WEBVTT - Why Airports are a MESS Right Now | Angela Rye SoloPod 0:00:00.200 --> 0:00:03.400 Native Lampard is a production of iHeartRadio in partnership with 0:00:03.480 --> 0:00:04.720 Reason Choice Media. 0:00:05.200 --> 0:00:12.440 Welcome Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome. The Department of 0:00:12.480 --> 0:00:18.200 Homeland Security is currently without funding because Washington Republicans would 0:00:18.280 --> 0:00:22.640 rather see it shut down than past common sense, just 0:00:22.720 --> 0:00:27.120 common sense guardrails on ice. In fact, every Senate Republican 0:00:27.200 --> 0:00:33.640 present voted just this past weekend against paying our TSA agents. 0:00:33.920 --> 0:00:38.720 I arise yet again with a simple practical proposal to 0:00:38.800 --> 0:00:43.360 pay hard working TSA agents. Pay them right now. They 0:00:43.560 --> 0:00:46.600 deserve it. If we cannot move forward with funding for 0:00:46.640 --> 0:00:50.120 the entire Department of Homeland Security, we should at least 0:00:50.120 --> 0:00:53.360 be able to come together on this. So today I'm 0:00:53.400 --> 0:00:57.840 asking my colleagues to take just a simple step, pass 0:00:57.920 --> 0:01:01.240 my legislation right now to pay TSAVOR so that commercial 0:01:01.280 --> 0:01:07.360 air travel remains safe and functional. Don't penalize TSA and 0:01:07.440 --> 0:01:10.959 the traveling public for the fact that you refuse to 0:01:11.160 --> 0:01:14.640 rain on ice, and have them be held accountable. Having 0:01:14.640 --> 0:01:18.360 the trained, transparent and accountable like every other law enforcement 0:01:18.400 --> 0:01:20.600 agent in this country. 0:01:20.520 --> 0:01:23.039 Cert objection object. 0:01:22.440 --> 0:01:25.240 My Republican colleagues have the power to do something about it. 0:01:25.240 --> 0:01:29.280 They don't have to wait for the President. So if 0:01:29.400 --> 0:01:32.400 Washington Republicans, my Senate colleagues, really want to do what's 0:01:32.440 --> 0:01:37.479 right by their constituents, by the TSA workers, you would 0:01:37.520 --> 0:01:40.759 have passed my bill to pay TSFE TSA officers instead 0:01:40.760 --> 0:01:45.480 of punishing them and the American people because of your inaction. 0:01:46.280 --> 0:01:49.560 Welcome home, y'all. This is Angela Raia. I'm your host of. 0:01:49.560 --> 0:01:53.680 Today's solo pod, and today we are talking about Senate 0:01:53.720 --> 0:01:57.880 Republicans standing in the way of tsos that those are 0:01:57.920 --> 0:02:02.160 the Transportation Security Administration officers who are responsible for keeping 0:02:02.200 --> 0:02:06.720 our airport safe every single day, not funding them eight 0:02:06.840 --> 0:02:11.400 separate times separately, eleven times in total. I want to 0:02:11.440 --> 0:02:13.560 give you all this quick timeline because you're seeing a 0:02:13.560 --> 0:02:18.640 lot of misinformation online. You know, right now there's a 0:02:18.680 --> 0:02:22.920 campaign from Republican leadership that says, thank a Democrat, and 0:02:22.960 --> 0:02:26.359 they're holding over the heads of the Democratic Party all 0:02:26.400 --> 0:02:31.880 of the airport congestion from Houston to Dallas to Atlanta, 0:02:32.280 --> 0:02:34.800 all of these airports. They are holding that over the 0:02:34.840 --> 0:02:39.040 head of the Democratic Party. But spoiler alert, y'all, Democrats 0:02:39.040 --> 0:02:42.279 aren't in charge of the House, the Senate, or the administration. 0:02:42.800 --> 0:02:45.360 This is a Republican problem that needs to be resting 0:02:45.400 --> 0:02:48.200 squarely at the feeder of the Republican So let's walk 0:02:48.280 --> 0:02:52.680 this through a little bit. Thursday March fifth, Senate Republicans 0:02:52.720 --> 0:02:55.360 blocked a bill offered by Senator Patty Murray from my 0:02:55.400 --> 0:02:58.519 home state of Washington to fund all of DHS except 0:02:58.560 --> 0:03:02.799 for ICBP and the DHS Secretary's office. As you all 0:03:02.800 --> 0:03:05.679 can imagine, two hundred million dollars later into an ad campaign. 