On the occasion of International Labor Day, Monsignor Rolando Álvarez affirmed, during his homily at the San Pedro Cathedral in Matagalpa, that “the Church continues to wonder about the subject of work and the conditions in which it lives.
He pointed out that the Church is committed to the cause and struggle of the workers “because it considers it its mission, its service, verification of its fidelity to Christ.”
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In reference to the violation of workers’ rights in Nicaragua, the bishop of the Matagalpa diocese said that the Church has confirmed that “in many cases there is a violation of the dignity of work, that is, the plague of unemployment, either because they despise work and the rights that flow from it, especially the right to a fair salary, to the security of the person of the worker and his family».
He stressed that work is the foundation on which family life is formed and therefore the integrity of workers must be respected. “Work is a condition for the foundation of a family to be possible, since it requires the means of subsistence that man normally acquires through work.”
Lack of employment in Nicaragua
The prelate emphasized the labor crisis that Nicaraguans are experiencing, leading them to more poverty. “Currently, society presents the problem of finding adequate employment for every able-bodied person, that is, the lack of jobs.”
«This becomes a painful problem when those affected are mainly fathers and mothers of families who do not have how to support their children. When they are young, who after having prepared themselves through cultural, technical and professional training, are unable to find a job », she stressed.
Another of the problems that Álvarez indicated is that the remuneration for work is no longer sufficient “to support a family with dignity and ensure its future.”
He further explained that a just society can only be realized with respect for the dignity of the person. “Respect for human dignity cannot absolutely do without obedience to the principle of considering our neighbor as another self, taking care of his life and the necessary means to live it with dignity in the first place.”
Regrets migration due to lack of employment and persecution
Álvarez affirmed that the “social magisterium of the Church” has denounced the elimination of some workers’ rights. “The right to fair remuneration, rest, the right to a work environment and production processes that do not harm the right to physical health of workers and does not damage their moral integrity.”
“The right to have one’s own personality safeguarded without being transgressed in any way and in one’s own conscience,” he added.
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The bishop lamented that when the right to a pension for old age, sickness or accidents related to labor benefits is not respected, or the right to social provisions linked to motherhood is not respected, many Nicaraguans make the decision to migrate to other countries in search of better opportunities.
«Due to poverty, hunger, unemployment, insecurity, persecution, instability, economic decline, many men and women leave their own land in search of other horizons, facing inhuman conditions, this places them in the first line of risk against exploitation, trafficking, abuse, trafficking and all kinds of injustice”, he stressed.
He also pointed out that no one in the world feels responsible for migrants. “Many times we have lost the sense of fraternal responsibility, we see the half-dead brother on the side of the road. Perhaps we think “poor thing” and continue on our way, he does not compete with us and with that we stay calm and feel at peace ».
The Catholic leader concluded that the human advancement of migrants and their families begins with their own country. “There, together with the right to migrate, the right not to emigrate must be guaranteed, that is, the right to find in the homeland conditions that allow a dignified realization of existence because we live in a time of exploitation of workers.
