Health Care Unions and Christian Discipleship 
Kendra McInturf, Providence Home Health, Portland, OR

Health care unions encounter unique ethical challenges given their call to care for many of the most vulnerable in our communities. Depending on where hope is directed, participation in union activity can be a form of advocacy for the poor; or alternatively a destructive grasping for power. Through engagement with Luke Bretherton, Catholic Social Teaching, Gustavo Gutierrez, Howard Thurman and others, this paper will discuss 1) the impact of unions on quality of care, 2) forms of collective action that specifically center those on the margins, 3) considerations for participation in a union as a form of Christian discipleship, and 4) considerations for Christian leaders who manage unionized health care workers.