0:03:05.720 --> 0:03:07.840 No Christy Norman to be found. What's the point of 0:03:07.840 --> 0:03:10.760 funding her office? And this would be again to carve 0:03:10.800 --> 0:03:15.280 out ICE and CBP. March eleventh, the Senate Republicans blocked 0:03:15.320 --> 0:03:18.680 Senator Patty Murray's bill to fund all of DHS Again, 0:03:18.840 --> 0:03:24.840 same bill. Thursday, March twelfth, Senate Republicans blocked Senator Jackie 0:03:24.960 --> 0:03:28.919 Rosen from Nevada her bill to pay TSA workers while 0:03:28.960 --> 0:03:34.800 broader negotiations continued on The next was a bill offered 0:03:34.840 --> 0:03:41.920 by Senator Andy Kim to fund SIZA while broader negotiations continued. 0:03:42.520 --> 0:03:46.000 Then they blocked a bill offered by Senator Chris Murphy. 0:03:46.040 --> 0:03:49.680 This is now time number five to ensure members of 0:03:49.720 --> 0:03:53.320 the Coast Guard are paid while the negotiations continued. Then 0:03:54.200 --> 0:03:56.520 Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff. 0:03:57.680 --> 0:03:58.520 Introduced to bill. 0:03:58.560 --> 0:04:02.920 They blocked that bill to fund FEMA while broader negotiations continued. 0:04:03.240 --> 0:04:07.600 March eighteenth, they blocked a bill offered by Senator Warnock 0:04:08.320 --> 0:04:11.720 from Georgia to pay TSA workers. March nineteenth, blocked a 0:04:11.720 --> 0:04:15.600 bill from Senator Slatkin from Michigan to pay TSA workers. 0:04:16.000 --> 0:04:18.400 On the same day, they. 0:04:18.320 --> 0:04:22.440 Blocked a bill from Senator Brian Shatz from Hawaii to 0:04:22.520 --> 0:04:25.880 fund all of DHS except for ICBP and the dh 0:04:26.520 --> 0:04:29.560 AS Secretary's office. Again, just like Senator Patty Murray's bill 0:04:30.000 --> 0:04:33.479 on March twenty first, on Saturday, they were in session 0:04:33.520 --> 0:04:34.560 Saturday to vote. 0:04:34.680 --> 0:04:36.440 They voted against. 0:04:36.720 --> 0:04:42.400 Pure, straightforward, clear legislation to pay TSA workers while these 0:04:42.440 --> 0:04:46.359 negotiations continued. And just yesterday, yet again, this is the 0:04:46.400 --> 0:04:49.520 eleventh time we've been saying five times, eight times, it's 0:04:49.600 --> 0:04:54.239 all together eleven times blocked a bill offered by Jackie Rosen, 0:04:54.279 --> 0:04:58.240 who you just heard from in this speech floor speech 0:04:58.240 --> 0:05:01.599 in the Senate earlier and in the show. The block 0:05:01.760 --> 0:05:05.640 the bill offering to pay TSA workers again while broader 0:05:05.720 --> 0:05:10.080 negotiations continue. Well, I have got had the opportunity, we 0:05:10.120 --> 0:05:12.719 all have the opportunity to hear from someone today who 0:05:12.720 --> 0:05:18.159 has been personally impacted by this shutdown. TSA workers have 0:05:18.320 --> 0:05:23.480 not received a full paycheck since February thirteenth. I want 0:05:23.520 --> 0:05:26.240 to get quickly to a video that talks about why 0:05:26.800 --> 0:05:29.160 from Senator Kennedy in an interview, and then I'm going 0:05:29.200 --> 0:05:33.160 to bring on our guest. We may not have that video, 0:05:33.320 --> 0:05:36.640 so I'm gonna go ahead and bring in our guests. 0:05:36.839 --> 0:05:41.760 We have the president of a FG Local five point 0:05:41.800 --> 0:05:46.400 fifty four. He is also a lead transportation security officer. 0:05:46.640 --> 0:05:49.400 We're so grateful for his time. His name is Aaron Barker, 0:05:49.400 --> 0:05:50.560 and he joins us today. 