On the 14th September 1981 Pope St John Paul II published an encyclical “Laborem Exercens” which addressed social issues in the world of work and to celebrate the 90th anniversary of “Rerum Novarum” was reaffirming the dignity of workers as human persons.
The encyclical identifies a potential threat that at the time viewed labour simply as a means to an end with no consideration about the human person.
A link to the document can be found HERE
There was some key issues from the encyclical:
Work - making life more human: Laborem Exercens identified work as the key to the whole social question (LE #3). As an organic development of the Church’s social action and teaching it states that every human person at work reflects the action of the creator.
Even in the age of machinery and digital work the proper subject of work continues to be the human person. So when people are treated as instruments in the production process this is identified as a threat to the right order of values, for workers are the ends not just the means of work.
The human person as the Subject of Work: The encyclical recalls Church teaching regarding the priority of labour over capital. All the technological advances that currently act as instruments of work are the results of work previously undertaken by workers.
The rights of workers: The rights of workers are to be seen within the broad context of human rights. Not only to be paid for work undertaken but a sense of personal involvement is needed. The worker is more than a cog in a system. A just wage and other social benefits are the concrete means that verify the justice of the whole socioeconomic system. Trade Unions have an important part to play in the right for just pay and to uphold the dignity of the worker.
