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Buenos
dias. Before continuing our
discussion of the biblical basis for social justice, I want to thank you for
speaking up on behalf of the African American family who was driven out of
Orange County by racism. Thanks
for spreading the word about this terrible occurrence and getting in touch with
the Yorba Linda City council to express your concern. I received a thoughtful response from the city after writing
them. They expressed a sincere concern
for what happened and said that they have launched an investigation. No leads have turned up yet,
unfortunately. Let’s continue to
pray for justice…
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Before
the Thanksgiving holiday, we had begun a multi-part discussion about the
biblical basis for social justice.
Today’s post is part III of this series, and it will explore the
biblical basis for corporate responsibility and labor rights.
The
Old Testament “law of gleaning” speaks loud and clear about corporate
responsibility. Leviticus 19: 9-10
summarizes this important social justice law which is also restated in
Deuteronomy 24:
9
“‘When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your
field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. 10 Do not go over your vineyard
a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor
and the foreigner. I am the LORD your God."
This
law from God Himself, commanded landowners, business owners in our language
today, to leave some of their potential profits for immigrants and the
poor. In those days when
landowners sent out farm workers to pick their fields for sale in the
marketplace, some of the harvested grapes and produce would fall to the
ground. In this passage, God
commanded agricultural business owners to leave this fallen produce, or
“gleanings,” on the ground so that immigrants and the poor could have something
to eat. In addition, this text
orders them to leave the “very edges of [their] field” alone, so that immigrants
and the poor could harvest the edges for food.
The
law of gleaning imparts a very important principle which stands in opposition
to the corporate greed which we see rampant in America today: Corporations and other businesses have
a moral, indeed divine, obligation to reserve some of their profits to help
immigrants and the poor.
Corporations should not squeeze as much profit as they can from the hard
work of their employees (i.e., the farm workers employed in the above passage)
and keep it all for themselves, their stockholders, and their highly overpaid
CEO’s. This is immoral. Every business and corporation
has a moral obligation to give back and not to hoard wealth when millions in
America and around the globe are starving. Period.
The
Bible is also clear that corporations and employers have a moral obligation to
pay just wages to their employees.
If they make themselves rich by failing to pay their employees fairly,
then, as James, Jesus’ younger revolutionary brother tells us, they face fiery
divine judgment:
“Look
here, you rich people: Weep and groan with anguish because of all the terrible
troubles ahead of you.
2
Your wealth is rotting away, and your fine clothes are moth-eaten rags.
3
Your gold and silver have become worthless. The very wealth you were counting
on will eat away your flesh like fire. This treasure you have accumulated will
stand as evidence against you on the day of judgment.
4
For listen! Hear the cries of the field
workers whom you have cheated of their pay. The wages you held back cry out
against you. The cries of those who harvest your fields have reached the ears
of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
5
You have spent your years on earth in luxury, satisfying your every desire. You
have fattened yourselves for the day of slaughter.
6
You have condemned and killed innocent people, who do not resist you.” James 5: 1-6
WOW! If you’ve never read the book of James
before, you’re probably stunned after reading this passage. Whoever makes the false claim that the
Bible stands opposed to social justice must never have read the book of James
before. I’ve been criticized for
sounding too “angry” in my writing about social injustice—I will now reply,
yes, I am righteously angry just like Jesus’ brother!
This
passage of Holy Scripture is abundantly clear about the moral responsibility that
employers have to pay fair wages to their employees. If they fail to pay their workers, and by implication if
they fail to pay their workers fairly, they face the danger of God’s righteous
judgment. God gets very upset when
corporations and employers hoard wealth and fail to justly compensate their
workers. He is enraged when
workers cry out to Him about such injustice. The picture here is that employers who engage in such unjust
labor practices are like bloated and overfed cows awaiting the slaughter of God’s
judgment.
This
passage makes me think about the disturbing trend of inflated CEO salaries and unlivable
wages for incredibly hard-working, blue-collar employees. Many CEO’s make millions of
dollars a year while their hard-working employees don’t earn enough to feed
their families. They benefit from
lavish benefits packages and housing and car allowances, while their employees
can’t take their children to see a doctor because they lack health care. This is not right. This is biblically immoral according to
the book of James.
For
example, in 2011, Walmart CEO Mike Duke earned $16.27 million, but how many of
Walmart’s employees could not feed their families or take them to see a
doctor? In 2011, the average,
full-time Walmart employee earned an annual pay of $15,576. This salary was about $7,000 less than
the 2010 Federal Poverty Level of $22,050 for a family of 4. And these numbers apply only to
full-time employees at Walmart.
What about the many employees who are hired on a part-time basis?
Do
you like to travel and stay at hotels?
I know I do. Starwood
Hotels CEO Frits van Paasschen earned $16.66 million in 2011. How many
minimum-wage Latina immigrant moms work at one of the company’s hotels like the
Westin and the Sheraton, but don’t make enough money to provide for their
family’s basic needs. Be sure to
tip big to the cleaning staff when you stay at a hotel.
And
do you like the shirts with the little horsey on them? Ralph Lauren earned $43
million in executive compensation in 2011. How many sweatshop workers are suffering in the world today
because of those little horsey shirts?
The
Costco corporation is a wonderful counter-example to the rampant corporate greed
in America. It is not a perfect
company by any means, but Costco gives healthcare benefits to full and
part-time employees and pays an average of $17 per hour! In fact, Costco shareholders were so alarmed by the high
wages paid by their company that they actually sued—unsuccessfully-to try and lower compensation rates. They lost their lawsuit because Costco
was able to prove that their fair employee practices lead to higher corporate
profit. I don’t think that it is
an accident that Costco’s fair employee compensation policies were spear-headed
by former Catholic CEO, Jim Sinegal.
Mr. Sinegal probably read the book of James.
In sum, the Bible is very clear: It is immoral for corporations,
businesses, and employers to hoard wealth at the expense of immigrants, the poor, and their
employees. They have a moral
obligation to reserve some of their profit to assist immigrants and the poor,
and, for fear of fiery divine judgment, they also have a moral duty to pay fair
wages. Like Jesus’ revolutionary
younger brother, let’s speak out.
In
solidarity,
Robert
Chao Romero
@ProfeChaoRomero
Like us on FB! https://www.facebook.com/JesusForRevolutionaries
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