0:05:51.680 --> 0:05:53.360 Hi Angelas, thank you for having me on. 0:05:54.360 --> 0:05:55.960 Thank you so much for joining us. 0:05:56.200 --> 0:06:00.000 President Barker, most importantly for you just taking the time 0:06:00.000 --> 0:06:03.680 time to continue to keep the American public safe while we, 0:06:04.120 --> 0:06:07.080 you know, frankly, go through these political shenanigans. I know 0:06:07.120 --> 0:06:09.799 that it's no fun when they're playing with your life, 0:06:10.160 --> 0:06:12.360 quite frankly, with your livelihood. Can you talk to us 0:06:12.360 --> 0:06:15.360 about some of the impacts you've already experienced not receiving 0:06:15.600 --> 0:06:17.600 a paycheck now for two pay periods. 0:06:18.120 --> 0:06:21.360 Well, so, first yes, I can talk about those things. 0:06:21.360 --> 0:06:22.760 And I want to make sure we clear this up 0:06:22.760 --> 0:06:27.080 because there's been some misinformation about that. So this coming 0:06:27.200 --> 0:06:30.320 weekend would be the third miss paycheck. The first paycheck 0:06:31.920 --> 0:06:34.160 which people are saying it was a partial paycheck. All 0:06:34.200 --> 0:06:36.200 of the deductions that you would normally have come out 0:06:36.279 --> 0:06:41.320 your taxes of course, stay in federal, your health insurance, 0:06:41.360 --> 0:06:45.160 your life insurance, all of those deductions came out full deductions. 0:06:45.640 --> 0:06:49.400 So the paycheck that officers received the first one, and 0:06:49.440 --> 0:06:52.080 the first one was some of them were a dollar 0:06:53.080 --> 0:06:56.240 as little as a dollar five dollars. You know, what 0:06:56.360 --> 0:06:58.760 can you do with that? So you can call it 0:06:58.800 --> 0:07:00.839 a partial paycheck, but you can't do anything that. So 0:07:01.000 --> 0:07:02.880 this will actually be the third one that's coming up 0:07:02.920 --> 0:07:08.400 this weekend. Uh So, as far as me personally, I'm 0:07:08.400 --> 0:07:11.640 a single person. I don't have the same struggles as 0:07:11.680 --> 0:07:15.840 a lot of my colleagues who have families. Although my 0:07:15.880 --> 0:07:21.040 bank account is down there, I'm a single. I don't 0:07:21.080 --> 0:07:25.080 have mouths to feed, you know, I don't. I do 0:07:25.200 --> 0:07:28.400 have mortgage, you know, rent to pay and car note 0:07:28.400 --> 0:07:31.960 and all of those other things. But my colleagues, they 0:07:31.960 --> 0:07:36.520 have children, you know, some of them are battling health 0:07:36.520 --> 0:07:38.760 issues themselves, you know, and they don't have the money 0:07:38.760 --> 0:07:41.920 and their bank accounts to you know, take care of 0:07:41.960 --> 0:07:43.240 their necessities that. 0:07:43.200 --> 0:07:50.280 They have, you know, absolutely, and I'm curious to know 0:07:53.440 --> 0:07:57.360 how they're like what they're doing to ensure they make it. 0:07:57.440 --> 0:07:59.640 Like I'll just give you this example, Aaron I was 0:07:59.640 --> 0:08:02.000 in the ear airport and I make it a point 0:08:02.040 --> 0:08:03.680 to say thank you all so much for working. 0:08:03.720 --> 0:08:04.960 I know you don't have to be here. 0:08:06.000 --> 0:08:09.640 And one airport I was in, the officer said back 0:08:09.640 --> 0:08:11.400 to me, I don't know how much longer I'll be here. 0:08:11.440 --> 0:08:13.120 I can't afford to be I need to go find 0:08:13.120 --> 0:08:13.559 a job. 0:08:14.120 --> 0:08:16.400 And at the next airport, my home airport in Seattle, 0:08:16.440 --> 0:08:18.560 I was like, I have cash, I just wanted. I 0:08:18.560 --> 0:08:20.280 don't have gift cards, but I have cash. Can I 0:08:20.320 --> 0:08:23.320 give you all? And they said the supervisor has to 0:08:23.320 --> 0:08:25.760 come take it, and then they disperse it amongst all 0:08:25.840 --> 0:08:29.640 the working tsos. What are the things that we can 0:08:29.680 --> 0:08:33.320 be doing as the general public to offer support, Like, 0:08:33.360 --> 0:08:35.480 I don't think it's fair that y'all are working so 0:08:35.520 --> 0:08:36.040 hard to. 0:08:35.920 --> 0:08:36.559 Not get paid. 0:08:36.800 --> 0:08:39.440 Ice is getting paid to roam the halls of the 0:08:39.480 --> 0:08:41.880 airport and not doing anything. I saw one video, We'll 