“Humans don’t mind hardship, in fact they thrive on it; what they mind is not feeling necessary. Modern society has perfected the art of making people not feel necessary. It's time for that to end.” Junger wrote the book “The Perfect Storm,” about the fishing boat Andrea Gail, out of Gloucester, Massachusetts, which on this date in 1991 was caught in a ferocious storm and lost at sea with her crew of six. The city of Gloucester has lost more than 10,000 whalers and fishermen to the sea over its 350-year history. photo: some of the Andrea Gail crew. Labor History Today (10/28): Cannabis organizing; 2007 Writers Guild Strike Click here to check out this week's Labor History Today podcast. On this show, originally posted November 4, 2018, Patrick Dixon talks with Clara Mejía Orta about workers in the cannabis industry in California, and Writers Guild of America West president David Goodman remembers the 2007 strike by 12,000 film and television screenwriters. Plus: Bill Fletcher on the 1892 general strike that brought 20,000 black and white workers together in New Orleans; David Fernandez-Barrial on the four million jobs created by the Civil Works Administration in 1933 for Depression-era unemployed; and Dan Duncan pays tribute to the workers lost when the Edmund Fitzgerald sank in 1975. Last week's show: (10/20/19): Immigrant Girl, Radical Woman Ed Meese, attorney general in the Ronald Reagan administration, urges employers to begin spying on workers "in locker rooms, parking lots, shipping and mail room areas and even the nearby taverns" to try to catch them using drugs - 1986 - David Prosten Fully fund UMC, contract with a responsible operator and ensure a full slate of health services. Those were the demands of the DC Health Justice Coalition at a DC City Council hearing last Friday. The Coalition, comprised of labor unions and community organizations, gathered at the Council to demand full-service, high-quality healthcare for residents of Wards 7 and 8. Before the Committee on Health heard more than four hours of testimony, coalition leaders rallied on the Wilson Building steps to draw attention to the healthcare crisis facing DC. Speakers included Metro Washington Council president Jackie Jeter, Elizabeth Davis of the Washington Teachers Union, Ed Smith from the DC Nurses Association, and Alma Aimes-Davis from 1199SEIU. The coalition brought 3 demands to City Council. In addition to demanding that the city fully fund United Medical Center -- the only hospital East of the river -- they pressed the city to contract with a responsible operator for the new hospital in Ward 8; not Universal Health Services, which was found to violate labor law just last month. Finally, the coalition demanded that the new hospital have a full slate of services, including a level-one trauma center and high-risk obstetrics unit. Find out more at dchealthjustice.com. - Yvonne Slosarski, 1199SEIU "Fired up and ready to go" Owens' signature call-to-arms; the ATU Secretary-Treasurer passed away October 25 after a brief illness. Read more here: ATU Mourns the Passing of International Secretary-Treasurer Oscar Owens |