Catholic Teachers Start Union In St. Louis
When Robin Heimos discusses her experiences with teachers in public schools, she often finds solace in the fact that she teaches at a Roman Catholic school. She feels that her school is safer, allows her more freedom to teach her own curriculum, and believes that she receives greater support from her students’ parents. However, her opinion changes when it comes to salary scales. As a 4th grade teacher at St. Francis of Assisi School in Oakville, Mo., she realizes that base salaries in the St. Louis Archdiocese’s elementary parochial schools are approximately 45 percent lower than those in public schools.
To bridge this gap, Ms. Heimos has been working since last spring to achieve something that most public school teachers take for granted: a union. Last week, a gathering of about 300 teachers elected Ms. Heimos as their president and adopted a constitution. They are now seeking recognition from the diocese’s school board, which consists of lay and religious members appointed by the archbishop and current board members. Ms. Heimos emphasized the importance of fighting for what she believes in, as she pays around $6,700 per year to the system she works in so that her two children can attend Catholic schools.
Historically, unions have been common in American public education, but Catholic school teachers are less likely to be represented by organizations with collective bargaining rights. However, labor organizers in Catholic education argue that unions and the church are a natural match. The Catholic Church has explicitly supported workers’ rights to unionize since Pope Leo XIII wrote an encyclical on labor organizing over a century ago. Rita Schwartz, the president of the National Association of Catholic School Teachers based in Philadelphia, agrees that teachers in Catholic schools should be treated the same way as teachers in public schools.
The association, which counts about 25 locals in its membership, represents approximately 5,000 Catholic school teachers. There are over 8,000 Roman Catholic schools throughout the United States employing nearly 150,000 teachers. While the number of locals is increasing, Ms. Schwartz feels that teachers in many dioceses are slow to organize.
According to Ms. Schwartz, Catholic lay teachers tend to organize later and address issues that affect them less assertively. She believes that the problem lies in Catholic school systems not always practicing what the Catholic Church preaches, often refusing to recognize new groups.
For Ms. Heimos, the need for a union became apparent last April when she and her colleagues at St. Francis of Assisi compared their pay scales with those of teachers in St. Louis’ archdiocesan high schools, who have their own 30-year-old union. They discovered that while their starting salaries were similar, the annual increases were greater at the Catholic high schools. This disparity upset elementary school teachers who were already aware of the pay gaps between them and public school teachers. While Catholic school teachers have a base pay of $16,890, new teachers in St. Louis public schools earn $24,551. Additionally, parochial elementary teachers had fewer sick days, paid more for family health benefits, and received annual tuition breaks of $500 for their children. In contrast, Catholic high school teachers were granted full tuition waivers at the archdiocesan high schools.
Observers of organized labor and Catholic education predict that teachers will continue to form new locals as long as lay personnel constitute the majority of school staff and dioceses struggle financially.
"We are completely dependent on the archbishop’s decision," Ms. John stated. "If he chooses not to acknowledge us, then we will cease to exist. Although, I don’t think he will," she added. "He has never indicated any threats towards us."
‘Not Opponents’
One of the major challenges for Catholic school organizations such as the local ones in St. Louis is the fact that, like public schools, they do not have the ability to appeal to the National Labor Relations Board. In 1979, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision that the NLRB, which deals with disputes between private employers and their workers, did not have authority over parochial schools. Supporters of this decision argued that granting jurisdiction to the board would have allowed unnecessary government interference in religious institutions. At around the same time, Catholic school teachers began separating from the American Federation of Teachers due to disagreements over proposals to use public funds for private education, resulting in a loss of numbers and support. As a result, officials in the St. Louis church have significant discretion.
Archdiocesan officials have stated that they do not oppose the concept of an elementary teachers’ union, which would consist of approximately 2,300 members and significantly outnumber the 220-member high school union. However, they have also cautioned that forming a union on a systemwide level may not be feasible since elementary school teachers are employees of individual parishes, while teachers in the eight high schools work directly for the archdiocese. John Schwob, the president of the diocese school board, stated that they will discuss union recognition at an upcoming meeting. The main question at hand is whether the teachers should organize separate groups in each parish or if it should be done on a districtwide basis. "We do not view them as opponents in this matter," he clarified. "As a church, we have always acknowledged the rights of workers to form unions." However, the teachers themselves are already adopting a union mindset. Ms. Heimos mentioned that her group will not accept organizing on a parish-by-parish basis.
