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But it hasn't been happening on plant floors, office buildings or union halls. It's coming from the pulpits of a growing number of houses of worship.

"Now more than ever we need to be concerned with promoting the principles of social justice, equality, dignity, respect, economic justice and fair treatment in the workplace," said the Rev. Jack O'Malley, 66, a native of the Strip District who is known to many as Pittsburgh's "labor priest."

"The concern for workers goes beyond our borders because many good-paying jobs are going overseas where workers are being exploited, and many times, people here don't even know it," said O'Malley, who is chaplain to the state AFL-CIO.

For the past three years, O'Malley and other labor activists have been using the Sunday before Labor Day to raise awareness of the concerns of workers through the "Labor in the Pulpits" program, which was developed by the Chicago-based National Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice.

"Throughout my 38 years of ministry in Pittsburgh I have been concerned about the needs of working people," said O'Malley. "So I went to Chicago and found that they were successfully getting across the message that there is a common thread between the religious community and the labor movement."

O'Malley introduced the program in Pittsburgh in 2000 and it has continued to grow, with scores of Catholic and Protestant churches, as well as synagogues and mosques, inviting people to speak about labor issues during services.

"The message is appealing because all of our traditions of faith, not just the Catholic Church, have these wonderful Scriptures and teachings about the dignity of workers and of work," O'Malley said.

Since the launch of the program in Chicago in 1996, Labor in the Pulpits has spread to thousands of churches in more than 80 U.S. cities, according to organizers.

Joe Delale, a community services liaison for the AFL-CIO who has helped O'Malley spread the program to churches in other Pennsylvania cities, including Erie, Greensburg, Scranton and Wilkes-Barre, said Labor in the Pulpits has been an easy sell.

"In the beginning we had to contact churches and explain a lot about the program before they would consider using it," he said. "Now we have pastors contacting us for materials so they can participate."

While the program aims to have someone associated with the labor movement speak during a service, there are other ways for churches to participate, O'Malley said.

"Some pastors will simply craft their own sermon and talk about labor, while others will place materials to read in their bulletins, which is fine."

The Rev. John Daya, pastor of Our Lady of the Angels parish in Lawrenceville, was intrigued by the program from the moment he was approached about incorporating it into sermons during Labor Day Sunday.

"The first time I heard about Labor in the Pulpits I thought it provided a very easy and natural connection between labor and the Scriptures," said Daya, a member of the Franciscan Capuchin order.

"The gospel is a social gospel -- Jesus Christ, in many ways, was a great social justice minister, just simply in the way he lived and treated people," Daya said. "So this ties in to the Christian principles of respect and dignity of the human person."

Daya incorporates concepts of just labor in his homilies -- the portion of the Roman Catholic Mass during which the priest delivers a sermon. Then following the distribution of Communion, he allows a guest speaker to address the congregation about the concerns of working people.

During yesterday's 10 a.m. Mass at Our Lady of Angels, John L. Haer, executive director of the Pittsburgh local of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, told the congregation that the partnership of labor and the community of faith is a natural one.

"Both call each other brother and sister," Haer said.

Haer also credited the labor movement with helping to eliminate the abuse of workers, particularly children.

"Without the push of the labor movement, we would still have children working in mines," Haer said. "We would never have public education, an eight-hour work day, Medicare, unemployment insurance and Social Security."

Haer said the partnership is more important today than ever, especially considering Pittsburgh's dire financial condition.

Haer also said in the midst of the budget crisis and the resulting layoffs, officials are "forgetting the big picture."

In particular, Haer chastised the state Legislature for remaining on vacation and not going back to work to pass legislation to help the city.

There were mixed reactions among parishioners at Our Lady of Angels.

Victor Lopinto, 51, of Bloomfield, said he would like the Labor in the Pulpits program to address other topics pertinent to labor.

"He should have said more about how in Pennsylvania you can be fired without cause," Lopinto said.

Mark Brown, 45, of Shaler, said he thinks the labor talk should be kept out of church.

"I don't believe this forum should be used to express that type of statement," said Brown, a former union member.

O'Malley said the program's organizers are cautious about not pitting workers against management or using the opportunity to bash employers.

"It's really about being in solidarity with workers and their families," O'Malley said. "It's a chance for the church to put our Scripture and teaching into action and acknowledge the pain of working people."

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