0:08:41.880 --> 0:08:45.640 play it later, but Ice was handing out water and 0:08:45.679 --> 0:08:47.440 I'm like, that's great, But we can get a little 0:08:47.559 --> 0:08:50.200 kid that's raising money for a basketball tournament to do that. 0:08:50.360 --> 0:08:52.360 So why do we have ice in the airports at all? 0:08:52.720 --> 0:08:54.560 But y'all need you to comment on that part. I 0:08:54.600 --> 0:08:57.400 do want to hear about what we can be doing, like, 0:08:57.480 --> 0:09:00.679 can we partner with AFG, is there some with our 0:09:00.720 --> 0:09:02.800 local port authorities? What can we do to make sure 0:09:02.840 --> 0:09:04.600 that you all are getting the resources you need in 0:09:04.640 --> 0:09:05.079 this time? 0:09:05.200 --> 0:09:07.600 Well, first, thank you so much for asking this question. 0:09:07.640 --> 0:09:10.000 A lot of people are confused about what they can 0:09:10.040 --> 0:09:11.920 do or not really confused. They want to know what 0:09:11.920 --> 0:09:15.599 they can do to help out. So, as federal employees, 0:09:15.720 --> 0:09:18.760 me and my TSA row, I cannot accept any money, 0:09:19.000 --> 0:09:22.760 but you can come to me as the AFGE president, 0:09:23.200 --> 0:09:26.120 and I can accept things from you on behalf of 0:09:26.200 --> 0:09:29.360 AFGE and distributed to my members. So that's the same 0:09:29.440 --> 0:09:31.840 across the board. You can reach out to your local 0:09:31.880 --> 0:09:34.840 AFGE representative when you go to the airport, say hey, 0:09:34.840 --> 0:09:37.280 who's your local president? Can you give me their number, 0:09:37.920 --> 0:09:40.199 phone number or email address and you can reach out 0:09:40.240 --> 0:09:42.920 to them and they can you know, take whatever you have. 0:09:43.080 --> 0:09:46.640 You can also reach out to your central labor councils. 0:09:46.679 --> 0:09:51.640 A lot of municipalities have central labor councils. They are 0:09:52.200 --> 0:09:54.440 one of the resources that we've been using to accept 0:09:54.480 --> 0:09:59.719 gifts and things like that to distribute out to our officers. 0:09:59.880 --> 0:10:04.360 To do we reach them generally to partner with them. 0:10:04.280 --> 0:10:08.760 The central labor councils. Yes, so you still you I 0:10:08.800 --> 0:10:11.960 don't know, you know, every city has a different name, 0:10:12.080 --> 0:10:15.120 so it's usually you can say, just google central Labor 0:10:15.120 --> 0:10:17.280 council for whatever city you're in and it'll tell you 0:10:17.320 --> 0:10:20.199 if you have one or the neighboring city. Most most 0:10:21.280 --> 0:10:24.480 metropolitan areas have them, and even the rural areas. 0:10:25.000 --> 0:10:26.760 Okay, that's good to know, So we'll do that. 0:10:26.840 --> 0:10:28.720 We'll add that to our show notes just to be 0:10:29.520 --> 0:10:33.160 helpful exactly, our producers and our thread thinking just like 0:10:33.240 --> 0:10:35.360 me on that to make sure we get that active. 0:10:35.440 --> 0:10:37.319 And I think the other thing that I would ask 0:10:37.360 --> 0:10:38.000 you is. 0:10:39.640 --> 0:10:41.920 One thing I'm gonna just be honest with you, Aaron, 0:10:42.120 --> 0:10:44.600 I can be prone to be a little short in 0:10:44.640 --> 0:10:47.720 the TSA line. I don't like germs, and so those 0:10:47.880 --> 0:10:49.640 little you know, the little but containers we got to 0:10:49.640 --> 0:10:52.240 put our stuff in and then y'all's gloves, y'all touch 0:10:52.520 --> 0:10:55.120 the same people's stuff all it's so nasty. 0:10:55.320 --> 0:10:56.080 So I'm like, I'll do it. 0:10:56.080 --> 0:10:56.440 I'll do it. 0:10:56.440 --> 0:10:57.439 I'll touch it, I'll touch it. 0:10:57.520 --> 0:10:59.000 What are some of the things we can do from 0:10:59.040 --> 0:11:01.959 a mental health stamp point to guard you all's mental 0:11:02.000 --> 0:11:05.960 health right now? Like, how can we be better customers? 