Worker Wellness Blog

Date Posted: January 27, 2026

Posted In: Discussion, Workforce,

by Dr. John Gaal

As we near the end of the first month of 2026, this week’s edition of our Worker Wellness blog looks at how Philly is shifting strategies in their response to the everchanging opioids crisis; to how an explosion of sports betting venues and formats are negatively impacting people, families, workplaces, and communities; to how the EEOC is withdrawing their previous ‘harassment’ guidance.

This week I wish to ask readers to pause and reflect on how history tends to repeat itself. On Saturday (Jan. 24), another U.S. citizen in Minnesota was killed by ICE agents. If you never had the opportunity to tour the U.S. Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC, I can tell you that it is a moving experience. Having visited it more than once over the past 20 years, among many memories, there is one that stands above all for me. This is the poem—by Pastor Martin Niemoller—from post-WWII that I believe is relevant today.[1]

First They Came For…

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—
and there was no one left to speak for me.

Enough said.

Source:

[1]https://marcuse.faculty.history.ucsb.edu/projects/niem/articles/Marcuse2014NiemoellerQuote147gWeb.pdf

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