Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church

The rights of workers, like all other rights, are based on the nature of the human person and on his transcendent dignity. The Church's social Magisterium has seen fit to list some of these rights, in the hope that they will be recognized in juridical systems: the right to a just wage; ^{651Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Laborem Exercens, 19: AAS 73 (1981), 625-629.} the right to rest; ^{652Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Laborem Exercens, 19: AAS 73 (1981), 625-629.} the right “to a working environment and to manufacturing processes which are not harmful to the workers' physical health or to their moral integrity”; ^{653John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Laborem Exercens, 19: AAS 73 (1981), 629.} the right that one's personality in the workplace should be safeguarded “without suffering any affront to one's conscience or personal dignity”; ^{654John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus, 15: AAS 83 (1991), 812.} the right to appropriate subsidies that are necessary for the subsistence of unemployed workers and their families; ^{655Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Laborem Exercens, 18: AAS 73 (1981), 622-625.} the right to a pension and to insurance for old age, sickness, and in case of work-related accidents; ^{656Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Laborem Exercens, 19: AAS 73 (1981), 625-629.} the right to social security connected with maternity; ^{657Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Laborem Exercens, 19: AAS 73 (1981), 625-629.} the right to assemble and form associations.^{658Cf. Leo XIII, Encyclical Letter Rerum Novarum: Acta Leonis XIII, 11 (1892), 135; Pius XI, Encyclical Letter Quadragesimo Anno: AAS 23 (1931), 186; Pius XII, Encyclical Letter Sertum Laetitiae: AAS 31 (1939), 643; John XXIII, Encyclical Letter Pacem in Terris: AAS 55 (1963), 262-263; Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 68: AAS 58 (1966), 1089-1090; John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Laborem Exercens, 20: AAS 73 (1981), 629-632; John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus, 7: AAS 83 (1991), 801-802.} These rights are often infringed, as is confirmed by the sad fact of workers who are underpaid and without protection or adequate representation. It often happens that work conditions for men, women and children, especially in developing countries, are so inhumane that they are an offence to their dignity and compromise their health.