0:11:06.520 --> 0:11:10.880 Well, you know, I think the most passengers right now, 0:11:11.040 --> 0:11:15.160 thank god, continue this after this this fiasco is over. 0:11:17.080 --> 0:11:18.600 But you said, don't let it be. 0:11:21.280 --> 0:11:25.000 Right right right, But most passengers are actually being really 0:11:25.040 --> 0:11:29.840 really nice and understand what's going on, So keep doing that, 0:11:30.000 --> 0:11:34.319 keep that up. The officers appreciate the words of encouragement 0:11:34.360 --> 0:11:36.840 and the thanks and all of that, and and I 0:11:36.840 --> 0:11:39.520 don't want to sound unappreciative, but at the end of 0:11:39.559 --> 0:11:42.160 the day, you know that thank you is great for 0:11:42.240 --> 0:11:45.800 my mental but my bank accounts still over her startman overdrawn. 0:11:45.960 --> 0:11:49.080 You know. Uh So what we need the public to 0:11:49.120 --> 0:11:51.680 do is reach out and apply pressure to our congressional 0:11:51.760 --> 0:11:55.600 members as well. It don't matter what Democrat, Republican whoever 0:11:55.880 --> 0:12:01.920 applied pressure to them, because this right now is insane. 0:12:02.080 --> 0:12:05.880 You know, TSA workers across the nation are pissed off, 0:12:06.280 --> 0:12:08.800 you know, and you know, I know, we don't want 0:12:08.800 --> 0:12:11.960 to go into the ice thing, but to have paid employees, 0:12:12.040 --> 0:12:14.960 federal workers come into the airport and say that they're 0:12:14.960 --> 0:12:18.319 going to help me out while getting a paycheck, also 0:12:18.400 --> 0:12:21.800 collecting with them, and you're paying for their hotel rooms. 0:12:21.800 --> 0:12:23.640 That money could have went towards the offices that are 0:12:23.679 --> 0:12:26.800 already employed. You know, you could have used that money 0:12:26.800 --> 0:12:28.840 to pay for these paychecks instead of deploying people out 0:12:29.080 --> 0:12:32.280 to these airports. So just keep up, you know, the 0:12:32.320 --> 0:12:35.120 words of encouragement and applying pressure to Congress so that 0:12:35.160 --> 0:12:36.520 they can do their jobs. 0:12:37.520 --> 0:12:39.200 Yes, sir, well, we're also going to try to make 0:12:39.240 --> 0:12:41.360 sure we get some money in that overdrawn account. 0:12:41.440 --> 0:12:44.240 Aaron, and thank you for your work with af G. 0:12:44.480 --> 0:12:46.719 We'll make sure that we put whatever information you have 0:12:46.880 --> 0:12:50.280 for how our community can reach out to AFG locals 0:12:50.280 --> 0:12:52.560 and help to provide resources during this time. 0:12:52.840 --> 0:12:54.320 We are so grateful for y'all. 0:12:54.360 --> 0:12:56.760 I hate that every single thing about our government feels 0:12:56.760 --> 0:12:59.120 like a protest right now, but thank you for holding 0:12:59.160 --> 0:13:01.000 the line and thank you for holding that smile. 0:13:01.040 --> 0:13:03.160 I will do better at the airport, I promise I 0:13:03.160 --> 0:13:06.800 got to go tomorrow for joining us. 0:13:06.960 --> 0:13:11.319 One more resources. Yes. Also a lot of airports themselves 0:13:11.400 --> 0:13:15.000 they are not they're not federal employees. The airports themselves 0:13:15.280 --> 0:13:17.320 have some of them have set up donations and things 0:13:17.320 --> 0:13:19.040 like that. So reach out to your airports as well, 0:13:19.160 --> 0:13:22.360 just as another way to help out officers. 