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The Rick Smith Show 9-14-2026 · The Rick Smith Show

0:00
[SPEAKER_05]: It's time for the Rick Smith show.
0:02
[SPEAKER_03]: Now, here is the voice of a working class, Rick Smith.
0:14
[SPEAKER_05]: And welcome, brothers, sisters working class heroes.
0:18
[SPEAKER_05]: This is the Rick Smith show.
0:20
[SPEAKER_05]: Thanks so much for being here.
0:22
[SPEAKER_05]: Today on the big program lots to get to lots to talk about.
0:24
[SPEAKER_05]: It is 9-11.
0:27
[SPEAKER_05]: If anyone who is anyone remembers where you were 25 years ago today, if you were around.
0:36
[SPEAKER_04]: And remembers what the country was before.
0:46
[SPEAKER_05]: I look at 911, 2001 as a defining moment in the changing of this country and who we are and who we became and how we've gotten to the place that we are right now so incredibly divided, angry and fairly fearful.
1:07
[SPEAKER_05]: I'm hoping that's beginning to change, especially as we're starting to kind of wake up
1:16
[SPEAKER_05]: because that comment of, we just need to be safe.
1:21
[SPEAKER_05]: That was so prevalent after 9.11.
1:26
[SPEAKER_05]: That we gave up a lot.
1:27
[SPEAKER_05]: I mean, the security bureaucracy that built up, the fact that we passed the Department of Homeland Security, and now have some really very draconian kind of rules along those lines.
1:49
[SPEAKER_05]: You stop and you think about the rights, the freedoms, all the consolidation, the Department of Homeland Security absorbed the border, immigration, customs, all kinds of stuff, single focus agency with a focus to find terrorists.
2:13
[SPEAKER_05]: And those terrorists, well,
2:18
[SPEAKER_05]: We've overalled public spaces, you now need screening procedures to get anywhere.
2:28
[SPEAKER_05]: Whereas I remember life had been fairly free and open.
2:32
[SPEAKER_05]: The idea of freedom died on 9-11.
2:37
[SPEAKER_05]: And I remember when the Patriot Act was passed.
2:42
[SPEAKER_05]: And this is one of those moments where it was most frightening.
2:48
[SPEAKER_05]: The League of Women Voters had a panel discussion, debating whether they should pass the Patriotic.
2:56
[SPEAKER_05]: Three people had read it, three people had read the cliff notes, and you know who was for it and who was against it clearly.
3:03
[SPEAKER_05]: The people who would read it are like, wow, we should take a hold.
3:08
[SPEAKER_05]: other people who didn't who just bought you know the talking points all gone home and I remember the crowd of people that I was surrounded by all in favor of you know locking down because we got to feel safe and giving up you know freedoms that's when we started hearing the you know the the quote attributed to Ben Franklin you know those who give up you know a freedom for
3:36
[SPEAKER_05]: I remember one woman and she's stuck with me all these years.
3:41
[SPEAKER_05]: She was willing to go as far as they wanted, you know, national ID card, chipping people, just wanted the feel safe and wanted to get through the airport.
3:54
[SPEAKER_05]: didn't care about the intrusions into her privacy because didn't think about it because as a country we had we had assumed our privacy was constitutionally mandated we have the right to to privacy security in our in our persons and our papers.
4:16
[SPEAKER_05]: And what we got was an expanded
4:22
[SPEAKER_05]: And then we reframed immigration.
4:24
[SPEAKER_05]: And we did so many things.
4:26
[SPEAKER_05]: You saw the rise of hate groups in Islamophobia because hey, you know, they're all bad.
4:31
[SPEAKER_05]: The war on terror and two long wars.
4:36
[SPEAKER_05]: A veteran of veteran opioid crisis that nobody's really talked about.
4:42
[SPEAKER_05]: And at home, a militarized police state
4:49
[SPEAKER_05]: where our police departments, now we're more like little militaries than they are, servers and protectors of the people.
4:58
[SPEAKER_05]: And out of all of that became the political polarization that we now live with.
5:04
[SPEAKER_05]: You know, I go back to when I think about those times because I had a lot of very conservative friends, we used to have really good spirited discussions on policy ideas.
5:14
[SPEAKER_05]: And after 9-11, those conversations got much more tense.
5:18
[SPEAKER_05]: I'd always said in the greatest part of this country is we can disagree and we don't have to kill each other for the other side being wrong.
5:25
[SPEAKER_05]: Sadly, I think we're getting to a point where maybe that's no longer true.
5:28
[SPEAKER_05]: So for me, on this day, I reflect, yeah, under the tragedy that happened, the murders that happened on that day and I never forget and I am angry.
5:41
[SPEAKER_05]: But I also mourn for the country that we were.
5:48
[SPEAKER_05]: And I look around with great sadness, that we were allowed in our name, really lots of horrible stuff.
6:02
[SPEAKER_05]: We all remember where we were.
6:04
[SPEAKER_05]: I'm curious, what do you remember from before?
6:09
[SPEAKER_05]: What was September 10th like in your world?
6:12
[SPEAKER_05]: Email me ricketerricksmithshow.com right back.
6:19
[SPEAKER_05]: I'm Rick Smith, and this is Labor History Inter.
6:23
[SPEAKER_05]: This day in Labor History, the year was 1851.
6:26
[SPEAKER_05]: That was the day that a Maryland planter named Edward Gorsage was killed in Cristiano, Pennsylvania.
6:32
[SPEAKER_05]: Gorsage had come to Pennsylvania to try and recapture three black men that had escaped from slavery on his farm outside of Baltimore two years earlier.
6:42
[SPEAKER_05]: A year after the men escaped, Congress passed the fugitive slave act.
6:46
[SPEAKER_05]: This penalized helping those who had escaped slavery with a $1,000 fine and up to six months in jail.
6:52
[SPEAKER_05]: In Bolton by the law, slave catchers chased those who had made the journey to freedom in the north.
6:58
[SPEAKER_05]: Of course, it's received news that the men he was looking for were in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
7:03
[SPEAKER_05]: Two of the escaped slaves were at the farm of William Parker, a black man,
7:08
[SPEAKER_05]: who had also escaped slavery in Maryland.
7:10
[SPEAKER_05]: Located just north of the Mason Dixon line, Lancaster had a well-established underground rail road network, an armed black self-defense group had developed to stand against the slave catchers.
7:22
[SPEAKER_05]: Corsidge and his son gathered a group of men and headed north.
7:26
[SPEAKER_05]: At the parker farm, they were confronted by a group of at least 50 black men armed with guns and pitchforks.
7:33
[SPEAKER_05]: Gorsuch refused to leave and a gun-battle erupted.
7:36
[SPEAKER_05]: Gorsuch was shot and killed in the exchange of fire.
7:39
[SPEAKER_05]: Parker, his family, and the three formerly enslaved men fled the Canada.
7:44
[SPEAKER_05]: 38 others who were there that day were charged with treason for taking part in the confrontation.
7:50
[SPEAKER_05]: This included Caster Hanway, a white man who had tried to defuse the standoff.
7:55
[SPEAKER_05]: None of the charged were ever convicted.
7:58
[SPEAKER_05]: In the South, slave owners were outraged that no one was punished.
8:02
[SPEAKER_05]: Tensions between the North and South sharpened.
8:05
[SPEAKER_05]: As a result, the country moved closer to the Civil War, the bloody conflict that finally ended slave labor.
8:12
[SPEAKER_05]: For more information, go to laborhistoryintu.com, like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter at LaborHistoryintu.
8:22
[SPEAKER_03]: Welcome back to the Rick Smith Show.
8:24
[SPEAKER_03]: Now, here is Rick Smith.
8:30
[SPEAKER_05]: So I'm going to press release from the folks over at the Transportation Trade Department of the AFLCIO, that again, incredible that on the anniversary that quarter of a century anniversary of 9.11.
8:45
[SPEAKER_05]: Let me just read it as America's largest transportation labor federation representing millions of transportation workers and thousands of aviation workers We renew our calls for installed physical secondary barriers on all existing aircraft.
