For several years now, the North Carolina Council of Churches has gathered with our colleagues and friends to stand with the families and friends of those who died on the job. It’s one of the most important events we attend, standing with those separated forever from their loved ones and sometimes shouting at the injustice and indifference that allows workplace related deaths.
177 people died in 2023, the last year for which we have statistics. Those are the names we represent today as we chime the memory bell to commemorate their deaths. Some of these deaths can be explained and could not be prevented. But some could be prevented. And every year we know, the numbers should not be as high as they are. Every year we pray they will not be this high next year.
We have laws in this land to protect our workers, at least a few remain as of today. These are laws for which previous generations of workers died to ensure that those who followed would live. And yet, when tensions rise and crises come, we justify relaxing the laws to meet the situation. These situations are precisely the time when we need to enforce the laws.
· People get hurt when they are forced to hurry.
· People get hurt when they are expected to cut corners.
· People get hurt when profit eclipses safety.
· People get hurt when they work without personal protection equipment.
The North Carolina Council of Churches has long been an advocate for worker’s rights. This belief is grounded in scripture where we find God’s clear injunction to value the worker and the work. In fact, the first fruits of the work are so valuable they are suitable only for God’s consumption. Burnt offerings are more than an antiquated ritual we find in ancient texts. The burning of the first fruits, whether those fruits were plucked from a vine, raised in a field, or fashioned in a shop, was the cultural ritual of thankfulness. Thankfulness for the strength to work and thankfulness for the resources with which to work. Only after giving thanks, tangible thanks, for the products of labor, did one consider consuming or selling the remainder of the labor.
If the worker’s product is so valuable, how much more so the worker? The worker is priceless, a treasure beyond comparison. We certainly don’t need to burn grapes and slaughter sheep to give thanks for production in this current culture, but we should consider appropriate thankfulness for labor. The robber barons of today could mitigate their harm by ensuring safe working conditions, no matter the cost. Ten percent of the profit margin of our largest corporations could buy a lot of safety equipment. The government officials charged with protecting our workers could assess some fines for those neglecting to follow the rules. That ought to generate some income to help protect workers.
We all know the sad saga, money and might loom large. But there is another way we are called to live together, the way that leads to justice rolling like water and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. We know what this looks like. Scripture is full of the images of the world aplenty created when we deal with one another in ways of justice and righteousness. We only need to live into the picture that has already been painted for us. Thanks be to God for painting the picture. Amen.
