Economic Justice

We work for justice, equity, and compassion in our relationships and systemic change in our society. We know that the escalation of economic inequality undergirds a thousand injustices, from climate change to homelessness, from mass incarceration to low-wage worker exploitation. Economic inequality also disproportionately impacts people of color. A better world is possible, and we strive to be part of the solution.  

What's New

In June, the UUA & Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC) endorsed Wendy’s boycott led by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers

• UUs marched at the Columbus 2016 General Assembly in support of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers' boycott of Wendy's. 
• Plan a Labor Day service with this new worship resource on Farmworker Solidarity.
• Read the 2008 Action of Immediate Witness "End Present-day Slavery in the Fields"

What We Are Doing

• Escalating Inequality Study and Action
  In 2014 Unitarian Universalists (UUs) across the country committed to engage with the escalation of economic inequality as a moral issue. From 2014–2018 and beyond, we are learning, discussing, and taking action on this topic on personal, congregational, community, and global levels.
• Raising the Minimum Wage
  The minimum wage in the United States was originally intended to be a living wage, yet it’s been decades since it was. We view raising the minimum wage to a living wage as a moral imperative and are working on local, state, and national levels to do so, through campaigns such as Fight for $15 and more.
• Socially Responsible Investing
  It’s a moral imperative for us that where we put our money is aligned with our values. We have been strongly committed to socially responsible investing for over forty years, from shareholder resolutions, to community investing, to affordable housing and other justice initiatives. 
• UU Class Conversations
  Conversations about class and classism are vital to healthy faith communities. The organization Unitarian Universalist Class Conversations works to provide our movement with new spiritual tools to explore class and classism and create welcoming and inclusive congregations for people of all class backgrounds.

Worship, Learn, and Live Your Faith

Worship

• Labor Day worship resources from Interfaith Worker Justice
• UU readings and hymns for a living wage
• "Inherit the Spirit" (PDF, 6 pages), sermon by Rev. Aaron McEmrys
• "Why No Living Wage?" (PDF, 7 pages), 2000 UUA Skinner Sermon Award winner

Education

• UUA Statements on Economic Justice
• Escalating Inequality study guide
• The Wi$dom Path, a Tapestry of Faith curriculum on money, spirit, and life
• UU discussion guide for Behind the Kitchen Door by Saru Jayaraman, about low wages and other injustices faced by restaurant workers (2013-2014 Common Read)
• Choose Compassionate Consumption campaign for worker’s rights from our partners at the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee
• There is Power in Union: A UU Guide to Worker Justice (PDF, 18 pages)

Stories

• Best practices from congregations doing effective social justice ministry
• Stories from partnerships with Congregation-Based Community Organizing

Partnership

Effective justice ministry depends on partnership. UU partners for economic justice work, beyond the Unitarian Universalist Association, include UU State Action Networks, the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, the UU College of Social Justice, UU Class Conversations, and UUs for a Just Economic Community. UUs also form interfaith partnerships, such as with Congregation-Based Community Organizations and Interfaith Worker Justice.