Worker Wellness Blog: A House Divided
Date Posted: June 17, 2025
Posted In: Discussion, Workforce,
by Dr. John Gaal
Editor’s Note: Each week, Dr. John Gaal, director of worker wellness for the Missouri Works Initiative, a non-profit workforce formed by the Missouri AFL-CIO, collects and comments on news and trends in workforce wellness and life balance. Construction Forum carries the Worker Wellness & Well-Being Blog as a regular feature.
The MO Works Initiative focuses on creating healthy and recovery friendly workplaces; connecting laid-off workers with job-search or upskilling resources for future employment; and collaborating with community partners to offer innovative points of entry to traditional apprenticeship opportunities.
This week’s edition of our Worker Wellness & Well-being blog looks at how one Dad’s recovery helped others chart new paths; to a rise in boys’ teen suicides resulting from sextortion schemes; to how a handful of female college athletes are fighting for fair compensation.
This week it would be difficult to avoid the proverbial elephant in the room: Yesterday’s military parade in Washington DC.
Like it or not, a 250th anniversary of nearly anything, in most cases, is worth celebrating.[1] The fact that this date coincides with Trump’s 79th birthday falls to his favor. Which, in a sense, makes this spectacle all the more concerning. Especially when one considers a price tag of >$40m…in a time where cutting government expenses heads the DC agenda on most any other day in the past three months. Not to mention, the fact that there is currently pushback from Republicans regarding the mounting of a plaque that acknowledges the US Capitol Police Officers who served so bravely on Jan 6, 2021.[2]
As a counter-measure, many cities held “No Kings” gatherings across the US during the aforementioned parade on Jun 14, 2025. Be they cowards, kings, traitors, or patriots, it does not take a political scientist to see that the USA is approaching a tipping point. How does a just society square holding a multi-million-dollar parade, on one hand, while cutting VA benefits, on the other hand?[3]
It appears history does repeat itself if you consider the famous words (C. 1858) of the then candidate for US President, US Senator Abraham Lincoln: “A house divided against itself, cannot stand.” In other words, maybe it is time for less narcissism and more altruism.
Please check out the rest of this week’s blog: https://moworksinitiative.org/category/worker-wellness-news/
Sources:
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UWWSlJwnJM
[2] https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/police-officers-lawsuit-installing-jan-6-plaque-at-u-s-capitol/