In this volume specially commissioned for the Faith & Fact series, the two authors present the social doctrine of the Church on labour and the labourer's rights. In the first part tiie teaching of the Church is outlined by Father Cronin. He examines the basic rights of man with regard to employment. His discussion includes such topics as the minimum wage, the Church and the unions, labour-nanagement relations and the questions of unemployment and social legislation.
Harry Flannery in the second part outlines the history of tlhe development of the Church's social thought on the subject of labour since the time of the Industrial Revolution. In his comments on the twentieth-century developments he draws on his knowledge and experience of events on both sides of the Atlantic, offers a clear picture of the implications of Pope John XXIII's famous encyclical Mater et Magistra, showing clearly the point reached today and the problems still to be faced.