#RolandMartinUnfiltered - RMU Special: IAM's Fight to Unionize Delta Ramp Workers

Episode Date: July 19, 2024

7.18.2024 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: RMU Special: IAM's Fight to Unionize Delta Ramp Workers Delta Air Lines Ramp Workers, labor, and community allies are here to discuss their ongoing fight for union representation with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, or IAM. Download the #BlackStarNetwork app on iOS, AppleTV, Android, Android TV, Roku, FireTV, SamsungTV and XBox  http://www.blackstarnetwork.com The #BlackStarNetwork is a news reporting platforms covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Never lick your thumb to clean their face. And you'd never let them leave the house looking like less than their best. You say you'd never put a pacifier in your mouth to clean it. Never let them stay up too late. And never let them run wild through the grocery store. So when have one aisle six. And aisle three. So when you say you'd never let them get into a car without you there, no, it can happen. One in four hot car

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have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. This is Absolute Season 1. Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. Listen to Absolute Season 1. Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, I get right back there and it's bad. I'm Clayton English.

I'm Greg Glott. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. Last year, a lot of the problems of the drug war. This year, a lot of the biggest names in music and sports. This kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We met them at their homes. We met them at their recording studios. Stories matter, and it brings a face to them.

It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. We'll be right back. I thank you for being the voice of Black America, Roller. Stay Black. I love y'all. All momentum we have now, we have to keep this going. The video looks phenomenal. See, there's a difference between Black Star Network and Black-owned media and something like CNN.

You can't be Black-owned media and be scary. It's time to be smart. Bring your eyeballs home. You dig? Folks, today is Thursday, July 18th, 2024. Roland Martin Unfiltered Broadcasting live here in Atlanta at the IBEW Hall. We're talking about the effort to unionize Delta Ramp workers. They are battling the airline. What we're seeing all across the country are an increasing effort for folks to

unionize and how big business is actually fighting that. We'll discuss that. We'll talk about the political implications of the most pro-union president in a very long time, Joe Biden. Will he stay in the race? The Vice President Kamala Harris. Also, the efforts to mobilize and organize across the country. We have seen this happen with Starbucks and UAW and so many others. And so how has America changed its view when it comes to unions? It's time to bring the funk on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Let's go. He's got whatever the piss, he's on it.

Whatever it is, he's got the scoop, the fact, the fine. And when it breaks, he's right on time. And it's rolling. Best belief he's knowing. Putting it down from sports to news to politics. With entertainment just for kicks, he's rolling. It's Uncle Roro, y'all. It's rolling Roro, yo. It's Rollin' Martin, yeah.

Rollin' with Rollin' now. He's funky, he's 2, bump that up You're gone Atlanta In Atlanta, E.W. Hall, for a special presentation of Roller Martin Unfiltered. We're talking about what we're now seeing all across the country, and that is workers. We understand when you look at companies with record profits and how they're not necessarily sharing those with workers. You've got folks who are demanding better wages, better conditions, and the way to do that is through collective bargaining. And so here in Atlanta, what you

have going on is the effort when it comes to unionizing Delta Ramp workers. Now, many of us fly, and we just walk right past folks all the time. And when you're getting on and off the plane, the folks who are sitting here taking the bags off when it comes to also making sure that we're able to push back on time. So many people just ignore those workers. But the reality is we saw during COVID what happens when we talk about those frontline critical workers. Without those individuals, a lot of us are screwed. But do we talk about those front-line critical workers. Without those individuals, a lot of us are screwed. But do we think about working conditions? Are we thinking about them time off? Do we think about also wages? And so that's what this effort is about.

So joining me right now to get this conversation started is the general vice president for the IM Air Transport, Richie Johnson. Richie, how you doing? I'm doing great, Roland. Thanks. All right. So let's get this set up. First of all, again, for the folk watching who ain't got no clue what ramp workers do.

All right. Well, your ramp workers are the folks that get your bags on the plane, make sure that they're there when you land in your destination. You know, they do a very physical job, but it's also a very dangerous job. A lot of people don't take into consideration just what they go through on a daily basis. You're around jet engines.

There's a lot of heavy equipment out there. A little noisy. It's just a little bit noisy. And let's not forget the weather. This time of year, it's extremely hot in the winter. It's very cold in a lot of the destinations. So these folks, you know, they do a critical job. And it's not just about picking up a bag and throwing it on a plane.

They're making sure that your stuff is taken care of. Folks don't realize in Texas and Florida, where you have Republican governors who actually had laws passed, where they said cities could not mandate water breaks for folks who work outdoors. And a lot of people just act like that was no big deal. But when you're having to work outdoors in the heat, in the cold, you're thinking about stuff like that. Of course. And look, you know, in the case of the other carriers that are all unionized, they have an advocate on their side. They have somebody making sure that those things are being taken care of. And, you know, you've got a lot of Delta workers here and they'll tell you when you have an

opportunity to talk to them that that's not what's happening out there on their properties because there's just nobody holding Delta Airlines accountable. So of the other carriers, how many of them, their rent workers are unionized? Nearly all of them. I would say it's at the 95 percent. So United, American, Southwest, Alaska, Hawaiian. I mean, and we represent all of them. I would say it's at the 95%. So United, American? United, American, Southwest, Alaska, Hawaiian. I mean, and we represent all of them, or most of them. How long has this fight with Delta been going on? Oh, it's been going on for decades and decades.

But it really reached a pinnacle, you know, when there was the merger between Northwest and Delta Airlines. At that time, the Delta folks were represented by the Machinist Union, my union, and there was an election and so you know we lost that election by a very narrow margin. I think it was about 300 votes. We were talking about 15,000 people. So 150 people changed their vote and we're not even having this discussion today. But so that battle has been going on full tilt since then. There's been, it's, actually, because, you know, there's this misconception out there that unions are out there hunting after people to organize. The reality is we were invited to this party. So explain the process, that process for the person at home who doesn't quite understand how these things work.