9:01
[SPEAKER_05]: Now, it's my understanding these Physical secondary barriers are just hard doors So that maybe can't get in it seems like this would have been the thing on September 12th
9:15
[SPEAKER_05]: that you would have done, but here to share some thoughts on that and also the 25th anniversary it has been 25 years, best our good friend Greg Riegan to come share some thoughts, Greg is the president of the transportation trades department of the AFFLC, I know you can check out their website at TDTTD.org, Greg, thanks for taking time for us.
9:37
[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you, Rick.
9:38
[SPEAKER_05]: So, am I getting this right, we're 25 years out.
9:43
[SPEAKER_05]: And still, I mean, the doors seem, even when I was a kid in the 70s, the fact that you would get into the cockpit was just amazing when they were hijacking planes like crazy.
9:52
[SPEAKER_05]: It seems to me, it seems to me that this would have been a no-brainer.
9:57
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, look, they've done a couple of things.
9:59
[SPEAKER_01]: And I heard Captain Wendy Morse speak yesterday about what's changed, what changed dramatically after my 11 in the airline industry.
10:07
[SPEAKER_01]: One of the most important things they did is the training requirements when there was a hijacking before 9 to 11 was to basically let them take the plane and try to preserve the lives of the people on the plane and the crew.
10:23
[SPEAKER_01]: Obviously, that didn't anticipate that hijackers would use the plane as a weapon.
10:29
[SPEAKER_01]: So, you know, since then, every single protocol has changed.
10:32
[SPEAKER_01]: One of them, they did harden and lock the cockpit doors, but especially on any longer flight, you know, eventually pilots need to leave the cockpit.
10:41
[SPEAKER_01]: They have to use the restroom, they have to, you know, get out.
10:44
[SPEAKER_01]: And that's where the secondary barrier comes in that the secondary barrier that is really it's like a it's like a metal curtain it's like a chain curtain that can be pulled apart and a pull across so what it does is essentially if somebody tried to rush to cockpit when that door was open for that brief moment when someone has to leave to use the restroom there is a barrier there that will be enough to stop them and prevent allow them to go and reinforce the door.
11:09
[SPEAKER_01]: And of course, there's the FFDO program where you have, there's an officer with a weapon inside a lot of case inside the cockpit.
11:16
[SPEAKER_01]: So that's a the other thing.
11:19
[SPEAKER_01]: But outside of a secondary barrier, when there isn't one, the current protocol means that essentially if the pilot needs to leave the cockpit for whatever reason, a flight attendant stands in the aisle with their cart with a
11:36
[SPEAKER_01]: Uh, and putting a human shield there is insane.
11:38
[SPEAKER_05]: Wait, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
11:39
[SPEAKER_05]: So we're years in the drink cart as, as, as, as protected, well, what did, no, come on.
11:45
[SPEAKER_01]: Yes, no, I'm serious.
11:46
[SPEAKER_01]: And I actually, I had this moment on a plane a few years ago when we were fighting for this.
11:52
[SPEAKER_01]: I was talking to just the guy next to me who was reading one of those military porn novels, things like that, and I was like, okay, this guy probably is not on the same political spectrum that I am.
12:05
[SPEAKER_01]: But we were talking about unions, we were talking about flight safety, and he didn't understand why we were pushing for certain things.
12:12
[SPEAKER_01]: I pointed out,
12:13
[SPEAKER_01]: You see what the flight tends to in right now?
12:15
[SPEAKER_01]: He's like, yeah, she's just standing there.
12:17
[SPEAKER_01]: So you know she's not, she's making herself a shield with the drink heart.
12:21
[SPEAKER_01]: As a way to try to do a double security for when a pilot needs to immediately leave the cockpit, even for a brief moment.
12:27
[SPEAKER_01]: And all we're asking for is something that costs mere thousands of dollars.
12:30
[SPEAKER_01]: It's not an expensive retrofit to put in this secondary barrier that prevents somebody from having to do that and provides an extra layer of security for when that cockpit for those brief moments
12:43
[SPEAKER_01]: And there is a rule in place right now that any newly manufactured aircraft have to have this put in the place, but, you know, that is a tiny fraction of the amount of aircraft that are going into service and commercial aviation these days.
12:55
[SPEAKER_01]: So, you know, this is something that the government should be and this was one of the major recommendations from the 911 Commission.
13:00
[SPEAKER_01]: This is something that should have happened a long time ago.
13:03
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, we're still fighting for it right now.
13:04
[SPEAKER_05]: Now, it seems like a no-brainer seems like something you should have done on September 12.
13:08
[SPEAKER_05]: So, but, you know, we know that playing stay in service a long time.
13:11
[SPEAKER_05]: How many planes are still, you know, flying around that were, you know, maybe before 9-11?
13:17
[SPEAKER_05]: Is there a large inventory still of planes from the era where these regulations may not have been around?
13:25
[SPEAKER_05]: And again, how costly is it to retrofit this stuff?
13:28
[SPEAKER_05]: I know, you know, using them as a weapon to take
13:33
[SPEAKER_05]: But it seems like, I don't know, something you should have done.
13:39
[SPEAKER_01]: Yes, it's certainly something we should have done.
13:41
[SPEAKER_01]: And frankly, this is something that was required by law in FAA, authorization going way back, not quite 20 years, but around that amount of time.
13:52
[SPEAKER_01]: But as with anything, Congress can pass a law, but it has to be implemented by the executive branch.
13:56
[SPEAKER_01]: And going through many administrations, I'm not going to put any blame on anyone.
14:00
[SPEAKER_01]: party or anything because there are plenty of opportunities for presence on both sides to resolve this.
14:06
[SPEAKER_01]: But one of the Biden administration we actually did have a rule to finalize this requirement.
14:11
[SPEAKER_01]: The problem is they put in that major exemption that it only applies to newly manufactured aircraft and the argument essentially was it would be too cost prohibitive to install these things in every aircraft that's currently in service so they decide what we'll just do it for new ones.
14:27
[SPEAKER_01]: The thing is to retrofit these separate barriers that is really not a major expense.
14:33
[SPEAKER_01]: By the standards of aircraft, we're talking about thousands of dollars, not millions of dollars.
14:39
[SPEAKER_01]: And it's something that we should be putting in, well, yes, well, I understand it is going to be an expense upon the airlines to implement this thing.
14:48
[SPEAKER_01]: It's not a massive expense, and it's something that is for the greater good and the greater security of the flying public.
14:53
[SPEAKER_05]: I mean, when you stop and think about the loss of wealth after 9-11, and you think about the cleanup and you think about the hit to the economy, you think about the societal, you think about all of the things that came after 9-11.
15:08
[SPEAKER_05]: I don't know if there's a number where you go, yeah, it's just too costly to not have that happen again.
15:18
[SPEAKER_01]: Look, I agree with you, but you know, that's, unfortunately, that's part of the way our regulatory system works these days when we implement all of these rules anything that is passed by Congress during the implementation process there is a cost benefit analysis and you look at how we do the cost and versus the benefit and it's it's kind of distorted because at a certain point you have to put a monetary value on a human life.
15:43
[SPEAKER_01]: For example, when you look at the requirements coming out of the 2009 cold and air crash and we had the new fatigue requirements, the rest and, you know, and duty time requirements for commercial airlines, so the pilots weren't going to be fatigued and tired when they're flying a plane.
16:05
[SPEAKER_01]: a freight car go airlines.
16:08
[SPEAKER_01]: So if you're flying for a FedEx or UPS or DHL, those same duty and rest requirements don't apply to you.
16:15
[SPEAKER_01]: And the reason when they implemented that final rule after 2009, after the 2010 bill, the reason why it wasn't implemented is because they determined that the cost of to the airlines of having these flight and duty time requirements were too much
16:34
[SPEAKER_01]: the cost of, you know, the benefit of saving X number of lives in a pasture airplane.
16:38
[SPEAKER_01]: That was what definitely worth it to to to implement these requirements.
16:42
[SPEAKER_01]: Whereas if there's only a few people on the plane, you know, that loss of life is worth X monetary value.
16:48
[SPEAKER_01]: So therefore, we shouldn't have to implement this this requirement, which is bonkers to me.
16:53
[SPEAKER_05]: But Greg, I need my Amazon package.