0:13:23.000 --> 0:13:25.640 Yes, and I want to shout out my local airport 0:13:25.640 --> 0:13:28.680 se Tac where we have two amazing commissioners and some 0:13:28.720 --> 0:13:30.920 other folks. We have Hamdan to Chico and they have 0:13:30.960 --> 0:13:32.640 been putting that information out as well. 0:13:32.960 --> 0:13:35.040 So we got you. We'll be partnering with them as well. 0:13:35.600 --> 0:13:40.680 Thank you so much. Erin drive safely, okay, thake here? 0:13:41.440 --> 0:13:44.600 Uh well, before we get to our next guest, first 0:13:44.600 --> 0:13:46.800 of all, y'all, Aaron was fantastic, I think, and for 0:13:46.880 --> 0:13:50.840 his candor, for his humanity, for representing his members so well, 0:13:51.520 --> 0:13:53.839 and for telling us exactly what we can do. He said, y'all, 0:13:53.880 --> 0:13:58.840 don't cut up when this uh this this holdout is up, 0:13:58.880 --> 0:14:00.560 as we can't call it a strike because they're still 0:14:00.559 --> 0:14:02.520 going to work. But when this holdout is up, don't 0:14:03.040 --> 0:14:05.520 come through my airport line and got attitude. I'm gonna 0:14:05.559 --> 0:14:07.160 work on it, Aaron. But I just don't like when 0:14:07.160 --> 0:14:10.600 people touch my stuff. It's my anxiety. Before we get 0:14:10.600 --> 0:14:12.880 to our next guest, I want to just take a 0:14:12.920 --> 0:14:15.559 moment so that we're clear. I know I walked through 0:14:15.559 --> 0:14:18.280 the timeline earlier, but I want to hear from Senator 0:14:18.360 --> 0:14:32.800 Kennedy on why this particular holdout is happening, very very 0:14:32.800 --> 0:14:35.320 important for you ought to know. It is bigger than ICE, 0:14:35.800 --> 0:14:39.480 it is bigger than CBP. Let's hear what Senator Kennedy says, 0:14:39.520 --> 0:14:40.760 and then we'll bring up our next guest. 0:14:41.720 --> 0:14:43.800 Uh shen up the cruise and I came up with 0:14:43.840 --> 0:14:46.480 a plan. We said, well, gets a two step process. 0:14:47.320 --> 0:14:51.360 The Democrats have offered opened up everything but Ice. UH, 0:14:51.800 --> 0:14:54.920 and I said, okay, let's accept their offer and then 0:14:55.600 --> 0:14:59.160 at the same time, we would offer a bill for 0:14:59.280 --> 0:15:03.920 reconciling where we don't need any Democratic votes to do 0:15:04.000 --> 0:15:06.920 whatever we wanted to do with ICE, and that way 0:15:06.920 --> 0:15:10.720 we're out of the shutdown. On DHS's back open. We 0:15:10.840 --> 0:15:14.360 submitted that son of crafone submitted that to President Trump, 0:15:15.400 --> 0:15:18.800 as is his right. He said, no, no deals with 0:15:18.880 --> 0:15:24.000 the Democrats. So we're back to square one. 0:15:24.560 --> 0:15:26.160 Now here's what's important here. 0:15:26.480 --> 0:15:30.160 I hope that you all heard where he said through reconciliation, 0:15:30.640 --> 0:15:33.720 we could do whatever we wanted to do with ice. 0:15:34.520 --> 0:15:36.720 But it's not just with ice. The thing that you 0:15:36.800 --> 0:15:39.560 all should know is that the Republicans in the Senate 0:15:39.960 --> 0:15:45.840 are plotting on using the reconciliation process to also pass 0:15:46.000 --> 0:15:50.720 the Save Act. And that is the biggest conundrum that 0:15:51.160 --> 0:15:53.400 folks who are of goodwill, because I don't just think 0:15:53.400 --> 0:15:57.400 this is a political lines thing, are struggling with. And 0:15:57.480 --> 0:16:01.360 I think what is so unfortunate is that our workers, 0:16:01.400 --> 0:16:03.360 folks who look like me and you at home, y'all, 0:16:03.720 --> 0:16:06.840 are having to carry this heavyweight because there are people 0:16:06.840 --> 0:16:10.160 who are irresponsible in the House and in the Senate 0:16:10.560 --> 0:16:15.320 trying to force the Save Act down our throats and 0:16:15.800 --> 0:16:20.400 also forcing TSA workers to hold the bag. Joining us 0:16:20.480 --> 0:16:24.200 now is President Everett Kelly. He is the president for 0:16:24.400 --> 0:16:28.120 the American Federation of Government Employees. Of course we just 0:16:28.160 --> 0:16:33.080 heard from Aaron Barker, but this is Everett Kelly. He 0:16:33.240 --> 0:16:36.320 is over the he's the big boss running all. 0:16:36.200 --> 0:16:39.120 The things for AFGI. Mister Kelly is always a pleasure 0:16:39.120 --> 0:16:40.000 to see you. How are you. 0:16:40.120 --> 0:16:42.200 I'm doing great, Angela. I could be doing better. 0:16:43.480 --> 0:16:44.320 I know you could. 0:16:44.840 --> 0:16:46.800 I can only hurt from my people heard right. 