Because we hear about elections. We hear about companies saying, oh, we don't like folks coming in. Walk through that process. What does that mean you were invited in? So what that means is that the employees at any carrier that are non-union, or any company for that matter, even outside of the airline industry, they have to have a showing of interest. They have to come to a union and say, we want to get organized. We want a union on our property. That's employee driven,

a hundred percent employee driven, because quite frankly, we'll never win an election if it's just because we want it. The employees have to want that. They have to advocate for themselves. They have to fight for themselves. They, I mean, ultimately at the end of the day, when they do become organized or unionized, they're the union. They're the ones negotiating their contracts. Of course, we're helping. We're advocating. We're giving them tools.

We're teaching. We're giving them all the things they need to be successful, including our assistance. But at the end of the day, it's their union. They own it. So what then happens is they invite you in, and then what's the next step? So the next step would be to get an idea of what size unit we're talking about, how many people have shown interest to get involved, how do we build inside committees, and come up with a plan of action,

both an internal and external plan for how we can have a successful drive. But before we do any of that, we talk to the employees. We have informational meetings. We get feedback from those employee groups to see just how serious they are and if it's something that they think that they can fulfill. And so these are rent workers across the country. And so when we're talking about this election, how is that scheduled? How does that process work? Yeah, I mean, it's a tough process because we fall under the Railway Labor Act and

that's no easy task. So there has to be a showing of interest. 50% plus one of the membership has to sign a card saying that they want an election. And when you're talking about a Delta Airlines you're talking about a very significant number. So basically you've got to have like a pre-election before the election. That's correct. So 50 plus 1% has to say, we want an election. We want an election. Now, we present those cards to the National Mediation Board,

who governs the Railway Labor Act. They go through that. If there's enough cards, they'll call for an election. And then, once the election happens, I will say that the Railway Labor Act has changed a little bit over the years. In fact, under Barack Obama it changed pretty significantly. It used to be you didn't necessarily have to have 50% plus one card signed. You could have less than that. You could have a significant showing of interest and the board could decide to have an election. But in the election, you

had to have 50% plus one in order to get certified. That means anybody that didn't vote was an automatic no vote. Now, under Barack Obama, that changed. Wow, so anybody who didn't vote was an automatic no vote? It was an automatic no vote. You had to have 50% plus one of the total group vote in favor of the union. Now, there's no democratic process in this whole country that is that difficult. You wouldn't have, there'd be no elections.

No one would ever get elected if 50% plus one had to vote for a single candidate. That sounds like a good idea in some places. Yeah, no, I wouldn't argue that, would you? Go ahead. I could think of a couple. But under Obama, that changed. And so the way it changed was you had to have a 50% plus one showing of interest of signing of cards. But when the election happened, it was a majority.

And that was significant. It makes getting to an election more difficult. But once you get to an election, those that participate decide who's going to be. So where are you in this process? Where are you right now? You know, I'm really glad you asked that because I think this is... Of course I's going to be. So where are you in this process? Where are you right now? You know, I'm really glad you asked that because I think this is. Of course I was going to ask that. Well, I was hoping. And if you weren't, at commercial break, I might have mentioned, hey, you know, I could really use this question.

Hey, my first rodeo, Richie. Well, now I know. Now I know. It's really important that this question is important because it's important for the Delta employees to hear this answer. Under the Railway Labor Act, the cards you sign are only good for one year. They're good for one year, then they expire and you have to sign another card. That is very difficult when you're talking about 19,000 people in 45, I'm sorry, 46 different locations. Wow. Yeah, it's significant. And so this group of people that's sitting in this audience today, you know, I have to give an enormous amount of

credit to both the Delta employees and the folks that are out there organizing, because we started this in November of 2022. And since that time, we have actually collected from the number of people we would need to have an election. More than 8,500 people have signed a card, which is a big deal. That's a big deal because, you know, they need to take ownership of that and they need to know. Part of the problem with this one- year bar, if we had two years, we'd be having an election today. The people's choice would have been made to go to an election. But because it's a one year, people get discouraged. They get tired. I know a lot of cops and they get asked all the time. Have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes.

But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is

Absolute Season 1. Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st, and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. And this is Season 2 of the War on Dr Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glod. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. We are back.

In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player,

Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding

of what this quote-unquote drug ban. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz Karamush. What we're doing now isn't working, and we need to change things. Stories matter, and it brings a face to them.

It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. You say you'd never give in to a meltdown.

Never let kids' toys take over the house. And never fill your feed with kid photos. You'd never plan your life around their schedule. Never lick your thumb to clean their face. And you'd never let them leave the house looking like less than their best. You say you'd never put a pacifier in your mouth to clean it. Never let them stay up too late.

And never let them run wild through the grocery store. So when you say you'd never let them get into a car without you there, no, it can happen. One in four hot car deaths happen when a kid gets into an unlocked car and can't get out. Never happens.

Before you leave the car, always stop, look, lock. Brought to you by NHTSA and the Ad Council. They sign a card and the card expires. It's been 15 years. Are we really ever going to have an election? What's the point? The point is sign another card because you're there. You did it. You got there. You made it. You got the cards you need. We get those people to re-sign their cards. We're having an election next month.

So start November 2022 to expire November 2023. So it all starts over again. So for those cards, we got to sign a new card. That's correct. They have to get a new card. Right now you're in the middle of the window from November, 2023 to this November. Uh, no, that's not correct. Cause a lot of those cards we've gotten re-signed along the way. Got it. So part of our campaign is when a card expires to try to get out there and get people to sign another card. So no, we don't. The cards that were signed in November of 2023, you know, a lot of those have been re-signed. Got it. But not enough for us to have. Right. So between now and November. Well, that's what I'm saying. So, I mean, there'll be the cards get signed every month. Right. So

there'll be cards that fall off along the way. Right. And we have to get those re-signed as we go. Some people didn't sign cards in November. So what number are you trying to hit right now? We want to hit at least 9,000. But I think that the reality is that we're going to come closer to 10 or 11,000 easily, without a problem. So you have until November to do that? No.