16:57
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, everybody does and and I assure you you would still get it if we actually implemented these these requirements for everybody and as we've seen I mean there can be disasters with cargo aircraft as well we just unfortunately had one last week and it was and it's it's tragic and and you know I I'm not we don't know what the cause of that was and I'm not going to try to try to you know try to draw draw cause causation here but.
17:20
[SPEAKER_01]: It is a reminder that these are planes that are sharing the same skies with our commercial jets that are sharing the same airports.
17:27
[SPEAKER_01]: We should have one standard of safety and security for all of them.
17:31
[SPEAKER_01]: And that applies to, in the case of secondary barriers, that applies to any new aircraft as well as the ones that are currently flying that were there before the requirement.
17:39
[SPEAKER_05]: I saw our mutual friend, Sarah Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants.
17:45
[SPEAKER_05]: She said the other day that workers gave back something like $81 billion in the wake of 9 11 and then took on the cost of health care, destroyed retiree health care, destroyed pensions.
18:00
[SPEAKER_05]: I think the airline industry used 9-11 pretty well to redistribute wealth back to themselves away from workers.
18:07
[SPEAKER_05]: I mean, $81 billion does not sound inconsequential.
18:11
[SPEAKER_01]: Now, and this was, this was an example by how government bailouts can go terribly wrong.
18:17
[SPEAKER_01]: Obviously, we need to do something after 9 to 11.
18:19
[SPEAKER_01]: The airline industry took a major hit.
18:21
[SPEAKER_01]: And this is a really important industry for our country and frankly, for the world.
18:25
[SPEAKER_01]: So there was a need to have the government intervene, and especially in the wake of such a tragedy, to make sure that we can stabilize this critical industry.
18:34
[SPEAKER_01]: The problem is that the Bush administration, the time, required a condition of receiving funds
18:40
[SPEAKER_01]: was that they had to abrogate their collective bargaining agreements and renegotiate them and renegotiate them to make them cheaper.
18:47
[SPEAKER_01]: And the unions of the time recognize that, like, okay, if we don't do something then our airlines are going to go down, then they're going to go the jobs.
18:54
[SPEAKER_01]: So they they sacrifice the thumbs and the thumbs and the thumbs and the thumbs and the thumbs and the thumbs and that's why there are no pensions.
18:58
[SPEAKER_01]: That's why they gave back on a lot of healthcare and wage and benefits.
19:03
[SPEAKER_01]: And it took decades, frankly, for them to get back to the real value of their wages and benefits to get up to pre 9-11 values in terms of their actual benefit for the worker.
19:17
[SPEAKER_01]: It took decades to get back to that.
19:18
[SPEAKER_01]: And then if you could contrast that to what happened after COVID and the way that collectively in the living room, it would be pushed to make sure that the aid that went to the airlines
19:31
[SPEAKER_01]: That was conditioned on the airlines cannot furlough anybody.
19:34
[SPEAKER_01]: They cannot ever date contracts, they cannot fire people.
19:38
[SPEAKER_01]: They had to use all of that money for payroll and benefits.
19:43
[SPEAKER_01]: And that was the logic was sound, is that when traffic returns, but you knew it was going, sure, and it has, that there is going to be a crew ready-trained and able to meet the demands that are there.
19:54
[SPEAKER_01]: Because these are not jobs you step into.
19:56
[SPEAKER_01]: There's a lot of training.
19:57
[SPEAKER_01]: These are highly trained professionals that do these jobs, and so if you compare what we did in COVID, I would say we learned a lesson from my 11 in terms of government bailouts and how we dealt with it this time around.
20:09
[SPEAKER_05]: No, that sounds like a positive.
20:11
[SPEAKER_05]: Now, one thing that I'm concerned about, again, we've got the Trump administration who seems held bent on destroying federal employment in this country, took collective bargaining rights or has attacked collective bargaining rights for a million federal workers, which seems a lot more than what Reagan went after.
20:28
[SPEAKER_05]: Are we actually talking about reprivalizing TSA?
20:32
[SPEAKER_05]: Are we actually talking about undoing some of the things, some of the lessons we learned?
20:39
[SPEAKER_01]: It's been a thing for a long time, but this is probably the, uh,
20:44
[SPEAKER_01]: if we're being honest, the biggest threat to privatizing transportation security that we've had since 911.
20:49
[SPEAKER_01]: And you know, it's shocking to me that people seem to have the memory of a goldfish when it comes to why we have a federalized transportation security administration now.
21:00
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, that was the number one recommendation, come out of mind-alignment.
21:02
[SPEAKER_01]: We need to standardize and federalize all of our security operations in airports.
21:06
[SPEAKER_01]: This hotge podge of giving out contracts to lowest bidder
21:14
[SPEAKER_01]: So that's why we created TSA.
21:15
[SPEAKER_01]: That's why we created the Department of Homeland Security.
21:17
[SPEAKER_01]: It was to try to make sure that this type of thing never happens again.
21:21
[SPEAKER_01]: And then, you know, 25 years later, people were saying, well, we haven't had an attack in 25 years.
21:26
[SPEAKER_01]: Why do we need to do this?
21:28
[SPEAKER_01]: Why would we go backwards?
21:29
[SPEAKER_01]: Why would we go backwards the old way of doing it?
21:31
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, it's like, for God, why we did this stuff in the first place?
21:34
[SPEAKER_01]: No, no, it's just, it's baffling to me.
21:37
[SPEAKER_01]: And frankly, if you look at what the workers, these dedicated public servants who work at TSA that are at every single airport early in the morning, late at night, these people do not have the same collective bargaining rights as other federal employees, including other people in the Department of Home Security.
21:54
[SPEAKER_01]: And it's not just about, you know, they're not on the GS scale, the pay scale that other federal employees are on.
21:59
[SPEAKER_01]: They do not have access to the mayor's systems protection boards, so if they get feel like they are unfairly punished by a supervisor that they
22:07
[SPEAKER_01]: They do not have the same title five rights as other federal employees, and now they're looking to take away even that basic collective banking rights in terms of workplace conditions that the AFGE, the American Federation Government employees has provided for them since 2008.
22:23
[SPEAKER_01]: And it's just, it is, it is baffling to me that we would want to further depress morale, even as we have been, they've been subject to working for up to two months during a shutdown without pay.
22:35
[SPEAKER_01]: And before that, it was, it was, you know, a month.
22:37
[SPEAKER_01]: And then they keep having these over and over again.
22:41
[SPEAKER_01]: And of course, when you do that, it's going to make it seem like TSA's not working, because, you know, people are, are coming in because they're worked to the
22:52
[SPEAKER_01]: And, you know, so it's kind of a classic playbook.
22:55
[SPEAKER_01]: Let's starve it until it's not working and that's AC.
22:58
[SPEAKER_01]: The private sector can do it better.
23:00
[SPEAKER_01]: And frankly, it's a me that just, it means that we're just forgetting all of the lessons we learn and why we did all this stuff in the first place.
23:07
[SPEAKER_05]: Yeah, I mean, the mantra we have to kill at the save it, basically.
23:10
[SPEAKER_05]: Yes.
23:11
[SPEAKER_05]: I got two last things.
23:13
[SPEAKER_05]: I mean, because, you know, the reality is,
23:15
[SPEAKER_05]: I've been very frustrated over the last 25 years that we didn't take care of the heroes that responded to this.
23:21
[SPEAKER_05]: I know that they've made funding permanent for the World Trade Health Program.
23:25
[SPEAKER_05]: Now, I won.
23:27
[SPEAKER_05]: Why is it taken so long to get here?
23:29
[SPEAKER_05]: And two, you know,
23:32
[SPEAKER_05]: We talk about heroes a lot.
23:34
[SPEAKER_05]: We put people on pedestals a lot, but we never back it up and I understand that now we've flat funded some grant money for for firefighters who risk their lives to run into burning buildings.
23:46
[SPEAKER_05]: It seems like we should be funding this kind of stuff.
23:49
[SPEAKER_05]: If we've got money for tax cuts for billionaires, I don't know.
23:52
[SPEAKER_05]: This seems like it should be somewhere near the, you know, the, I don't know, at least the middle of the last, right?
23:57
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I've always felt, and my former boss, Congressman Louisa Lotto, I said that budgets and appropriations bills are statements of value.