0:16:47.520 --> 0:16:53.080 Yeah, how many of the TSA workers are members of ACGI. 0:16:53.200 --> 0:16:55.120 How many members do you have that are tsos? 0:16:55.280 --> 0:16:58.040 It's about twenty seven thousand. I think about twenty five 0:16:58.080 --> 0:16:59.320 to twenty seven thousand. 0:17:00.080 --> 0:17:03.560 So twenty seven thousand people who have not received a paycheck. 0:17:04.560 --> 0:17:06.800 Now you talked about membership. 0:17:07.400 --> 0:17:09.840 Yeah, I was going to stay in your union represent. 0:17:09.560 --> 0:17:12.879 About forty seven thousand of those employees. 0:17:12.920 --> 0:17:17.680 Okay, yeah, so forty seven thousand who have not received 0:17:17.880 --> 0:17:21.160 a paycheck since right before Valentine's Day and are right 0:17:21.280 --> 0:17:23.800 up on the third pay period where they've not received 0:17:24.280 --> 0:17:27.320 a paycheck. I got to ask you, President Kelly, You've 0:17:27.359 --> 0:17:29.520 had to work both sides of the aisle for many 0:17:29.600 --> 0:17:33.359 years on these issues impacting your workers. You know, I 0:17:33.400 --> 0:17:35.159 think you know that I was a former I'm a 0:17:35.160 --> 0:17:39.879 former Homeland Security Committee staffer, so I have never seen 0:17:40.040 --> 0:17:42.719 we had labor issues. You know that we had to 0:17:42.760 --> 0:17:44.119 negotiate with the other side of the isle. 0:17:44.160 --> 0:17:44.800 But I've never. 0:17:44.680 --> 0:17:49.320 Seen folks so blatantly willing to force people to work 0:17:49.359 --> 0:17:54.359 without being paid and then bring it along ice to 0:17:54.480 --> 0:17:57.120 come to the airport to get paid to just stand there. 0:17:57.160 --> 0:17:57.399 It is. 0:17:57.720 --> 0:18:00.479 It's like a thumb in the eye of folks who 0:18:00.520 --> 0:18:03.680 are working so hard across multiple pay periods. 0:18:03.680 --> 0:18:04.919 What is your feeling about that? 0:18:05.520 --> 0:18:09.160 Well, first of all, I don't think that ICE has. 0:18:09.000 --> 0:18:15.080 The skills to perform those duties. Number one, I think 0:18:15.119 --> 0:18:19.080 it's also a stap in the face those employees. Those 0:18:19.200 --> 0:18:21.800 employees just out there coming to work every single day, 0:18:21.800 --> 0:18:25.840 making a sacrifice to perform the duties that's necessary for 0:18:25.920 --> 0:18:29.760 the Americans to fly through the skies, you know, safely, 0:18:30.200 --> 0:18:32.600 and then you bring someone in that's not even skill, 0:18:33.160 --> 0:18:37.240 pay them, pay them, you know, actually, like Aaron said earlier, 0:18:37.320 --> 0:18:39.359 you know, they get paid per dim and all of 0:18:39.400 --> 0:18:42.199 these extra money is to be there, and what are 0:18:42.240 --> 0:18:44.000 they What function are they really performing. 0:18:44.240 --> 0:18:45.600 They're not performing a function. 0:18:45.880 --> 0:18:49.600 They're just you know, walking around people see their uniforms 0:18:49.600 --> 0:18:52.040 and stuff like that, but they're not performing a duty 0:18:52.240 --> 0:18:55.359 that makes life better for the fly in public. So, 0:18:55.760 --> 0:18:58.720 you know, I think that it is a it's a disgrace. 0:18:59.440 --> 0:19:03.159 It's to see what we're seeing as relates to the 0:19:03.200 --> 0:19:05.800 ICE operation inside of TSA. 0:19:07.560 --> 0:19:09.200 I have to ask you. 0:19:09.200 --> 0:19:12.040 You talked about the pain you're feeling because your people 0:19:12.040 --> 0:19:14.760 are hurting. Can you tell us about you know, one 0:19:14.760 --> 0:19:16.920 of those stories that's standing out for you, the thing 0:19:17.000 --> 0:19:19.320 that is driving you to fight for them every single day. 0:19:19.359 --> 0:19:21.640 I know you do it anyway, right, but I think 0:19:21.680 --> 0:19:24.760 it's important for people to connect with their humanity in 0:19:24.800 --> 0:19:27.800 this hour. We can't just continue to watch people not 0:19:27.840 --> 0:19:29.160 get paid and work so hard. 0:19:29.920 --> 0:19:32.400 One story that sticks out with me, and I've been 0:19:32.480 --> 0:19:36.400 plundering over it all night. There is a single mother 0:19:37.960 --> 0:19:45.240 five children. She purchased a card off of Amazon for 0:19:45.320 --> 0:19:49.320 fifty dollars to buy food for her five children, but 0:19:49.440 --> 0:19:52.600 she had to set it up into four installments. She 0:19:52.680 --> 0:19:57.560 had to pay twelve dollars and fifth cent per payday 0:19:58.080 --> 0:19:59.520 just to get a fifty dollar. 