberties and the fair application of the law.

The arrests of Alyssa Phillip and Camille Caresquero during Labour Day 2026 activities have intensified scrutiny of this issue. A statement from the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) indicated that Phillip’s arrest occurred because she allegedly led an unauthorised march, failed to comply with instructions to disperse, engaged in disorderly behaviour, and resisted arrest.

The TTPS also indicated that while the official Labour Day procession had received the necessary approvals, Phillip and her supporters were participating in a separate unauthorised procession and were therefore subject to enforcement action.

This incident followed Phillip’s earlier arrest in connection with a public protest highlighting fatal police-involved shootings.

The courts will ultimately determine the legality of these matters. However, the incidents raise broader questions that extend beyond any individual case. They invite reflection on freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, equality before the law, and public confidence in institutions.

Many citizens have asked whether laws regulating public gatherings are consistently and impartially applied. Are similar standards enforced across different groups, causes, and events? Is discretion exercised in a manner that is transparent, fair, and free from favouritism?

These are not anti-police questions. They arise naturally in any democratic society committed to justice and the rule of law. Public trust depends not only on the existence of laws but also on confidence that they are applied fairly.

At first glance, workers’ rights, refugee protection, and civil liberties may appear to be separate concerns. In reality, they are connected by a common moral principle: the dignity of every human person and the obligation to protect that dignity from exploitation, exclusion, and abuse of power.

Social justice cannot be selective. A society cannot credibly defend workers while ignoring migrants. It cannot champion refugees while disregarding the struggles of low-income workers. It cannot speak of human rights while remaining indifferent to questions of fairness and equal treatment under the law.

May this reflection inspire us to continue working for a Trinidad and Tobago where workers are respected, refugees are welcomed, laws are applied fairly, institutions are trusted, and every person is recognised as a beloved child of God. Such a society would not merely celebrate justice on particular days of the year; it would seek to practise justice every day.

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