One reason why the U.S. spends far more on healthcare than any other wealthy nation, yet has among the lowest life expectancy, highest infant mortality, and poorest health outcomes among those same nations. #healthcare #insurance #bigpharma

Today In Labor History April 7, 1870: German-Jewish anarchist and pacifist, Gustav Landauer, was born. He was friends with, and influenced, the Jewish philosopher Martin Buber. He served as the Commissioner of Enlightenment and Public Instruction during the short-lived Bavarian Soviet Republic, during the German Revolution of 1918–1919, but was killed when the republic was overthrown. He was also the grandfather of film director, Mike Nichols (The Odd Couple, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf and The Graduate). #workingclass #LaborHistory #bavarian #Revolution #anarchism #socialism #soviet #jewish #GustavLandauer #mikenichols #film

Today in Labor History April 5, 1977: U.S. disability rights activist stormed and occupied the offices of the US Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Seattle. They demanded enactment of section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which had passed Congress four years prior. The law mandated that no federally funded programs could exclude persons with disabilities and put into place legal protections, and the right to accommodations, for students with disabilities. During the prior four years, HEW director Joseph Califano repeatedly delayed enactment of the law, while regulations were weakened to benefit business interests. During the San Francisco protests, disability rights activists Judith Heumann, Kitty Cone, and Mary Jane Owen organized a 25-day occupation of the US Federal Building with 150 other activists. Solidarity support from the Black Panthers, allied politicians, and the International Association of Machinists, who provided food, mattresses, wheelchairs, and other equipment, and helped a delegation get to Washington, D.C. The regulations for section 504 were ultimately signed into law on 28 April, 1977. For a really great documentary on the birth of this movement, please see Crip Camp, A Disability Revolution (2020). #workingclass #LaborHistory #CivilDisobedience #occupation #directaction #disability #ableism #union #solidarity # #blackpanthers #sanfrancisco #JudithHeumann #KittyCone #MaryJaneOwen #BlackMastadon

Today in Labor History April 5, 1989: The United Mine Workers launched their strike against Pittston Coal Co., eventually winning concessions by Pittston on February 20, 1990. The strike started in response to Pittston’s termination of health care for widows, retirees and disabled veteran miners. During the strike, there were 2,000 miners camped out daily at Camp Solidarity, and up to 40,000 total engaging in wild cat strikes, civil disobedience, picketing, occupations and sabotage. The strike reduced Pittston’s production by two-thirds, while over 4,000 strikers were arrested during the strike. #workingclass #LaborHistory #pittston #coal #mining #strike #wildcat #disability #CivilDisobedience #sabotage #solidarity #police #healthcare

Today in Labor History April 5, 2010: Twenty-nine coal miners were killed in an explosion at the Upper Big Branch Mine in West Virginia. In 2015, Former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship was convicted of a misdemeanor for conspiring to willfully violate safety standards and was sentenced to one year in prison. He was found not guilty of charges of securities fraud and making false statements. Investigators also found that the U.S. Department of Labor and its Mine Safety and Health Administration were guilty of failing to act decisively, even after Massey was issued 515 citations for safety violations at the Upper Big Branch mine in 2009, prior to the deadly explosion. So, the U.S. Dept of Labor, back when the U.S. staffed and funded its regulatory agencies, allowed a murderous boss to get away with 515 safety violations, resulting in the deaths of 29 miners, without any consequences for its bosses. And the courts gave the murderous CEO of Massey Energy a year in a Country Club prison for those same 29 worker deaths. But they’re gonna try Luigi Mangione for first-degree murder and seek the death penalty because he supposedly killed a murderous white-collar crook? As they say, there is no Justice for the working-class; but there’s plenty of “Just Us” for the wealthy, as in court rulings just for them; subsidies and tax right-offs just for them; elite clubs and resorts just for them; and the right, just for them, to kill their workers and consumers in the pursuit of profits. #workingclass #LaborHistory #mining #explosion #workplacedeaths #coal #westvirginia #workplacesafety #profits #workersafety

Direct Action A transgender college student declared “I am here to break the law” before entering a women’s restroom at the Florida State Capitol and being led out in handcuffs by police. Civil rights attorneys say the arrest of Marcy Rheintgen last month is the first they know of for violating transgender bathroom restrictions passed by numerous state legislatures across the country.

NBC News

Trans student’s arrest for violating Florida bathroom law is thought to be a first

Marcy Rheintgen, 20, faces a misdemeanor trespassing charge punishable by up to 60 days in jail and is due to appear in court in May.

#transrightsarehumanrights #lgbtq #fascism #transphobia #gender #directaction #civildisobedience