Should a Christian join a labor union?

If the Christian workman serves a hard master, the Scripture instructs him how to act: "Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward. For this is thankworthy, if when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God" (1 Peter 2:18-20). (See also Eph. 6; Col. 3:22; 1 Tim. 6:1; Titus 2:9). But the Trades Union says, "You must not be subject, but 'down tools.'" If the Christian's circumstances and conditions of life are hard, again the Scriptures instruct. "But GODLINESS WITH CONTENTMENT is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content" (1 Tim. 6:6-8). "Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for He has said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, the Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do to me" (Heb. 13:5-6). But Trades Unionism preaches discontent This lies at the root of all its doctrines, and to men who are contented it has nothing to offer. In its doctrines and commands then it is opposed to the Word of God, and no man can serve two masters; if a Christian who is in a Trades Union obeys its commands, he will run many a time counter to the Word of God; if he is subject to the Word of God he must often refuse to obey the commands of the Union. Let him choose then whether he will obey God or man.

Only a blind and foolish prejudice would deny that the working man has had in the past, and may still have, many grievous causes for complaint, and if he has nothing beyond and outside this world we do not wonder at his discontent and his endeavour to secure for himself better conditions of life. We know at the same time that if he could gain at once every advantage for which he has combined in Unions he would still be an unsatisfied man, for in Christ only is true life found, the life that satisfies, and makes a man rejoice with a joy that is not dependent upon his circumstances. We also know that selfishness and sin characterize this world out of which Christ has been cast, the only One who could have righted its wrongs, and turned its turmoil into rest and peace; and whether it be the Capitalist who grinds the workman to increase his gains, the agitator who exploits the workman to satisfy his own ambition, or the workman himself who rebels against present conditions and casts envious eyes upon those whom he thinks to be more fortunate than himself: all alike are moved by the same motive and power — selfishness and sin.

But the question is, should the Christian working man, the man who has Christ as his Saviour, life, pattern, and hope, and who has God as his Father, join a Trades Union? The answer to the question will be very simple if we ascertain the aim and character of the Union.

What is the object that the Trades Unions have in view? There is but one answer. Trades Unionism avowedly seeks, after the things of this life; it seeks after them seven days in every week, for Sunday is the day for all its greatest demonstrations. Probably cold, dead orthodoxy and new theology are greatly to blame for this latter fact, and for much of the disgust in the working man's mind with religion; be that as it may, Trades Unionism's one great and all-absorbing pursuit is the things of this life, and if a movement is to be judged by its aims, then, without question, this one comes under the head of "the nations of this world," in which are also included every society and individual, whether rich or poor, that does not give the things of God the sovereign place. Consequently we do not see how the "little flock" — those who know God as their Father and rejoice in His care for them — can consistently and happily throw in their lot with Trades Unions.

One grand objection to a trades union is that it introduces a third party between master and servant which the Word of God nowhere recognizes. A master may dismiss his servant or the servant may leave his master if so disposed, but for any body of men to attempt to interfere and regulate terms between master and servant is a thing entirely opposed to the teaching of Holy Scripture.

Furthermore, the Christian master is taught in Scripture to “give to his servants that which is just and equal,” but the union interferes with this and insists upon his giving the same wages to an idle incompetent workman as to one who is really worth four times as much. Finally, for a Christian to join a union or any other club is to be unequally yoked together with unbelievers.

We look upon a trades union as a most unwarrantable interference with the rights of individual conscience. It usurps an authority without a shadow of Scripture foundation. The Word of God puts each in his right place and teaches him how to carry himself therein. If master and men would but listen to its holy teachings, there would be no need of unions. But sadly, they do not, and no doubt in many cases, the masters have not been as kind, as generous or a considerate as they ought, and the men have proved rebellious. Or — for there are two sides to every question — the men have proved idle and unprincipled and the masters have become severe and exacting. But the Christian, whether master or man, has to walk with God and to be governed by His Word, not by the demands of a trades union. Back

We have read your letter with deep interest and we can enter into your feelings. We believe the Christian is bound to provide for his family, day by day — bound to educate his children and put them in the way of earning an honest livelihood. All this is so plainly commanded in the New Testament as to admit of no question. But these sacred duties leave wholly untouched the question of hoarding up and of speculation. We do not believe in these latter at all. We believe that hoarding covers the soul with rust and speculation fills the heart and mind with care and anxiety.

The same principle applies to every employee. Usually it is not as hard for an employee now as it was for slaves then. Yet it is common to hear bitter complaints against employers by their employees, and such things often lead to strikes. This is not a right attitude for a Christian. If he is treated badly, let him appeal to the Lord, but continue to show a spirit of real submission to his employer. If the Lord has given him this employment, it is wise to remember to thank Him and seek to rightly represent the Lord in his actions on the job. We may learn well by such things, and find greater blessing in the end.

And what of INDUSTRIAL UNREST. The workers blame the master class. They say that these have grown rich at their expense and to their hurt. Well, if this is so, it is because the masters have paid no heed to the Word of God, for in it we read, "Masters, give to your servants that which is just and equal" (Col. 4:1) … "forbearing threatening; knowing that your Master also is in heaven, neither is there respect of persons with Him" (Eph. 6:9). And the same Word that gives so gracious an exhortation to masters also solemnly warns them of the consequences of acting in injustice towards those who serve them. How powerful is the condemnation of such given in James 5:1-4, "Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. Behold; the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, cries; and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth."

Masters are told to "do the same things" to servants. Employers may not think of this, but they ought to serve their servants, not as being subject to them, but as concerned about their proper welfare and treating them kindly and fairly Threatening, simply as a tool to instill fear, would be an abuse of authority. Consider the character of Boaz in Ruth 2:4. His relationship with his servants was excellent, for he first recognized his Master in heaven. If any master feels himself more worthy of respect than his servants, he is not subject to God's will. God is perfectly fair, and every Christian -- whether employee or employer - likewise ought to be.

The capitalist and employer class are certainly to blame for much of the trouble that has come upon them. I have heard a gentleman (?) speak to his gardener as if he were a dog. I have seen the hovels in which working men and their families have been herded. I have observed how their frames degenerated and became prematurely aged through the hard work they performed. A Christian lady told me that she used to be carried on her father’s back to a mill when a tiny girl at 5 o’clock in the morning when pitch dark to work hard all day for a mere pittance till dead tired at night.

Complications Resulting therefrom Accompanying this vast increase of wealth, there has been a distinct development in the organization of the various forces of civilization into two distinctly marked and hostile camps. Capital has combined with capital in the formation of immense trusts which control the majority of the industries of the country; and on the other hand labor, in seeking to secure relief from oppression, real or fancied, and a greater liberty, together with increase of wages, has formed itself into the vast unions which, in some quarters at least, dominate the entire class of the employed.

Confederacy is, politically and socially, a character of the times. In mercantile affairs of every kind, companies are getting to be more and more every where the rule. The strength realized by union is here well recognized. In the rise of the popular element, combination is not merely an advantage; it is an imperative necessity. By its means alone can the poor man make his voice be heard upon nearer equality of terms with the capitalist, the laborer with his employer. Yet here the true individuality which God would have, — the individuality of conscience with which alone real uprightness of conduct can be maintained, — has to be lost and give way to the will of the majority.