I mean, our goal, our objective is to file by the end of this fall, which would be October of this year. That doesn't mean that the campaign ends. It just means that we believe that window is very attainable. Got it. So that's that process. And so to do that, first of all, I mean, are you going city to city? I mean, how does that actually work? What is the process to get somebody to have to sign a card?

Who is doing that? The workers in those particular cities? Are you doing it? Well, part of the process is coming on the Roland Martin show, you know, and getting the word out. But for us, there's a whole lot of different pieces to this puzzle, right? I mean, we have a door-to-door campaign, just like you would have any other political campaign. Like you would do a get-out-the-vote. We're knocking on doors across the country.

We have internal campaigns. We have curbside campaigns. We have internal committees that are Delta workers that are collecting cards on the property. We have our other teams that are outside the properties trying to get people at bus stops or anywhere we can, at the gas station where they fill their cars, anywhere where we can touch somebody. If we have an opportunity to talk to them, it's a no-brainer. I mean, it's a 70, 80 percent conversion rate every single time. The problem is, you know, you're trying to reach 19,000 people in 46 different locations.

It's hard to talk to everybody. So we made this massive commitment this year that we were going to door knock 100,000 doors. Now, we're talking about 19,000 people, but not everybody answers the door, especially when a stranger comes knocking, right? So we have to go back. We have to leave our card. We have to continue that process. Okay. Somebody at home who's watching or listening, they're saying, I don't understand.

If you got 19,000 workers and you're knocking on 100,000 doors, who the hell door are you knocking on? Well, we're knocking on the same doors a lot of times. It's only about 10% of the doors we knock on that someone answers. When they answer, 8 out of 10 sign a card. But you have a list of who these workers are, right? Yep. So we keep

going back. To me, that shouldn't be that hard if they're working with other people. It's kind of like, say, bro, you sign that damn card? Yeah, you would think, boy, bro, man, I wish it was that simple, but unfortunately, it's not. Man, you lucky I ain't a ramp worker

because I be threatening people. Sign a damn card. Well, hey. I mean, like. Well, lucky for us, we got a lot of those folks in this audience right here. I mean, for me, I've always said I hate parking lot militants. That's the people who talk trash in the parking lot. Man, we need this, this, this.

And then when you go in the building and it's time to call somebody out, you're like, hold up, where'd you go? Oh, you're a parking lot militant. Yeah, but you got to also remember the culture that we're living in here in atlanta in with the delta airlines that is this is the mothership right and they have they have told their employees and intimidated them to told them for years that you know the union would only hurt them uh that they won't it won't turn out to be that what they want it to be that this one-on-one relationship is the only way to go, that if you join the union, it's going to cost you money. I mean, they told them that they should buy a video game unit instead of paying union

dues. Yeah, it's like saying, you shouldn't have healthcare, go play a video game. Why do that? So right now, so when it comes to negotiating them not being unionized, so that's employee by employee. So that's it. I don't even know if it's employee by employee. I'd say it's company by company. I mean, I don't know if the employees have any say in their negotiations. You guys not have any say in your negotiations? No, they don't have any say in their negotiations. They don't have any say in what profit sharing may be or what their wages may be. And they damn sure aren't have any say in their negotiation. They don't have any say in what profit sharing may be or what their wages may be.

And they damn sure aren't having anything to say about their benefit packages because it doesn't exist. Or what will happen if they get hurt on the job or if they get sick. I mean, it's incomparable. Delta Airlines does a fantastic job. And look, I want to work with Delta Airlines. I work with every airline out there. And we have very successful relationships. And Delta is a very successful company. And I look forward to when we get to sit down at the table and negotiate for real with them. But they play a shell game. They

give them a competitive wage, which, by the way, the unions drive. We set what the standard is going to be for wages in the industry. And then they go, okay, well, we'll try to get close to that. And then that's it. It's like a painted pretty shell that's empty on the inside. One of the things that we also see, and we've seen this over the last 30, 40 years, you've seen this battle over, quote, union states and right-to-work states. And when you go back to Reagan being president, the air traffic controllers, where literally there was a marketing campaign

to make the word union a cuss word. And so that's what led to a dramatic decrease was how the stories are being told, oh, people are making X amount of money, they're lazy, they're not working. But what we've now seen, and we're going to discuss this a little bit later with our panel, what we have seen, really, I dare say, in the last five to eight years, there's been a massive resurgence.

When you get that Supreme Court case, a lot of unions thought we're going to put them out of business. It actually caused more American workers to say, wait a minute, I grew up told this was a bad thing. Now people are saying, well, this is not a bad thing. Yeah, I mean, look, I mean, I think you're being generous when you say five to eight years. I think it's more like two to three years where we've really seen the change, at least from my perspective. And it's very evident that the impact of what Reagan did in the 80s still has a profound effect on the industry, whether it's deregulation

or a whole lot of other things that have taken place. But we're seeing this change in the public perception of unions, which is fantastic, because our sole objective is to raise people up, is to help workers to make sure that they get what they deserve. That's happening because you're seeing the massive wage disparity. Well, it's not just that. I know we're going to get into it when we start talking about politics, but because we've had a president in place, like him, don't like him, whatever, he says the word union, and he says it a lot. Union, union, union, union, union. And so because of that, you know, people have a different perspective. They say, well, maybe there is something good to this.

And, by the way, because of that, we get coverage. We're on this show. You see us on the news now. You see what's happening with the UAW. First of all, for people that may not realize, I have to text somebody this today. When TV One canceled my show, a lot of people were upset. And I told people I don't have any time to be upset because I knew what I was launching. The last day of News 1 Now, I think it was December 21st.