24:06
[SPEAKER_01]: What do you value as a politician, as a Congress?
24:10
[SPEAKER_01]: And I think it says a lot when we especially on the other side of the Republican side, where they want to scrimp and say when it comes to these things like major health programs for first responders, for the people for the heroes of 9 to 11.
24:23
[SPEAKER_01]: But they have no problem with the tax cuts for billionaires.
24:26
[SPEAKER_01]: They have no problem spending showing out as much money as possible to the military.
24:29
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, in certain areas, you know, no money is not an issue.
24:35
[SPEAKER_01]: But when it comes to critical health services, when it comes to public transportation, when it comes to roads and bridges and transit systems and Amtrap,
24:44
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, all of these things, that's where it's like, oh, now it's not, it's not, it's not crazy here.
24:47
[SPEAKER_01]: Let's not, let's, you know, we got to be careful about money.
24:51
[SPEAKER_01]: Uh, it's just, again, if to me, it's a statement of values.
24:54
[SPEAKER_01]: Are you care about the people who are actually providing these critical services?
24:58
[SPEAKER_01]: You care about our communities.
24:59
[SPEAKER_01]: You care about investing in the public.
25:02
[SPEAKER_01]: Or do you care about a new fighter jet or, or make sure that a billionaire can write off another thing on their tax tax, uh, at the end of your taxes?
25:10
[SPEAKER_01]: So it, again,
25:12
[SPEAKER_01]: I would highly encourage anybody, especially as we're going into an election year here, look at how, I mean, people, politicians are telling you what their values are, telling you what they care about when they vote for these things and I think it's incumbent upon a lot of us to really amplify this and show people what the consequences are of these of these votes and of these political decisions.
25:30
[SPEAKER_05]: Yeah, elections have consequences.
25:32
[SPEAKER_05]: I want to give you the last word.
25:33
[SPEAKER_05]: I mean, obviously, 25 years, it seems like a long time.
25:37
[SPEAKER_05]: And it also seems like just yesterday for all the workers who sacrificed the people who bled and died, the people who you did have done all the hard work.
25:47
[SPEAKER_05]: What's the message for them today?
25:50
[SPEAKER_01]: Look, I think it's, you know, the calendar is such this year that on the same week, we have celebrate the 25th anniversary 9-11 as well as Labor Day, which just happened on Monday.
26:01
[SPEAKER_01]: And, you know, I think that's a really, a really stark reminder about what the Labor Movement has done, how we've responded to, you know,
26:09
[SPEAKER_01]: delivering the 40 40 hour workweek and delivering things like overtime and pensions and and Social Security and Medicare and all these things that the labor movement has delivered.
26:18
[SPEAKER_01]: And with 9-11, how we responded and how what the consequences are when we get it wrong.
26:24
[SPEAKER_01]: But it's also reminder about how much more work we have to do and we touched on one of them here with secondary barriers and some of those are seemingly small.
26:32
[SPEAKER_01]: Those are the types of things
26:38
[SPEAKER_01]: not only to the members that we all represent, the workers we represent, but to the general public as well.
26:44
[SPEAKER_01]: And when you look at, you know, the current trend towards, you know, the wage gaps in terms of rich and then you've got working people that are struggling to get by, the people are really suffering from, you know, the inflationary policies we have right now, the rise in gas prices.
26:58
[SPEAKER_01]: We have a whole, we've done a lot, but we have so much more work to do.
27:01
[SPEAKER_01]: And frankly, the labor movements, the only institution in this country that's going to be fighting for these things in the right way.
27:07
[SPEAKER_01]: And, you know, it is, it's a reminder that, hey, you know, we do have accomplishments.
27:11
[SPEAKER_01]: We have stuff to be proud of, but we got a whole long way to go.
27:15
[SPEAKER_01]: And it's the only way we're going to accomplish it is by banding together, showing solidarity, fighting is with one voice, and pushing for the policies that frankly are on the right side of history, and that we can be proud of down the road.
27:27
[SPEAKER_05]: Hey, man.
27:27
[SPEAKER_05]: Greg, I appreciate the time as always.
27:30
[SPEAKER_05]: Good stuff.
27:31
[SPEAKER_05]: Good talking there.
27:33
[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you, Rick.
27:33
[SPEAKER_01]: Take care.
27:34
[SPEAKER_05]: Want to hear your thoughts?
27:36
[SPEAKER_05]: Can you believe we're still here?
27:39
[SPEAKER_05]: I want to thank Greg Rick and President of the Transportation Trades Department of FLCIO.
27:43
[SPEAKER_05]: Make sure you check out their website ttd dot or go on to hear your thoughts.
27:46
[SPEAKER_05]: Rick at therixmithsshow.com, right back.
28:00
[SPEAKER_05]: I'm Rick Smith, and this is Labor History Into.
28:03
[SPEAKER_05]: On this day in Labor History, the year was 2001.
28:06
[SPEAKER_05]: We pause to remember those who died in the 9.11 attacks.
28:10
[SPEAKER_05]: Of those killed, nearly a quarter, or union people.
28:13
[SPEAKER_05]: Hundreds of firefighters were lost, dozens of building trades people, and many other unions lost members as well.
28:19
[SPEAKER_05]: including the AFT, SCIU, United here, CWA, and Absmith.
28:24
[SPEAKER_05]: Those lost that day will remain firmly forever in our memories.
28:28
[SPEAKER_05]: What is less well-known is the number of those first responders who are suffering from chronic and fatal diseases related to 9-11 or those who have already died.
28:38
[SPEAKER_05]: It is estimated that over 400,000 people were exposed to World Trade Center contaminants.
28:44
[SPEAKER_05]: These include more than 70 carcinogens and other hazardous substances.
28:48
[SPEAKER_05]: Of those exposed, over 91,000 were first responders.
28:52
[SPEAKER_05]: As of June 2017, over 67,000 first responders and over 12,000 survivors had registered in the World Trade Center Health Program run by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
29:04
[SPEAKER_05]: The program provides medical monitoring, health evaluations, and treatment for those who qualify.
29:10
[SPEAKER_05]: of those registered responders still alive, more than 45,000 suffer from certified conditions as defined by the Zadroga Act of 2010, and for registered survivors, nearly 10,000 suffer from certified conditions.
29:24
[SPEAKER_05]: Close to 700 registered first responders have already died from certified conditions.
29:29
[SPEAKER_05]: However, this number is considered a low estimate given that there were many who died before the program was established.
29:36
[SPEAKER_05]: There are also a number of illnesses believed related to the attacks, but not yet certified.
29:42
[SPEAKER_05]: If you are a survivor or were a 9-11 first responder and would like to enroll in the World Trade Center Health Program, please visit cdc.gov-wtc or call toll-free-1888-9824748.
30:05
[SPEAKER_00]: under siege by secretive data center powers intent on seizing our land, water, electric grid, and even our local democracy?
30:14
[SPEAKER_00]: That is when you're grateful to have a president who stand with you fighting for the people's rights.
30:20
[SPEAKER_00]: So let's hope we can get one of those soon.
30:24
[SPEAKER_00]: Instead, we're now stuck with a holy corporatized Puscellanumus president who is waving the flag
30:33
[SPEAKER_00]: worse, America's self-proclaimed Supreme Leader is publicly mocking the gutsy local groups of all political stripes who are daring to oppose the global technocratic order being devised by Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, and a handful of other billionaire profiteers.
30:51
[SPEAKER_00]: The President of our People's Republic recently belittled the millions of grassroots democracy rebels who opposed the Robert Baron's Brave New World.
31:01
[SPEAKER_00]: He pompously sneered that the only reason they don't want data centers is called, they want to end up being backwards and poor.
31:08
[SPEAKER_00]: Wow, keen inside Mr. President, he even proposes an AI monarchy.
31:15
[SPEAKER_00]: If your communities want to be successful in rich, he says, let data rain.
31:20
[SPEAKER_00]: Rain?
31:21
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, a U.S. president has actually declared that artificial intelligence should rule over us, meaning that Musk, Bezos, and other royal billionaires who own AI will rule.
31:33
[SPEAKER_00]: This is Jim Heiter saying, Trump and company warn that if you democracy rebels quote Kill the Golden Goose, you will only have yourselves to blame.
