The month of May begins with the ‘International Workers’ Day’. Keeping with the significance of the day, the Catholic Church celebrates it as the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker. Pope Pius XII established it in 1955, to honour Joseph as the patron of workers and to celebrate the dignity of human labour. Workers' Day focuses on honouring the global workforce, promoting labour rights, and fighting exploitation.

On 15 May 1891, Pope Leo XIII gave the world his path-breaking encyclical, ‘Rerum Novarum’ (‘Of New Things’), regarded as the foundational document of modern Catholic Social Teaching. The encyclical addressed the plight of the working class during the Industrial Revolution. It advocates for worker dignity, the right to form unions, and a just wage, while defending private property and rejecting both socialism and unrestrained capitalism. On 1 May 1991, Pope John Paul II promulgated his encyclical ‘Centesimus Annus’ (‘The Hundredth Year’) to commemorate the historic anniversary of ‘Rerum Novarum’. It reiterated the fundamental vision of ‘Rerum Novarum’ and expounded issues of social and economic justice, including a defense of private property rights and the right to form private associations, including labour unions.

This May is the first anniversary of an Augustinian as Pope. On 8 May 2025, Pope Leo XIV was elected to succeed Pope Francis; he assumed office on 18 May. When asked to explain his choice of name, Pope Leo said, “I chose to take the name Leo XIV. There are different reasons for this, but mainly because Pope Leo XIII, in his historic Encyclical ‘Rerum Novarum’, addressed the social question in the context of the first great industrial revolution. In our own day, the Church offers to everyone the treasury of her social teaching in response to another industrial revolution and to developments in the field of artificial intelligence that pose new challenges for the defence of human dignity, justice and labour.”

The Catholic Church has consistently defended workers' rights to a more dignified, just and humane life. Cardinal Joseph Cardijn (1882-1967), founder of the Young Christian Workers, left no stone unturned in focusing on the plight of workers and in ensuring that the teachings of ‘Rerum Novarum’ are mainstreamed in the life and mission of the Church.

The situation of workers in India leaves much to be desired: most are at the mercy of exploitative, corrupt employers. Workers are often denied fair wages and work long hours. Many do not get appointment letters, nor are there the mandatory ‘Service Conditions.’ Trade Unions in India have become almost non-existent. The COVID period revealed the miserable conditions of casual labourers and migrant workers.

On 21 November 2025, the Government began implementing the four Labour Codes (on Wages, Industrial Relations, Social Security, and Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions). Trade unions, opposition parties, and concerned citizens label them ‘anti-worker.’ Most regard these codes as favouring the corporate sector. Their ‘anti-worker’ dimensions include ‘the hire and fire policy’; ‘curtailing right to strike’; ‘expansion of Fixed-Term Employment (FTE); and ‘diluted safety & welfare’. The recent protests by more than 50,000 workers in Noida in Uttar Pradesh are a case in point!

We have workers in our institutions too. We are all called to do a bit of soul-searching, asking ourselves:

Have they been given an appointment letter, with Service Conditions?

Are they given a just wage with fixed working hours?

Are they treated with dignity?

Pope Leo XIII then and Pope Leo XIV now challenge us to ensure justice for workers!

(Fr Cedric Prakash SJ is a renowned human rights, reconciliation and peace activist. He is also a prolific writer. Contact cedricprakash@gmail.com   )