Putting participation into praxis: the struggle with Karol Wojtyla's Laborem Exercens

Abstract

PurposeThis paper scrutinizes the relevance of Karol Wojtyla's Laborem Exercens.Design/methodology/approachIn doing so, the endeavor employs participatory method for workers to do the following: identify problems experienced or observed in unionism, determine what/who causes hindrance in achieving the union's aim, describe the future of unionism if the problems are not addressed and draw possible solutions.FindingsEven though the Catholic Church had issued encyclicals that deal with workers' rights and had maintained in its social teachings affirmative arguments for workers, these must be seen yet in the Philippines where unionists are vilified and red-tagged, needing the prophetic role of Church leaders affirming workers' rights. Human work is not only personal but also social, political and economic; it is a collective act.Originality/valueThough Wojtyla affirmed workers' rights, the workers can hardly feel the presence of the Church. AMA Sugbo – KMU (Alyansa sa mga Mamumuo sa Sugbo – Kilusang Mayo Uno/Workers' Alliance in Cebu – May 1 Movement), a Cebu-based labor group, needs the role of the Church in asserting rights to unionize and launch strikes, but, as Marx maintained, relies on the workers' dedication to arouse, organize and mobilize because many of the workers, as Althusser argued, view social institutions as state apparatuses; hence, there's a need to review the participation of the Church with Wojtyla's Laborem vis-à-vis neoliberal mode of production.