31:43
[SPEAKER_00]: but perhaps he doesn't realize that the Golden Goose is a fable.
31:47
[SPEAKER_00]: A self-lotatory myth.
31:50
[SPEAKER_00]: Golden eggs are not laid by a goose, but by humanity, communities working together and investing in the common good.
32:13
[SPEAKER_05]: I gotta tell ya, um, 25 years.
32:17
[SPEAKER_05]: It seems like just yesterday, as I said in a movie.
32:19
[SPEAKER_05]: It seems like just yesterday, and it also seems like, you know, a whole other lifetime ago.
32:25
[SPEAKER_05]: And, you know, the surprising thing you're talking with Greg Regan is that evidently, we haven't learned because they're still talking about privatizing.
32:34
[SPEAKER_05]: What seems to be working, I know, I know.
32:36
[SPEAKER_05]: We haven't heard any attacks lately.
32:38
[SPEAKER_05]: Do you think there's a reason for that?
32:40
[SPEAKER_05]: Let me just throw it out there.
32:41
[SPEAKER_05]: Just throw it out there.
32:43
[SPEAKER_05]: That's why I've asked Johnny Jones to come share us and thoughts with us.
32:45
[SPEAKER_05]: Johnny is the president of AFGE local 1040 also the Secretary of Church of AFGE Council 100.
32:52
[SPEAKER_05]: Check out their website, AFGE Council 100.org.
32:56
[SPEAKER_05]: They're the folks who the folks who represent for now, I guess, back on, back off the folks who who keep us safe.
33:04
[SPEAKER_05]: Johnny, thanks for taking time for us.
33:06
[SPEAKER_02]: All right.
33:06
[SPEAKER_02]: Well, thank you, Rick.
33:07
[SPEAKER_02]: I was going to say so.
33:09
[SPEAKER_02]: The TSOs are represented by FG.
33:11
[SPEAKER_02]: We, you know, we have our injunction.
33:14
[SPEAKER_02]: The course, the first thing the administration tried to do is report our contracts across the federal government, including TSAs.
33:20
[SPEAKER_02]: TSAs was first, March the 7th, 2025.
33:25
[SPEAKER_02]: And we've been able to
33:27
[SPEAKER_02]: win our rights back and continue to represent the employees.
33:30
[SPEAKER_02]: I've been a TSO since 2002.
33:33
[SPEAKER_02]: I started at TSA when I was 24 years old and now I'm 48 of work.
33:38
[SPEAKER_02]: Half of my life is involved in TSA.
33:40
[SPEAKER_02]: It went by with the blink of an eye.
33:42
[SPEAKER_02]: It's been an awesome journey, but there's nothing more than I can say.
33:46
[SPEAKER_02]: I've been proud of them serving America people for the last 24 years.
33:49
[SPEAKER_05]: So, you know, when you look at the fact that there's talk of, and I understand, and you know, this more than I do, there's talk of privatizing, going backward to privatizing and just letting, you know, the profit here is decide, you know, which court corners we can cut or which special programs we can come up with or how we can profit off of it.
34:09
[SPEAKER_05]: It seems like, you know, today, being a good interesting time to maybe talk about why it's not a great idea to privatize
34:19
[SPEAKER_02]: Well, I can tell you the first reason why I started a good idea is that TSA officers have performed a job for 24 years without failure.
34:30
[SPEAKER_02]: 100% success rates, there's no planes come down on our watch.
34:35
[SPEAKER_02]: 9-11 is tomorrow the 25th anniversary of 9-11, and prior to 9-11 for those who don't know, there was no TSA was created in the ashes of the Trade World Trade Center and Pentegon in Pennsylvania.
34:55
[SPEAKER_02]: TSA officers have upheld their oaths of the Constitution.
34:58
[SPEAKER_02]: We've done our jobs.
34:59
[SPEAKER_02]: We've protected the American people.
35:01
[SPEAKER_02]: And the real question is, why would you want to privatize something that's working?
35:04
[SPEAKER_02]: There's only one reason.
35:06
[SPEAKER_02]: P is for profit.
35:08
[SPEAKER_02]: And people are trying to make profits off of this government.
35:12
[SPEAKER_02]: Especially this administration is all we're going to privatize everything.
35:14
[SPEAKER_02]: We'll privatize it in the world of government means you're no longer a federal employee.
35:20
[SPEAKER_02]: And now you're going to pay twice as much money to a government contractor.
35:24
[SPEAKER_02]: to do the job.
35:26
[SPEAKER_02]: And when you have TSOs doing a job, we took a oath up all the Constitution.
35:30
[SPEAKER_02]: We care deeply about making sure every single passenger gets to the destination safe.
35:36
[SPEAKER_02]: And that's the reason why privatization doesn't work good for the people.
35:41
[SPEAKER_02]: It's only for profits.
35:42
[SPEAKER_05]: Or what you're going to end up with is we're going to cut as many corners as possible to make the square peg fit in the round hole so that we can make as much money as we can and make give the illusion that they're doing something while leaving us completely vulnerable.
35:56
[SPEAKER_05]: I mean, that's the way I see it.
35:58
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, they're going to call it enhancements and it's going to be better.
36:03
[SPEAKER_02]: Look, at the end of the day, the only enhancement, it's going to be as somebody's pocketbook is going to get the fatter on the backs of those privatized officers that would be working at those checkpoints.
36:15
[SPEAKER_02]: It's really a bad idea for the American people.
36:18
[SPEAKER_02]: All you have to do is ask those 3,000 people that got on planes on September 11, 2001.
36:26
[SPEAKER_02]: What they think today, it's a good idea to privatize the TSOs.
36:31
[SPEAKER_02]: They have all perished already.
36:34
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, these guys would say it's a horrible idea.
36:36
[SPEAKER_02]: We came to take care to make sure that that never happened again.
36:42
[SPEAKER_02]: Those lives should never be forgotten.
36:45
[SPEAKER_02]: And now they're being forgotten by trying to privatize this workforce.
36:49
[SPEAKER_02]: If I had a family member that passed away in 9-11 and now they're trying to privatize the TSOs,
36:55
[SPEAKER_02]: I would be appalled because one of the very first things that happened after 9-11 was the creation of TSA to make sure that the airports were federalized and people are protected.
37:09
[SPEAKER_02]: It's the same reason why they don't have private customs officers when you cross the checkpoints and flying in from other countries or walking across the borders.
37:19
[SPEAKER_05]: No, they don't think I'll push back out of nobody passed away, they were murdered.
37:23
[SPEAKER_05]: And they were exactly referred to all that yeah, that was allowed to happen because we were we relax and and you know they were cutting corners and doing all the things that I fear and I think the American public would be quite outrage to know that there's actually a move by this administration and move forward with privatization and I guess you've been part of some of the discussions that they've been throwing at you guys explain this horizon 25 thing is what is this?
37:51
[SPEAKER_02]: Well, Horizon 25 is the enhancement of trying to privatize the TSA Air Force and they're coming up a ways to streamline and make, you know, traveling, a relatively quicker.
38:05
[SPEAKER_02]: Of course, the unions are involved and in it is Horizon 25.
38:10
[SPEAKER_02]: things that are trying to put together.
38:12
[SPEAKER_02]: Gold Plus is what they were previously trying to call this.
38:16
[SPEAKER_02]: The union, they went out and said they were going to privatize the Tampa Airport, Charleston Airport, and Des Moines, Iowa Airport.
38:23
[SPEAKER_02]: And within about 35, 40 days, the union organized, mobilized, and we got all the airports to say, you know what?
38:31
[SPEAKER_02]: We're not going to do the
38:34
[SPEAKER_02]: and they all withdrew from the Go Plus program.
38:36
[SPEAKER_02]: And they said, well, you know, we're going to abandon the Go Plus and now make this a rise of 25.
38:40
[SPEAKER_05]: So gold plus, please, I'm thinking, I know the Trump administration is in power right now and I know that a lot of their people are probably doing or their people are doing this.
38:50
[SPEAKER_05]: Gold plus sounds like the most Trump thing ever.
38:54
[SPEAKER_05]: Oh, please, tell me this was a privatization profitization scheme where you could just buy your way past, check points, please tell me that was part of the plan.
