Trade unions
Guidelines in Respect to Membership in Trade Unions and Participation in Strikes[edit]
"On the question of trade unions the Guardian's secretary made the following comment on his behalf in a letter dated 2 February 1951. 'Regarding your question about trade unions: The Guardian considers that this is a matter for each National Spiritual Assembly to advise the believers on. As long as the trade unions are not members of any particular political party, there does not seem to be any objection to the Bahá'ís belonging to them.'
"...the British National Spiritual Assembly wrote to the Guardian as follows: 'In this country the law recognises strikes as legal when called by properly constituted authorities such as a Trade Union, and our own understanding is that in such circumstances the Bahá'í teaching, in spite of Abdu'l-Bahá's express disapproval of strikes, neither requires nor forbids an individual to strike but leaves him free to decide for himself in the particular circumstances of his case what is the proper course of action.'
"The Guardian's secretary replied on his behalf in a letter dated July 11, 1956: 'As regard strikes, the Guardian feels that your own understanding of the matter as expressed in your letter is quite correct, and he does not see the necessity of adding anything to it. We should avoid becoming rigid and laying down any more rules and regulations of conduct.'
"Based on the above guidelines, we are to emphasize the following points. 1. A Bahá'í can become a member of a trade union as long as he is not required to also join a political party. 2. Abdu'l-Bahá in general disapproved of strikes. The Bahá'í attitude is that when the law recognizes strikes as legal, as when called by a properly constituted authority such as a trade union, the Bahá'í teaching neither requires nor forbids an individual to participate in the strike but leaves him free to decide for himself what is the proper course of action in the particular circumstances."
- (From a letter written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to an individual believer, June 23, 1985, in Lights of Guidance, no. 2121)
Membership in Trade Unions--Election Procedures[edit]
"The Alaska Public Employees Association appears to be a type of union organization. As long as this and other associations, such as the special interest groups you mention, are not affiliated with any political party and are not involved in political activities there is no objection to Bahá'ís belonging to them nor to their holding office in them.
"As for participation in elections of non-Bahá'í organizations which are open to Bahá'ís but which employ electional methods different from Bahá'í practices, believers need not avoid the election procedures carried out in such organizations.
"In all such activities the friends should bear in mind the following exhortation so clearly set forth by the beloved Guardian in a letter dated February 20, 1927 to the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and Canada:
'Fully aware of the repeated statements of Abdu'l-Bahá that universality is of God, Bahá'ís in every land are ready, nay anxious, to associate themselves by word and deed with any association of men which, after careful scrutiny, they feel satisfied is free from every tinge of partisanship and politics and is wholly devoted to the interests of all mankind.... They should always bear in mind, however, the dominating purpose of such collaboration, which is to secure in time the recognition by those with whom they are associating of the paramount necessity and the true significance of the Bahá'í Revelation in this day.'"
- (From a letter written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to the National Spiritual Assembly of Alaska, January 4, 1979, in Lights of Guidance, no. 1403)