One hour after we finished the show, I had a meeting with Ask Me. Lee Saunders, he's a fellow Alpha brother of mine. And I laid out to them the vision. I laid out to them exactly what I was launching. I laid out to them why I was launching it. And the next day, it was a Friday, I was flying out and I was at the airport and Lee called me and he said, we're in. So when we launched this show, the show was launched with $350,000 of my own money. And we only had one sponsor. And so this show would never have gotten off the ground if AFSCME was not the first and only sponsor.

So we launched September 4th. We launched September 4th, 2018, and they came on board. They stayed on board the second year. And by the time we got to March, April 2020 was when we got into the black and been in the black ever since. But the only sponsor that we had the first two years was AFSCME. Well, unions do a lot of good things, and I'm glad they were there to support you, and I appreciate you being here to support us. And, look, because of all that's transpired, you know, union is not a four-letter word.

It's a few letters. Five letters. Thank you. I'm glad you got that figured out for me because I was doing this, and I was hoping I'd have enough fingers. I started looking in your eyes. I was like, Richie is five. Yeah, thank you very much. But, you know, it's something that we can be very proud of.

I've been proud of it for a long time. And you talk about the good things that a union did to help you out. And, look, there is no other industry that's been more impacted by unions than the airline industry. I mean, quite frankly, most of these airlines would not be in business today if it wasn't for what the unions have done to keep them in business. Now, that's not my opinion. That's not something like, oh, I feel this way. That is just a fact. And I've been around a long time. This has been my 36th year in the industry. And I've been doing this for 25 years. And so I've seen bankruptcies. I've seen the restructurings. I've seen, you know, I've seen it all in this industry. And when I say that we

saved the airlines, look, I can go back to 1994 when United Airlines was about to, you know, we had CEOs at the time like Frank Lorenzo and others like him that were out buying up stuff and selling off airlines, right? Well, there was a guy at United named Stephen Wolf. He was going to do the exact same thing. It was the union, the machinist union in ALPA, that with their members, their employees, bought that airline, 51% of it, to keep it in business. And it exists today because of the unions.

It doesn't, and it doesn't stop there. That's 1994. In 2001, after we had, you know, this horrific World Trade Center, just horrible moment in our history, you know, the airlines were about to go out of business. It was all unions that went into courts and restructured their contracts to keep them in business. That wasn't, you know, a little thing. That was a big thing that kept all airlines, American, United, the megas out there. We kept them in business. And just as recently as the COVID pandemic, it was the unions that went to Congress and the unions that went to the government and said, we need airline bailout or they're going to go out of

business. And they would have been out of business very quickly. The unions saved the airline industry. Those are just facts. Those are just facts. I mean, like it, don't like it. We have a place in this world and it's to lift up the workers. And part of that thing to bail the airlines out and to get them money so they would stay in business. One of those conditions was to make sure that nobody got furloughed. They couldn't get any of that bailout money if anybody went to the street. They couldn't play games with it. If they wanted the money, it wasn't coming for free. They had to maintain their employees. One of the only airlines to play games with it was Delta Airlines, who cut the hours of their employees because they didn't have representation to stop it. Facts. All right.

I thought you about to drop that microphone for a second, Richard. Oh, you didn't know? I'm going to go to a break. We're going to chat a little bit later with Richard, but coming up next, I'm going to chat with some of these ramp workers who will talk about exactly the kind of work that they do and why they are trying to move forward with this effort to unionize. You're watching the special edition of Roland Martin Unfiltered here at the IBEW Hall here in Atlanta on the

Blackstar Network. Back in a moment. I know a lot of cops and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary

mission. This is Absolute Season One, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glott. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way.

Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug

thing is. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz Caramouch. What we're doing now isn't working and we need to change things. Stories matter and it brings a face to them. It makes it real.

It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season 2 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts.

You say you'd never give in to a meltdown. Never let kids' toys take over the house. And never fill your feed with kid photos. You'd never plan your life around their schedule. Never lick your thumb to clean their face. And you'd never let them leave the house looking like less than their best. You say you'd never put a pacifier in your mouth to clean it. Never let them stay up too late.

And never let them run wild through the grocery store. So when you say you'd never let them get into a car without you there, no, it can happen. One in four hot car deaths happen when a kid gets into an unlocked car and can't get out. Never happens.

Before you leave the car, always stop, look, lock. Brought to you by NHTSA and the Ad Council. Hi, I'm Danny Glover. Sign your IAM card today. Why? Because unionization means representation. Hatred on the streets, a horrific scene, a white nationalist rally that descended into deadly violence white people are losing their damn minds it's an angry pro-trump mob storm to the u.s capital we're about to see the rise of what i call white minority resistance we have seen white folks in this country who simply cannot tolerate black folks voting. I think what we're seeing is the inevitable result of violent denial. This is part of American history.

Every time that people of color have made progress, whether real or symbolic, there has been what Carol Anderson at Emory University calls white rage as a backlash. This is the wrath of the Proud Boys and the Boogaloo Boys. America, there's going to be more of this. Here's all the Proud Boys, guys. This country is getting increasingly racist in its behaviors and its attitudes because of the fear of white people. The fear that they're taking our jobs they're taking our resources they're taking our women this is white fear We talk about blackness and what happens in black culture.

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We are here, of course, so we're going to chat with some of these Delta Ramp workers. On my far left, Dan McCurdy. He's been a 26-year worker. So glad to have Dan. Earl Hunt, 27 years. Gamali up here. He's a young in five years. We got Amanda Goodman-Berry, 26 years. Flex McGee, 24 years. All right. So we'll start. Earl, you're the longest, so we'll start with you. Again, for the folk who don't understand, your typical work day.

My typical work day, I work on midships, so I'm a base, I'm a ramp agent. So my primary responsibility is to make sure aircraft comes into the gate safely. We load and unload in a safe manner. We have guys working on the inside in operations that's doing weight and balance to make sure the plane is balanced at a particular weight so the plane can take off at a safe rating. Manual labor work, offloading bags, offloading and unloading cargo, mail and freight. We have to do it in a safe manner to make sure our customers have a departure on time.