0:19:59.720 --> 0:20:04.080 Worth of groceries. That is not American, you know. 0:20:04.160 --> 0:20:08.920 And it's sad that we find people in these type 0:20:08.920 --> 0:20:14.160 of situations. People are, you know, losing their homes. They 0:20:14.160 --> 0:20:17.280 haven't even recovered from the last shutdown. I mean this 0:20:17.320 --> 0:20:20.119 is the third shutdown in six months. And they help 0:20:20.160 --> 0:20:22.200 them recovered. They said, well, you know, they'll be made whole, 0:20:22.440 --> 0:20:25.399 they'll get their pay you know eventually. But when you 0:20:25.480 --> 0:20:27.520 start talking about the interests that they have to pay 0:20:27.560 --> 0:20:31.440 for the moneys that they borrow, you know, they'll never recovered. 0:20:31.480 --> 0:20:35.040 They're never fully recovered, and that's what bothers me more 0:20:35.359 --> 0:20:37.200 than anything, you. 0:20:37.119 --> 0:20:39.760 Know what, President Kelly, you's saying that now. I remember 0:20:40.680 --> 0:20:45.000 asking another rep from AFG around the time when former 0:20:45.080 --> 0:20:49.960 Secretary Christy Norman announced that there would be bonuses for tsos. 0:20:50.000 --> 0:20:52.520 Do you know if those bonuses were ever received? 0:20:53.000 --> 0:20:55.760 You know, I don't know if they really were. 0:20:56.680 --> 0:20:58.680 Yeah, you know, I know that was some photo ops, 0:20:58.680 --> 0:21:02.080 but nobody knew that's what getting a bonus and why 0:21:02.119 --> 0:21:05.440 they was getting a bonus, No rationale, no information whatsoever. 0:21:05.520 --> 0:21:07.439 So I know that was a few photo offs, but 0:21:07.640 --> 0:21:09.520 I don't know that you know of case theyre for 0:21:09.600 --> 0:21:12.280 certain that you know, one received real bonuses. 0:21:13.040 --> 0:21:15.440 And I think that's the point here now too, Right, 0:21:15.520 --> 0:21:19.000 we're talking about a very subjective standard for who at 0:21:19.040 --> 0:21:23.240 DHS is worthy of paying according to this administration. And 0:21:23.280 --> 0:21:26.240 so when you think about that, I still believe there's 0:21:26.240 --> 0:21:28.760 a human response. Obviously, we want members of Congress to 0:21:28.800 --> 0:21:32.240 do their job, But what would you encourage all of 0:21:32.280 --> 0:21:34.040 us at home to do. Those of us who have 0:21:34.119 --> 0:21:38.480 to walk through airport security regularly, those of us who 0:21:38.600 --> 0:21:43.040 are doing okay and might have something to offer. I'm 0:21:43.080 --> 0:21:47.200 curious to know, and we may have lost President Kelly. 0:21:48.440 --> 0:21:52.200 President Kelly, can you hear me? I think we lost them. Well, 0:21:52.560 --> 0:21:54.160 I'm gonna tell you all this in case we don't 0:21:54.200 --> 0:21:56.560 get them back. There is something that we can still 0:21:56.560 --> 0:21:59.920 do at home. We heard earlier from President Aaron Burr, 0:22:01.000 --> 0:22:04.720 who also is a tso that we can partner with 0:22:04.760 --> 0:22:08.880 our local port authorities to ensure that we get resources 0:22:09.280 --> 0:22:15.600 to these tsos. Again, these are transportation security officials. We 0:22:15.760 --> 0:22:20.080 can provide gas cards, gift cards. To hear President Kelly 0:22:20.119 --> 0:22:24.159 talk about this single mom of five, five children having 0:22:24.200 --> 0:22:28.920