June 1, 2018

Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone

One Peter York Way
San Francisco, CA 94109

Your Excellency:

A little over two years ago, the Executive Board passed a resolution by a strong majority urging
you to take action on the issue of the schools in your Archdiocese doing business with
companies who manufacture their products under unjust labor conditions, in clear violation of
the principles of Catholic Social Teaching.

We waited an entire year for a response. Finally, after receiving our follow-up request, Fr.
Piderit responded with a letter stating, on behalf of yourself, that you would take no action on
this issue, even while you published an Employee Handbook which clearly affirmed the
principles of labor justice we were trying to get you to uphold. The right to fair wages and to a
union are also stated very clearly in the mission of the Archdiocesan Office of Human Life and
Dignity.

As we stated in our response to his letter, Fr. Piderit’s rationale for your not taking action was
far from satisfactory. We reiterate that subsidiarity, from the Latin subsidium or 'help,' means
to aid, assist and support the local levels, empowering them to do the right thing. It does not
mean abandoning them to conformity with cultural norms under a laissez faire ideology.

What was especially striking in his letter was Fr. Piderit asserting that speaking out on this issue
of fairness and people’s dignity may not be popular with many teachers and students.
Archbishop, almost every time you have addressed our school communities, you have preached
the necessity of doing the “unpopular” thing. If this sweatshop issue is “unpopular,” does not
that mean there is all the more reason to confront it, if, in doing so, we bring the world
community closer to the Kingdom of God?

To reiterate what we are asking you to do:

1) Urge the schools in the Archdiocese to buy their school and athletic uniforms, as well as
athletic equipment, from sources that practice under the principles of labor justice outlined in
Catholic Social Teaching.

2) Establish a committee working with the Office of Human Life and Dignity that will advise
schools regarding which companies operate under these conditions and which do not.

3) Affirm and promote the efforts of those school communities who do business with these
socially-responsible companies, perhaps through a “Schools Doing the Right Thing” section in
each Catholic San Francisco.
4) Until such time as schools have the new, socially-just merchandise, urge them to follow the
clever example of Father Ryan High School in Tennessee and patch over the old logos with a
“Christian” or school symbol. See story at: https://www.fatherryan.org/page/Athletics/
Workers-Rights-Initiative.

As a union ourselves, we are deeply committed to honoring the call of Pope Leo XIII, who
shocked the world in 1891 by pronouncing the principle that the dignity of the worker included
both a living wage and the right to a union. Nike, Addidas, Rebok and other clothing
manufacturers completely ignore these rights.

We do not want to be ignored any longer on this issue. John Ahlbach, the Riordan union
representative who has spearheaded this campaign, is available at any time to come in and talk
to you or your representative about this. He can be reached at: jahlbach@riordanhs.com or by
phone at 650-296-0996.

We trust we can find a common ground on this issue and thus engender in our students the
Gospel values that promote a compassionate, just and sustainable world.

Very sincerely,

The Executive Board of the Archdiocesan Teachers Union, AFT Local 246

cc:
Fr. John Piderit, S.J.
Bishop Robert Christian, O.P.
Ms. Pamela Lyons, Superintendent of Catholic Schools
Ms. Pamela Schmalz, Office of Human Life and Dignity
Dr. Melanie Morey, Catholic Identity, Assessment and Formation
Mr. Lars Lund and Mr. Barry Thornton, President and Principal of Junipero Serra High School
Mr. Tim Reardon and Dr. Andrew Currier, Principal and President of Archbishop Riordan High
School.
Mr. Chris Valdez and Mr. Tim Navone, Principal and President of Marin Catholic High School
Mr. Gary Cannon and Dr. Melinda Lawlor Skrade, Principal and President of Sacred Heart
Cathedral College Preparatory