Amanda, it's always interesting because, again, I always say we go through this life and a lot of people don't see people who literally are right in front of them. They don't necessarily think about how these things actually get done. So for you, walk through what you do in terms of what that job is. Thank you for the question, Roland. What I do on a daily basis, I work in what we call the bag room. So when the bags come down from the top, they come to us. And it's our job to ensure that when your bag comes to us, no matter first class, no matter what it is,

our job is to get that bag out 40 minutes prior to that departure so that, one, the aircraft can go out on time and to make sure that we get it to the ramp, which is these guys who load the bags. Like my golf club. That's your golf club, which is these guys who load the bags. Like my golf club. That's your golf club, yes. And that is in our oversight. Some of y'all heard about that, huh? Some of y'all heard.

I'll make sure when I see yours. Every airline I fly, they be like, your bag's good. Your golf bag good. We don't want you tweeting stuff. Absolutely. Absolutely. Absolutely. And in the bag room, that is a part of our oversize, which is to make sure those golf clubs, those heavy pieces get to the aircraft.

So there's so many different things in that bag room that is running that the public really don't know. And it is the workers who's getting those bags out there to you guys. We do that every day, rain, sleet, snow, or shine. We make sure we get out there and get those bags out so that you can have an on-time departure and your bag can meet you when you get there. You know, Dan, it's funny. I've flown a lot. And so I'm like 700,000, 800,000 on Delta,

1,000,000, 200,000 on United, like 800,000 American. And it trips me out like when the storms. And people be on the plane and we'll be complaining, man, why can't we take off? And I'm like, fool, there's lightning in the area. The workers on the ground can't be on the ground when there's lightning. And then because they also play golf,

you typically have to wait 30 minutes after the last lightning strike to come back out. And again, that's the stuff that a lot of folk, they never think about. Those are actual human beings who are out there. So you can't just be so concerned about you taking off without realizing that inclement weather and lightning has an impact on somebody's life. Yeah, no, that's totally true. And I think that a lot of people, a lot of our customers they they love Delta and What they should understand is that Delta is a brand Delta is a company It's there's people behind that logo that make it happen every day So there that we do I had a very good friend of mine who we put our lives at risk every single day

I had a good friend that was crushed by two tugs. He that was like five years ago and He hasn't been right since. Like he's messed up for the rest of his life. So yeah. So yeah, the Delta brand, I appreciate that our customers love it, but they should also understand there's faces and families behind the scenes. And Flex, when we talk about faces, I mean, we're talking about not just workers. We're talking about healthcare. We're talking about days off. We're talking about bonuses. I mean, just like every other person,

in terms of on their job, there are things that if they say, I do a great job, I wanna be compensated for that. That's really what we're talking about here. Quality of life when it comes to their work. Yeah, quality of life when it comes to work. I mean, that's important to every worker out here nowadays. Nobody wants to come to work and feel super stressed to do their job. Currently in our situation, many of our employees or my

coworkers, we're all super stressed to actually make the metrics that are set forth by the company. Like this, here we are, we are in a customer service position, and they want us to move like it's production sometimes. And regardless of how much staffing we have or whatever's going on, they're still going to want to make their metrics. So that's part of the reason why we're here trying to organize now, to make them understand. Like Dan

was saying, it's real people behind these numbers. And we need them to respect that. Gabelli, you're the youngin' on this panel. So for you, what has your five years been like? My five years has been interesting. Okay, anytime somebody, anytime somebody start off saying it's been interesting, they trying not to really go there.

So how has it been interesting? It's been interesting because I've done ramp work before for another company, another Fortune 500 company that had a union. So it was real eye-opening for me when I came to Delta and see a company without a union. What's the difference? The equipment, staffing, health care, basic respect, you know, I can go on and on. But those are just a few of the things that was shocking to me when I got here. I'm sure you're sitting there going,

man, over here they like lip dog, we ain't trying to hear all that, okay? We ain't got, see, you probably had them conversations. And that's the challenge with a lot of my coworkers because for a lot of them, it's the best job they ever had. So when you say it can be better, a lot of them don't believe you. And the other shocking thing is when some of my coworkers who are anti-union, I've been in union before. So I know the benefits of having the union protection. And I'm telling you it's better, and they will argue you up and down that it's not better,

but they've never been in the union before. That always shocks me. So for the five of you, how have you all dealt with it? What have those conversations been like, you trying to persuade your coworkers to go along with this. Anybody can jump in. Well, I know in Philly, Philadelphia, it's not really that difficult because Philadelphia is basically a blue-collar city. So an example. So you're in Philly? Yes. You?

Atlanta? Minneapolis? Atlanta. Atlanta? Minneapolis. Minneapolis, okay go there for a problem example when we was north when I was Northwest many years ago half of my career is 14 years 13 14 years has been with Northwest the other 13 14 has been with Delta it's always when I was with Northwest where we used to have teachers polic policemen, firemen.

They used to take this as a part-time job. And they used to work there for many years. 10, 15 years on a part-time basis. When the merger came and we had lost the union, like Richard was saying, like about 300 to 500 votes. So you had a union in Northwest. Correct. Go ahead. We had a union in Northwest. We was fully the union. Like Richard was saying, like about probably about 300 to 500 votes. So you had a union in the Northwest. Correct. Go ahead. We had a union in the Northwest.

We was fully unionized. Six to seven work groups was fully unionized. So what happened was when the merger came about, by federal law, there had to be a union election for the survival, if the union was going to survive on the property or not. So we had lost roughly 300 to 500 votes, and we had to transition over to Delta into the non-union world. So what happened was, when that came about,

all of our work rules, all of our benefits that we had with Northwest was basically gone. For an example, in the Northwest world, we used to have what was called OJI, or on the job injury. And what it is, every time you swipe in, you will get an accrual of a certain hour, and it builds up to a bank. And that OJI, that on the job injury,

was used for if you got hurt, you will get compensated. We used to have sick time at Northwest. Same scenario, you come into work, you swipe in, and it's a cruel, it's a bank of hours. When we came over to Delta, it was basically gone. Delta, and the type of work that we do, all five of us on this panel, it's a manual labor, it's a labor job. It's physical. Correct, it's a manual labor job.