39:02
[SPEAKER_02]: Well, I'm sure it was because the way they were going to make a profit on it was like, if you wanted to go through the private screen and check points, yeah, sure you'd probably be able to get around screen with enough money.
39:12
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, it just no idea what was going to happen.
39:14
[SPEAKER_02]: But they were going to call it the golden era of airline travel and I was like, well,
39:20
[SPEAKER_02]: The golden airline travels in the 60s when everybody just hop on a plane, I guess.
39:24
[SPEAKER_02]: They didn't have to really worry about going to a sprint.
39:27
[SPEAKER_05]: No, it's the weird world that I grew up in.
39:30
[SPEAKER_05]: I remember as a kid being able to take the rapid transit right into Cleveland Hopkins airport.
39:35
[SPEAKER_05]: You'd get out right into the airport.
39:36
[SPEAKER_05]: You'd walk through some half-screening and it wasn't even a metal detector.
39:42
[SPEAKER_05]: It was just a guy sitting on a stool going, yeah, you can go ahead.
39:45
[SPEAKER_05]: And you could walk right up to the gate and watch without even a ticket or knowing anybody just hanging out in the airport.
39:52
[SPEAKER_05]: And cause and trouble.
39:53
[SPEAKER_05]: I mean, it was a different world.
39:56
[SPEAKER_02]: And, you know, yeah, that's the another trying to say they got a new golden air.
39:59
[SPEAKER_02]: And I was like, the only golden air I can think of is that if you go to, you know, it's a really anti go like all they're kind about this golden.
40:07
[SPEAKER_02]: I mean, I'm going to tell you something.
40:09
[SPEAKER_02]: Tell that to the 3,000 people in Merit on 9, 11 that privatization is a great idea.
40:15
[SPEAKER_02]: Because they went on the airlines and they were going through private checkpoints.
40:19
[SPEAKER_02]: They were for profit, they were trying to do as cheap as possible.
40:23
[SPEAKER_02]: Of course, the regulations were in place and nobody had ever used airplanes and missiles.
40:27
[SPEAKER_02]: However, that's never going to happen again.
40:29
[SPEAKER_02]: They're not because TSA officers are doing their job and we've been doing a job ever since.
40:35
[SPEAKER_02]: and the American people need to know that we showed up during the government shutdowns and they're trying to use the government shutdowns as a reason why they're privatized because if TSOs or privatized they're gonna get paid during the government shutdowns, which is the dumbest reason in the whole wide world.
40:49
[SPEAKER_02]: Because we took a oath as federal employees, you mean to tell me, we're gonna be privatized because of the 535 elected.
41:00
[SPEAKER_02]: people in our houses representatives and Senate, it took a oath up to hold the Constitution.
41:05
[SPEAKER_02]: They didn't do their jobs, so they're trying to fire us because they didn't do theirs.
41:10
[SPEAKER_02]: That is the most pathetic thing ever.
41:12
[SPEAKER_02]: They need to be all of them.
41:13
[SPEAKER_02]: Need to be kicked out of office if they think this is a good idea.
41:15
[SPEAKER_05]: No, I'm right there with you, but I do find it ironic that that that seems to be the argument for a lot of things.
41:21
[SPEAKER_05]: We privatize it just privatize it because in the in the private world, it's what the CEO says, it's not what we the people say it's what one what the dictator says and this is where Trump comes in.
41:32
[SPEAKER_05]: Everyone, you know, during the 2024 election that I ran into was saying we need to run government like a business Well, it's not a government like a business is for profit not for service not for safety not for security Not for any of that for to line one guy's pocket now.
41:48
[SPEAKER_05]: This administration doing a pretty good job of Lining dear leaders pocket don't get me wrong, but I do think on is there any polling on this that the American people wouldn't really because
41:59
[SPEAKER_05]: I'll be honest, hadn't heard a lot about it.
42:01
[SPEAKER_05]: Thought it was kind of a dead issue.
42:03
[SPEAKER_05]: Thought, you know, hey, 911's coming up.
42:05
[SPEAKER_05]: Maybe we, you know, maybe we've learned something.
42:09
[SPEAKER_02]: I don't have the polls and I'm sure eventually we're going to deal with that.
42:13
[SPEAKER_02]: But I just wanted to think about, you know, these in this administration in particular has made a lot of promises.
42:21
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, the $2,000 rebate text for tariffs.
42:26
[SPEAKER_02]: $5,000 does check the money just just ran the last night.
42:30
[SPEAKER_02]: If you vote for us, we're going to give you $5,000, right?
42:33
[SPEAKER_02]: Look, that is the most bullarky thing of all time.
42:36
[SPEAKER_02]: That, it's like telling a pastor, hey, this plane is perfectly safe.
42:40
[SPEAKER_02]: Don't worry about it.
42:42
[SPEAKER_02]: Everything's great until it's not.
42:45
[SPEAKER_02]: Oh yeah, I guess what your check's not in the mail neither.
42:47
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, the only data's in the mail is I'm sorry your family member to make this destination because we decided to cut as many corners we can and believe me.
42:59
[SPEAKER_02]: When you take an oath to the Constitution, take it seriously.
43:02
[SPEAKER_02]: But when you get hired by a private company, all they really care about is make a profits and make it sure that they work you as hard as you can.
43:11
[SPEAKER_02]: You won't have union rights.
43:13
[SPEAKER_02]: You won't have workplace protections.
43:15
[SPEAKER_02]: They're going to tell you when you're going to come to work.
43:17
[SPEAKER_02]: They're going to tell you when you're going to go home.
43:19
[SPEAKER_02]: They're going to let you know when you're going to work over time.
43:21
[SPEAKER_02]: There's not going to be any protections for these employees and the American people are going to suffer because you're going to find a bottom of the barrel that people that
43:31
[SPEAKER_02]: are not nearly as skilled as we are doing it.
43:34
[SPEAKER_02]: Well, they're just going to have to hire and bring them in or commit it because nobody's going to want to do this job.
43:38
[SPEAKER_05]: Yeah, or commit it.
43:39
[SPEAKER_05]: I mean, the reality is is when you're when you're pledging allegiance to the corporation, there are a lot of things get lost in the translation.
43:48
[SPEAKER_05]: Now, you talked about bargaining rights, you talked about representation, this administration unprecedented in the history, at least in my lifetime.
43:56
[SPEAKER_05]: I mean, Reagan fired the Pat Go Workers, that was 11,000 federal employees, that was a huge deal, that was, that shook the world on, you're talking to a million potentially stripping collective bargaining rights from a million workers.
44:12
[SPEAKER_05]: Again, unprecedented and especially the people who should have the most say, again, folks like you who are on the front lines.
44:19
[SPEAKER_05]: Well, keeping people safe.
44:22
[SPEAKER_02]: Hey, now that we came people safe, we're keeping America running.
44:25
[SPEAKER_02]: When you look at the jobs that are produced by the what unions and to better work and better benefits and better pay,
44:32
[SPEAKER_02]: the unions have, you know, they've been attacking unions because for many years, you know, in the 19, what was in the 1970s, about 4% of the people will have a 4 and 10, where union members, and by the time you get to the 80s, sorry, my cat has jumped in.
44:51
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, you get down, did you climb to a rat and were like 11% of the American workforce is represented by unions.
44:58
[SPEAKER_02]: Unions are here to make sure that your workplace is fair, balanced, and that people are treated right, and you're going to, you shouldn't have to work three jobs to make ends meet, and that's what we're doing right now, you know, so this guy's, oils up, foods up, your pay is down.
45:18
[SPEAKER_02]: Again, you're going to continue to do that.
45:19
[SPEAKER_02]: So that's the issue that we're faced with.
45:22
[SPEAKER_05]: So let's go back to the privatization thing for a second because, you know, the fact of the matter is this administration started a war another war that a war of choice to this time another Republican war of choice.
45:34
[SPEAKER_05]: Um, it seems like this would be the last time we should be thinking about privatizing.
45:38
[SPEAKER_05]: I mean, if everything's peaceful and we're all happy go lucky and everyone is singing kumbaya and holding hands.
45:45
[SPEAKER_05]: Maybe you could make a case for it, but the fact that again you're dealing with a very dangerous regime.
