.- In their message for International Workers’ Day on May 1, the bishops of Venezuela exhorted the country’s government to provide “an improved quality of life” to workers in order to build a more peaceful, unified society.
After recalling Pope Benedict XVI’s encyclical, “Caritas in Veritate,” in which the Holy Father urges the “full and integral development of workers,” the Venezuelan bishops encouraged efforts to continue building a society that is more just, equitable and peaceful, in which dialogue and unity are the pillars rooted in the culture of the world of work and in the search for higher wages and improved benefits.
“We are united with those men and women suffering from unemployment, as well as with those who live permanently under the threat of being laid off because a certain ideology is put above their dignity and rights, creating despair and uncertainty,” the bishops said.
“We reaffirm that nothing is more important than the dignity of human beings and their right to be participants in the transformation of creation,” they stated.
The bishops also encouraged greater unity among workers and between employees and their leaders. “We also call on the federal government to seek channels for authentic and permanent social dialogue that prioritizes equality for all workers through decent pay and social security.”
All those involved in the labor force must work to improve the living conditions of workers, the bishops stressed. No ideology or personal or political interests must overshadow what corresponds to workers: an improved quality of life,” they concluded.