It's physical. Correct, it's a labor job. So when people are stuffing them bags, somebody has to lift, carry, toss, all that. Correct, and when we transitioned over, Delta workers have no sick time, Delta workers have no OJI time. No sick time?

Correct, no sick time, no OJI time. So sick time? Correct. No sick time. No OJI time. So what happened was when we came over, when the union was voted out and we transitioned to Delta, whatever hours that we had, I'm not sure what the math, Dan, I think you can really get to me on that, is that it was a calculation where it got converted into certified time. But that's something that you will really never use. So our sick time and our OGI time was basically gone. So what Delta uses is called PPT, paid personal time. They use that for anything.

If you call out sick, it goes off PPT. If you want to leave early, it goes off PPT. But we don't have a true sick or OJI time. And that's the same thing if you go on short-term disability. We only get 60% of that. 40% is being withheld. So I was hurt. 40% of your salary.

Correct. Got it. It's just only 40% of your salary. I'm sorry, 60% of your salary. You're only getting 60% of your salary. Right. Got it. It's just only 40% of your salary. I'm sorry, 60% of your salary. You're only getting 60% of your salary. Right, 40% is being withheld. Yes, it being withheld. So for a job that we do every day, and then you're only getting 60% of that, that's unacceptable.

And that's been going on for years. So have you had these conversations with workers? And what is that? Have you dealt with the resistance from some? Actually, being on injury myself, and I'm dealing with that now because I'm on 60% of my income because of an injury to my hand, it is detrimental to the workers to understand that 60% can run you into almost bankruptcy. It can run you into... Because your bills are still there.

Your bills are still there. Nothing changes with your life outside of Delta. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution.

But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated,

on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st, and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back.

In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding

of what this quote-unquote drug man. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz Caramouch. What we're doing now isn't working and we need to

change things. Stories matter and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts.

You say you'd never give in to a meltdown. Never let kids' toys take over the house. And never fill your feed with kid photos. You'd never plan your life around their schedule. Never lick your thumb to clean their face. And you'd never let them leave the house looking like less than their best. You say you'd never put a pacifier in your mouth to clean it. Never let them stay up too late.

And never let them run wild through the grocery store. So when you say you'd never let them get into a car without you there, no, it can happen. One in four hot car deaths happen when a kid gets into an unlocked car and can't get out. Never happens. Before you leave the car, always stop, look, lock. Brought to you by NHTSA and the Ad Council. But your income changes. So it is very important to understand what we're fighting for. We're fighting for our lives. We're fighting for our livelihoods. We're fighting for those benefits that are so rightfully needed right now. This is not just a fight for the union. We're fighting because we deserve. It's not that we're asking Delta to give us anything. We've earned it. Yeah, I mean, I don't know how to follow that up. You're

exactly right. We have earned it. These employees, back when we had the union as well, when you have OJI time, too, and you're off for an extended period of time, you still have a payroll relationship with the company. So you're still getting your accruals as you're doing it. So also, whenever you're out on a disability, a short term or whatever, you're not still getting those accruals. So it's just, it's better. And one of the things that happened is for the good employees, like at Northwest, if you are a really good employee and you build up your sick time, you didn't burn it, whatever else, your OJI, you were working through your injuries and you saved it. Delta completely

wiped out our OJI bank. They zeroed it out. Some employees had like up to a year on the books and they completely zeroed that number out. That's real money that these employees deserve to have in their pocket or at least something to fall back on if they did get injured. When you talked about the conversation and you're absolutely right. And we've seen this in other efforts with Amazon, with UAW and others. You've had pastors and other people say, oh no, no, don't do this. Because for a lot of people it's fear. There's the belief that, oh, if we do this, I'm going to lose my job. If we do this, we're going to see massive losses.

And so there are folks who say, I would rather not go down this path than to chance that. And so how do you talk someone beyond that? Well, first of all, I tell them it's ridiculous, because Delta is already a union company. Our pilots are unionized, our flight dispatchers are unionized, and our coworkers in Canada doing the exact same job as us are unionized. But upper management from Delta likes to make it seem like if we form a union,

you know, the company's going to go out of business. So I think the flight attendants are also trying to get unionized too, right? Yeah, they're... So the point you're making... So the point you're making is not like there's no union whatsoever in the whole company. Exactly.

And the other thing I find funny is when you just... When you look at, in our industry, we are the best. That's without a doubt. If you look at all the metrics, on-time arrival, on-time arrival for baggage, fewest cancellations, and it's us doing it.

But when you look at the benefits and the pay, we're like third in a lot of areas. We're second or close to the top. So your deal is if we're number one, we should be number one in pay and benefits. Exactly. So I want to answer your original question about talking to our employees. In Atlanta, like, Delta's brand is huge. And this is a, it's like a legacy job here. Everybody wants to go to Delta or Coca-Cola.

So, they feel like once you get in, you just don't want to rock the boat. Because this ain't a job you want to go home and tell your family you messed up. So, the biggest thing that we have to do as organizers is listen to our employees and their complaints and explain to them how unions can benefit them. Education is the main part. Listening is the first thing, but education is the next thing you have to do to educate our co-workers on our advantages of having a union. Like you hear my brothers and sister up here tell us about instances of OJI and sick time and how we're number one. We hear this stuff, but people don't always understand how our job plays a part in that.