45:51
[SPEAKER_05]: uh... who if you will listen to their to the rhetoric coming out of this administration is sponsoring terrorism all over the world this kind of seems like help me here but it seems kind of like a dumb idea to go hey let's let's change horses midstream either that is a really bad idea that is a very valid point um...
46:10
[SPEAKER_02]: They're having wars go on, create people that sometimes are home-based, and they feel like this has been attacked on Muslims, you know, the administration may be targeting certain people, and all you're going to do is create a lot of enemies, and those enemies are looking to do harm to Americans.
46:32
[SPEAKER_02]: There's nothing worse than bringing an airplane down.
46:34
[SPEAKER_02]: Just remember
46:39
[SPEAKER_02]: No, we don't want that again.
46:40
[SPEAKER_02]: No, I remember you know, like just a bottom line, the country was shut down, this is lost money, people lost their lives and the economy was destroyed and then we had the longest war and history of the war and terrorism that many of my colleagues that work with me and TSA fought in that as well.
46:58
[SPEAKER_05]: So, I want to finish up with, you know, like everyone remembers where they were at 9-11.
47:03
[SPEAKER_05]: Everyone has a personal story.
47:04
[SPEAKER_05]: I mean, I imagine a lot of the people that you work with, a lot of your members who are the folks who are the TSOs.
47:12
[SPEAKER_05]: They've got personal stories, because you take, sometimes you take jobs because you want to do the right thing.
47:18
[SPEAKER_05]: You're drawn to it for purpose.
47:20
[SPEAKER_05]: And I got to imagine,
47:21
[SPEAKER_05]: being a TSO.
47:22
[SPEAKER_05]: It could be as one of those jobs that you people are drawn to.
47:25
[SPEAKER_05]: I remember you know, after the attacks, people were signing up for the military, people were signing up for things.
47:30
[SPEAKER_05]: Any stories that, on your end of your memory of 9-11?
47:35
[SPEAKER_02]: Well, actually, I can tell you, really, this is a personal story.
47:38
[SPEAKER_02]: So after 9-11, my best friend, I grew up with, he was like, man, I'm in the Marine Recruitment Station.
47:44
[SPEAKER_02]: Like, this was like three or four days.
47:45
[SPEAKER_02]: This was like right after he was, I'm going to join Marines.
47:49
[SPEAKER_02]: and I was like, wow, I was, you know, I was like, I guess I was 23 at a time and he was like, I'm going to Marine, I'm going to go, I'm going to go make these people pay because there's a lot of angry people.
48:00
[SPEAKER_02]: Americans were angered this happened.
48:02
[SPEAKER_02]: And so the best way they feel like I could serve my country.
48:05
[SPEAKER_02]: And for me, I was like, I was unable to do that.
48:08
[SPEAKER_02]: I just got custody of my kids.
48:10
[SPEAKER_02]: And I was like, when I heard that they were creating this agency called TSA and they couldn't find enough people.
48:15
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, after 9, 11, you know, everybody knows what happened.
48:18
[SPEAKER_02]: You're watching the TV and this was happening live.
48:20
[SPEAKER_02]: This is the most life thing you could possibly imagine.
48:23
[SPEAKER_02]: Other than like the Challenger explosion, when I was a child.
48:27
[SPEAKER_02]: This all happened like live, you know what I mean?
48:30
[SPEAKER_02]: It's very,
48:32
[SPEAKER_02]: It was so real and so personable seeing people jump on a buildings and you know, so when people my friends is dropped what they're doing and next time I talked to them, I just got done with my training and AIT training, which is a man's signature training and end up spending tours and a rack and a Afghanistan.
48:48
[SPEAKER_02]: And you know, there's so many people's stories just like that.
48:52
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, I had employees that that worked with me and they were like, get more scared because they were middle Eastern descent.
48:56
[SPEAKER_02]: They were like, I don't know if I want to go to work because there was a lot of strange things.
49:01
[SPEAKER_02]: It was a strange time in America and you know, we're living in strange times still because I don't know if America's fully moved on from some of those events.
49:14
[SPEAKER_02]: And you know, like when you have what's going on with our country cracking down and attacking people, you know, it's just not a good place sometimes for us to be.
49:25
[SPEAKER_05]: No, it's it's scary stuff.
49:27
[SPEAKER_05]: Last word on, you know, I know everyone says never forget, but it kind of seems like we're forgetting a little bit, especially when you're talking about privatization and doing some of this stuff.
49:37
[SPEAKER_05]: What's the last word for folks?
49:39
[SPEAKER_02]: Actually, for me, every year, I always watch 9-11 tribute video.
49:44
[SPEAKER_02]: I always listen to the names of the people that passed away when they read the names.
49:50
[SPEAKER_02]: People need to go back and watch a couple of documentaries on 9-11.
49:54
[SPEAKER_02]: It doesn't take long.
49:56
[SPEAKER_02]: for everything to hit you and it comes back to you and like holy cow I can't believe this happened just cannot happen again.
50:01
[SPEAKER_02]: And when people start talking about privatizing the TSOs, that is the most stupidest thing of all time because you're trying to go back in time to where it was before.
50:11
[SPEAKER_02]: That right there should make, so this should make every American angry.
50:15
[SPEAKER_02]: And if that happens, then they should be calling their congressmen and senators and say, look, we want all airports federalize.
50:24
[SPEAKER_02]: We did not want any private airports.
50:26
[SPEAKER_02]: And I think that's going to be the goal goal for the union is to just eliminate this opportunity all together.
50:32
[SPEAKER_02]: and we're going to be working and we're going to be making sure people vote.
50:36
[SPEAKER_02]: You need to get out and vote.
50:37
[SPEAKER_02]: This is the most important election midterm I could have made.
50:39
[SPEAKER_02]: I couldn't even imagine being a more important midterm than what we have right now.
50:43
[SPEAKER_02]: They could share your vote because we got people getting arrived now to get go voter certain way to get $5,000.
50:49
[SPEAKER_02]: That is the most ridiculous thing in history.
50:51
[SPEAKER_02]: That's got to be almost illegal.
50:53
[SPEAKER_05]: You know, but not surprising from this administration.
50:57
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm just saying, but it's got to be illegal.
50:59
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, I mean, sometimes got to be wrong with that.
51:03
[SPEAKER_02]: Oh my god.
51:03
[SPEAKER_02]: That's almost like coming through the airport and the guy has given me a hundred bucks of you know, skip the time.
51:08
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, like skip the line or something like do we don't do that because we took a oath.
51:13
[SPEAKER_02]: And we don't take it for profits for doing this job based on what we care about.
51:18
[SPEAKER_05]: There you go.
51:19
[SPEAKER_05]: Johnny, I appreciate the time.
51:21
[SPEAKER_05]: Good stuff.
51:21
[SPEAKER_05]: Keep up the great work.
51:22
[SPEAKER_05]: And I hope to talk to you again real soon.
51:23
[SPEAKER_02]: All right.
51:24
[SPEAKER_02]: Thanks, Greg.
51:25
[SPEAKER_02]: We're appreciated.
51:25
[SPEAKER_02]: They grabbed me on the show.
51:26
[SPEAKER_05]: Thanks so much, Johnny.
51:27
[SPEAKER_05]: John's FGE.
51:29
[SPEAKER_05]: Local 1040 president.
51:30
[SPEAKER_05]: I want to hear your thoughts.
51:32
[SPEAKER_05]: Good bad idea.
51:33
[SPEAKER_05]: Would you be, would you feel safer if corporate America were in charge of your security?
51:39
[SPEAKER_05]: I want to hear it, record the ricksmithsow.com right back.
51:46
[SPEAKER_05]: I'm Rick Smith, and this is Labor History In Two.
51:49
[SPEAKER_05]: Today in Labor History, we pause to remember the events that took place on the morning of September 11th.
51:55
[SPEAKER_05]: The year was 2001, terrorists hijacked planes and intentionally crashed them into the twin towers in New York City, and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. Nearly 3,000 people were killed in the attack.
52:08
[SPEAKER_05]: including 634 Union members.
52:11
[SPEAKER_05]: They were members of the fire and police unions that had responded to help those at the scene of the attack.
