John MacArthur has posted a few questions and answers on Christians and Labor Unions. On the question of whether Christians should not be in labor unions MacArthur says:
“No, not necessarily. The Bible does not say anything specifically about labor unions or political economics. That decision is at the discretion of each individual Christian. It is not more sanctified to be in a non-union shop than a union shop. Those things are political and economic. They are wisdom decisions that must be made with prayer and in keeping with biblical principles.”
On whether Christians should strike or not he says:
“In each situation, the Christian must decide for himself or herself whether or not striking is a right thing to do. If it is right, if it is equitable, then you can submit to the structure of that union and strike. If on the other hand, it is inequitable, unjust or unfair, then I think you can go ahead and break the lines and go across and work if you wish. But that is for every Christian to decide. The Bible makes no specific comment in regard to that particular issue.”
This is all hitting home for me because my mom, who is a Christian, is part of a nursing union. Unions are pretty much a way of life here in West Virginia, especially in the coal mining industry. I know a lot of my friends may not agree with labor unions, but they truly do a lot of good. My mom has worked at the same hospital for a combined 21 years, and is one of the most loyal workers they have. Unfortunately they went on strike over 12 weeks ago, and she has not been able to make any money because of it for the same period of time.
At this point, a question on Ephesians 6 does come up, in relations to the master and slave relationship. MacArthur brings this up near the end of his article in that we can understand it today in terms of employee/employer relations. With any relationship that has a head/submission role (however you understand it), we must understand that God is above all. If the master is telling the one who is in a role of submission to do something antithetical to God’s law, then the one in submission has a duty to follow God and not the one in the leadership role. The “leaders” over my mom at the hospital are trying to get rid of a couple issues in the nurses’ contracts that are there for patient safety, leading to an unsafe and potentially very harmful situation for patients of the hospital. It is for the rights and safety of their patients that the nurses, including my mom, are on strike. Though they have gone 12 weeks without pay for their patients safety, the higher-ups in the hospital have gone on public record, lying about the strike, saying that it is about money issues. It is not. In fact, when it came time to draw-up the new contract to present to the hospital management, the union specifically left their salaries just as they were to show that it’s not about money. The hospital continued their lies for a while, and finally dropped them when they weren’t swaying public opinion.
Unfortunately, this means my mom has been without a job for 12 weeks. She is our only source of income at the moment. The hospital called other hospitals in the area and told them to not hire nurses that are on strike. She has been putting in many applications and interviews, but most of the jobs have been too far away, and the cost of gas or moving is beyond what we can afford at the moment. Now, does this mean that my mom was being unbiblical for not taking care of her family? Absolutely not, because my mom was smart enough to prepare herself when talks of striking began. We have been able to pay all of our bills in those weeks, including my tuition at Southern Seminary.
So, all of that to say a few things personally. First, I am extremely proud of my mom. She has taken for the cause of the patients, and for their safety. Second, I would appreciate any prayers that readers could give. At 12 weeks and counting, no amount of planning can continue, and after 12 weeks we are starting to feel stretched. Please pray that the dispute would be settled, and that my mom would be able to find a job close to home.
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