And part of that is the fear campaign that people have, that the culture has adults. It's a fear. It's a culture of fear. We have to kind of break through that shroud to see people see why it is. There's nothing to be afraid of in saying, I want to be unionized. Have you also, have any of you leaned on your fellow workers for other airlines to help explain to folk

what life is like for them with a union and without? Have you done that? Anybody? I think Dan would be good at that one. Yeah I mean our sisters and brothers at the other airlines are helping us out every day to educate our co-workers around the system and I mean the beautiful part about it for us is that four out of the five of us are pre-merger Northwest Airlines so we've lived basically half of our employment lives as unionized workers and then

we've lived the other half as non-union. So if unions were so bad, you'd think that we would really be trying to go back and pay dues. And it's kind of funny, I mean the company does all these talking points like trying to scare the employees away from joining the union and these things, but the IAM is also, they commit to every new group that you're not going to pay one single penny in dues until you've negotiated a contract and you voted on to accept it. So would you ever agree upon a contract that is not going to be more than what the dues gets you? It's just the unfortunate part is the company has, they have the audience. They can reach every single

employee in the stations that we have and it's very difficult for us to counter that because we're out working flights, they've got an advocacy policy that is very tight against us. I can remember years ago they were putting up flyers and leaflets and these these seven-foot banners in our hallways. Well, that's not owned by Delta. That was leased by Mac. So we said, you know what? Let's go get a seven-foot banner and put it right by there, a pro-union banner.

Put it right by their banner and see what happens. Well, we did it. You know what happened about an hour later? They went out there. They not only had the Metropolitan Airport Commission remove ours, but they removed everything that they had, whether it was union or not, from their hallways to make sure that our pro-union message was taken down. They had occupied that area for years and then once we try to get an equal voice, they squash it

by removing our stuff. So, you know, this is an unfair fight, but you know what? The workers are realizing it, and they are standing up, and our other sisters and brothers from all around the system are helping us. Last question for you. I talked about this with Richie in terms of how there's a public perception. So among your friends in the family who are even not in the industry, what are those conversations like? Are you seeing a change in how they perceive unions when you're having this conversation?

I know like for me, my family knows and my friends, they know how passionate I am about this. So when I come and I start telling them stories and everything they fully understand and support the the fight that i'm in um as far as it doesn't change like if they're gonna fly with them but it does say they will go out and they will support my movement by sharing posts or talking to other people about it or if they and my mom will see somebody when she visits here, she'll see somebody, they're going to Delta Worker, like she be kind of like, go get them. You know what I'm saying? You know him?

So we like, I do get, for me personally, I do get that type of support from my family and friends when it comes to the fight that we're in. And I'll just add to that 100%, my family truly supported because we come from a labor family. We come from farms. We come from Mississippi. And so that played a critical role in our lives every

day. So when my family and I were talking, they're like, go get it. Go get what you guys earn. Go for it. And that is important because we need that from not just our families, but our family that's sitting out here in front of us today. We're an amazing group of people and we just deserve to be rewarded for our amazingness. We are amazing. And give ourselves a clap in hand, because we are.

Earl. My thing is, it must be in my blood, have I had four uncles that was in the airline industry, US Airways, US Air and same thing my wife when I come home she asked me questions what's going on and I said it's a calling that I have to do because when I was Northwest we had a voice. The workers had a voice in the workplace. I experienced that with Northwest. In the Delta world, you don't have a voice. You know, the company says the employees fuel the success.

Well, if the employees fuel the success, let the company be neutral. Let us have our part and have this campaign go the way we either will vote the union in or vote it out. Give us a neutrality. That's what we ask for. Go ahead. And I like what Earl said because the last couple years we went to the shareholders meeting and a major shareholder at Delta introduced a neutrality agreement, neutrality clause and Delta voted down. So to me

if you really respect your workers and you're progressive like you say you are and you make these donations to the King Center all that's great. And and you know dei is a buzzword now but to me the best practice of dei is with your current workers all right dan go ahead final comment dan yeah i just wanted to say i mean it's about employees having a voice like voting is a fundamental right in the united states to solve an issue, and that's the only thing that we're asking for, is quit interfering in our right to decide whether unionization is right for us. Let us vote. Let us decide. And it's curious that they don't want us to have a voice because they do things in the workplace, like bump caps. I mean, seriously, these are plastic helmets, basically, that we wear on

the skull of our head. And we all know how hot it's been getting out here. I sincerely, I'm not just saying this, I'm not throwing it out there, but I sincerely believe that somebody's going to die of heat stroke from this thing. And I think that the company has us wear these things because I believe them that it probably does reduce bumps and cuts to the head. I understand that, but I can tell you that I would rather have five bumps to the head, 10 bumps to the head, 50 cuts to the head. I understand that, but I can tell you that I would rather have five bumps to the head, ten bumps to the head, fifty bumps to the head, rather than die of heat stroke one time. So give us a voice. We want to be part of the decisions that are made. Let us have a seat at the table and be treated like the adults that we are. appreciate all of you sharing your stories

we're going to go to a break, we come back we're going to talk about organizing a lot of people love talking about how we need to do certain things the reality is if you do not organize if you do not mobilize, that doesn't happen so our next panel will have that conversation you're watching Roland Martin on Filters of the Black Star Network don't forget, support the work that we do that doesn't happen. So our next panel will have that conversation. You're watching Roland Martin on Filters of the Black Star Network.

Don't forget, support the work that we do. We're the only daily news show that targets African Americans in this country. I say this all the time, the work that we do, you're not going to see it with Black Enterprise or with Essence or with Blavity or with the Griot or any of these folks. We're the only one who does this. This show, two hours a day, plus the other five shows. We're on Black Star Network, speaking to the kind of issues that matter. Your support is critical.

So many of these companies, you see their ads running on Fox News and CNN, MSNBC, but they don't support black-owned media. So your support is critical. So join our Bring the Funk fan club. Check your money orders. So your support is critical. Download the Blackstern Network app, Apple phone, Android phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV. And don't forget to get a copy of my book, White Fear, How the Browning of America is Making White Folks Lose Their Minds. Available bookstores nationwide. We'll be right back. Coming soon to the Blackstar Network.