52:17
[SPEAKER_05]: They were also pilots and flight attendants on the crashed plans.
52:21
[SPEAKER_05]: 343 firefighters died on that day.
52:25
[SPEAKER_05]: It was the deadliest firefighter disaster in U.S. history.
52:28
[SPEAKER_05]: Before September 11th, the greatest loss of firefighters in an urban building
52:36
[SPEAKER_05]: 21 firefighters were killed while fighting a fire in the stockyards.
52:41
[SPEAKER_05]: 11 years after the September 11 attack, Harold Shattonberger of the International Association of Firefighters recalled their sacrifice.
52:49
[SPEAKER_05]: At the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, our members gave everything they had.
52:53
[SPEAKER_05]: The best that this union and this nation have to offer was demonstrated in their courageous response.
52:59
[SPEAKER_05]: In the aftermath of September 11, the Firefighters Union worked to improve benefits and protections for their members and their families.
53:07
[SPEAKER_05]: In particular, the Uniform Firefighters Association Local 94 and Uniformed Fire Officers Association Local 854 Lobbed Washington officials on these issues.
53:18
[SPEAKER_05]: In 2010, President Barack Obama signed the James Agroda 911 Health and Compensation Act and to law.
53:25
[SPEAKER_05]: The act was named after a police officer who developed a fatal respiratory disease while working at recovery efforts at Ground Zero.
53:32
[SPEAKER_05]: The act provided medical monitoring and treatment to world trade center responders.
53:37
[SPEAKER_05]: Labor history and too brought to you by the Illinois Labor History Society and the Rick Smithsia for more information go to laborhistoryintube.com.
53:48
[SPEAKER_03]: We're listening to the Rick Smith show.
53:51
[SPEAKER_03]: We're working people, come to talk.
53:58
[SPEAKER_05]: It is quite remarkable that are some of our elected leaders.
54:03
[SPEAKER_05]: And I'm not going to say all because look, there are some really good decent people in our government.
54:10
[SPEAKER_05]: To the ones who get attention seem to be the one to the horse ones because hey, they they they play the game.
54:15
[SPEAKER_05]: I got us, but the fact that anyone anyone's talking about privatizing the TSA It's just it's quite remarkable, but again, you've got one entire political party
54:29
[SPEAKER_05]: completely sold on the idea that governments should do nothing, that everything should be handled by for-profit interests, and that those for-profit interests, because understand, since the mid-70s forward, business interests have been about maximizing shareholder wealth, not delivering a product, not taking care of their workers, not giving a ticker's damn about the community or the environment or anything else, it's all about the profit.
54:59
[SPEAKER_05]: When you stop and you think about the reality that you have people running our government, who believe that nothing should be done because it's right.
55:09
[SPEAKER_05]: It should only be done because they can make money at it.
55:13
[SPEAKER_05]: You begin to realize everything that's been happening over the last 50 years.
55:18
[SPEAKER_05]: makes sense.
55:19
[SPEAKER_05]: Because it's not about delivering you good government.
55:22
[SPEAKER_05]: It's not about delivering good services.
55:24
[SPEAKER_05]: It's not about, you know, good schools or safe neighborhoods or, you know, clean water or air or health care or education.
55:30
[SPEAKER_05]: It's about none of that stuff.
55:33
[SPEAKER_05]: Because there's always going to be someone who wants to dive their snow deep into the trough of the taxpayer well.
55:41
[SPEAKER_05]: And this is how we've gotten where we are.
55:46
[SPEAKER_05]: And the weird thing is, you know, I keep coming back to conversations I've had with my conservative friends who tell me that they're fiscally responsible, they're conservative and their values because of their beliefs, you know, because they believe that someone they don't know doing something that they, they don't like is somehow harming them, which is bizarre.
56:12
[SPEAKER_05]: But somehow, they think that if they can impose their will on everybody else, everything will be fine.
56:18
[SPEAKER_05]: But also claiming to be physically responsible while backing a guy who evidently just tried to bribe the country, you know, hey, just a little bit, what's a little bribing between friends.
56:30
[SPEAKER_05]: It's not new, look, I've said for a very long time, a lot of my red hat conservative
56:41
[SPEAKER_05]: they're just afraid of what the future may bring because it's not going to look like them and and kind of kind of backwards but socially conservative in that we can't change anything
56:57
[SPEAKER_05]: We can't have people leading their lives, we have to approve of their lives, but on the financial side, because look, we're $40 trillion in debt and the vast majority of that came because of Republican presidents, especially this one that we've got now, who just promised a $5,000 check, now remember, you know, at the beginning of the term, it was we were going to get, what was it a $5,000 doji check, I'm still waiting for my doji.
57:27
[SPEAKER_05]: And also, we were supposed to get like two grand in tariff money.
57:30
[SPEAKER_05]: They were supposed to be all of these, these handouts.
57:32
[SPEAKER_05]: Now remember, the Republican Party has always been the party or so.
57:35
[SPEAKER_05]: They say that no handouts, put your stuff up by your bootstraps and understand.
57:46
[SPEAKER_05]: When Trump said it's a dividend?
57:50
[SPEAKER_05]: I guess my economics, you know, background, you know, took a couple of classes.
57:54
[SPEAKER_05]: I don't know an awful lot, but a dividend isn't that, you know, profit doesn't that come after profit and government doesn't or isn't supposed to run a profit to be
58:18
[SPEAKER_05]: Understand, we ran a massive deficit.
58:23
[SPEAKER_05]: The biggest in, well, in decades.
58:28
[SPEAKER_05]: We spent more money already this year than last.
58:33
[SPEAKER_05]: And somehow we're getting a dividend.
58:36
[SPEAKER_05]: And we're $40 trillion in the debt.
58:37
[SPEAKER_05]: You ask any red hat, they'll tell you they're foaming at the mug.
58:40
[SPEAKER_05]: We got a couple of social programs.
58:43
[SPEAKER_05]: But somehow there's going to be a, what, I think the number they said is $1.8 trillion to give everybody a five grand handout, I'll look, I'll take it.
58:52
[SPEAKER_03]: You want to give me free money, happy to take free money.
58:56
[SPEAKER_05]: I will, I will save it.
58:57
[SPEAKER_05]: I will put it in the bank because I know I'm going to end up paying it back with interest down the road.
59:01
[SPEAKER_05]: But still, I'm willing to take it.
59:04
[SPEAKER_05]: But where's that money coming from?
59:06
[SPEAKER_05]: Oh, yeah, we're going to put another 1.8 trillion on top of the 40.
59:10
[SPEAKER_05]: And then you're going to tell me you're
59:15
[SPEAKER_05]: I don't know.
59:15
[SPEAKER_05]: I don't know.
59:15
[SPEAKER_05]: I don't know.
59:16
[SPEAKER_05]: I don't know.
59:17
[SPEAKER_05]: I don't know.
59:17
[SPEAKER_05]: I don't know.
59:17
[SPEAKER_05]: I don't know.
59:18
[SPEAKER_05]: I don't know.
59:18
[SPEAKER_05]: I don't know.
59:19
[SPEAKER_05]: I don't know.
59:20
[SPEAKER_05]: I don't know.
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[SPEAKER_05]: I don't know.
59:21
[SPEAKER_05]: I don't know.
59:22
[SPEAKER_05]: I don't know.
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[SPEAKER_05]: I don't know.
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[SPEAKER_05]: I don't know.
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[SPEAKER_05]: I don't know.
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[SPEAKER_05]: I don't know.
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[SPEAKER_05]: I don't know.
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[SPEAKER_05]: I don't know.
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[SPEAKER_05]: I don't know.
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[SPEAKER_05]: I don't know.
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[SPEAKER_05]: I don't know.
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[SPEAKER_03]: I don't know.
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[SPEAKER_03]: I don't know.
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[SPEAKER_03]: I don't know.
59:43
[SPEAKER_03]: I don't know.
59:44
[SPEAKER_03]: I don't know.
59:46
[SPEAKER_03]: Email REC, at REC, at TheRixSmithShow.com.
59:54
[SPEAKER_03]: Until next time, this has been TheRixSmithShow.
59:57
[SPEAKER_03]: We're working people, come to talk.