I still have my NFL contract in my house. Having a case. It's four of them. My four-year contract. I got a $600,000 signing bonus. My base salary for that first year was $150,000. Matter of fact... $600,000 signing bonus. My base salary for that first year was 150. Matter of fact- 150,000.

150,000, that's what I made, $150,000. Now, think about it. My signing bonus was a forgivable loan, supposedly. When I got traded to the Colts, they made me pay back my signing bonus to them. I had to give them their $600,000 back. Wow. I was so pissed. Because $600,000 back. Wow. I was so pissed.

Cause man, I try to be a man of my word. I'm like, you. I'll give you your money back. You know, even though I know I earned that money, I gave them that money back. I gave them that $600,000 back. But yet I was this malcontent. I was a bad guy.

I'm not about the money. Wasn't about the money. It was about doing right. Because I was looking at, I looked at, cause you look at contracts, look at John Elwood. John Elwood was making a million dollars, 800,000. I was making 150. I mean, I was doing everything and I'm like,

but yet I was, man, I got so many letters, you know, you, you, oh,, so I just play for free and all that kind of stuff. I mean, you don't forget that kind of stuff. Right. That stuff is hurtful. Hi, I'm Danny Glover. Sign your IAM card today. Why? Because unionization means representation.

On a next A Balanced Life with me, Dr. Jackie, how are you being of service to others? Doing for someone beside yourself is such a big part of living a balanced life. We'll talk about what that means, the generation that missed that message and the price that we're all paying as a result. Well, now all I see is mama getting up in the morning, going to work, maybe dropping me off at school, then coming back home at night. And then I really didn't have any type of time with the person that really was there to nurture me and prepare me and to show me what a life looked like and what service looked like. That's all on the next A Balanced Life with me, Dr. Jackie, here at Blackstar Network. Hey, it's John Murray, the executive producer of the new Sherry Shepard Talk Show. You're watching Rolling Mark. Until tomorrow.

I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that Taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened

when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1. Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Ad-free at Lava for and six on June 4th. Add free at lava for good. Plus on Apple podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. And this is season two of the war on drugs. But sir, we are back in a big way,

in a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner.

It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding

of what this quote-unquote drug thing is. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette.

MMA fighter Liz Karamush. What we're doing now isn't working, and we need to change things. Stories matter, and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two

on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. You say you'd never give in to a meltdown.

Never let kids' toys take over the house. And never fill your feed with kid photos. You'd never plan your life around their schedule. Never lick your thumb to clean their face. And you'd never let them leave the house looking like less than their best. You'd say you'd never put a pacifier in your mouth to clean it.

Never let them stay up too late. And never let them run wild through the grocery store. So when you say you'd never let them get into a car without you there, no, it can happen. One in four hot car deaths happen when a kid gets into an unlocked car and can't get out. Never happens before you leave the car.

Always stop. Look, lock brought to you by NHTSA and the Ad Council. All right, folks. Welcome back to Roland Martin Unfiltered. We're here at the IBEW Hall here in Atlanta. We're talking about this effort to unionize Delta grant workers across the country, but this is not this issue that we're seeing of unionization. It's not just with these workers. We're seeing what's happening all across

the country. We've seen the battles that have been taking place between workers and companies, whether it's Starbucks, whether it's UAW. I mean, we can go on and on and on what we are seeing. We also, you're seeing right now where a lot of these billionaires are literally trying to get the Supreme Court to rule against the National Labor Relations Board. And so people need to understand what is going on here. This is also a political battle between folks who are

Republican, conservatives, and folks who are Democrats and progressives. And so don't think for a second where you hear lots of stuff this week out of Milwaukee talking about workers and why they matter. That's a lot of BS that's happening at that convention as we speak.

My panel right now, folks, Deborah Scott, she is the CEO for Georgia we speak. My panel right now, folks, Deborah Scott, she is the CEO for Georgia Stand Up. Yvonne Brooks, she's the president, Georgia AFL-CIO. And back on the panel is Richard. Richard Johnson, I am Air Transport General Vice President. So let's talk about really the condition that we are seeing right now. Starbucks is a perfect example. I mean, they literally have tried to shut down stores

because the stores tried to unionize. I mean, you have folks who are billionaires who are putting a level of demand on workers across this country. We saw there was a recent vote where you had the governor of South Carolina weighing in on these efforts. You've got politicians saying, oh, this is going to kill us because a lot of these southern states are trying to attract major companies, Boeing and automotive companies as well. And so people have to understand you have regular ordinary people who are going up against major corporate interests and billionaires who do not want to see workers mobilizing and organizing. So first I would say when our rights are under attack, what will we do? What will we do? Stand up and fight back.

That's what we're going to do, is stand up and fight back. We are in the home of IBEW, but we're also the home of the South. This, everything that happens in the South starts here in Atlanta. Atlanta influences everything. So we know Delta comes to Atlanta. We know these workers deserve a union and we're going to keep fighting for

it. We are part of the community and the community stands with you. What I see when I see IAM, I remember Martin Luther King saying, I am a man. I am a human. I am a woman. So what we see is that you are deserving of a union if that's what you want. We support you. You can't win this alone, and we stand here with you. We believe in organizing, mobilizing, and strategizing, and this is the perfect time. This is an election year. So as you sign those cards, those union cards, also make sure you register to vote and get it done. Yvonne, what's interesting, Gallup did their study

and it showed 67% of Americans approving labor unions and it also said a third of Americans, 34% believe today compared to 19% five years ago that unions should become stronger.

And so when you look at that number, it's been hovering anywhere from 67 to 71%. Unions have not enjoyed that level of support in more than 50 years. What do you think is causing that? Well, I think it's there's an attack on the worker, on workers. I think during COVID, it kind of heightened everybody's awareness that we are working in dangerous times and that the employers are not respected. So I come out of the union AFSCME, all right, Lou Saunders.

And one of the first things that we were taught when we came in the union was about the I am a man, the Memphis strike. It was community and labor and the clergy coming together. Folks are starting to realize, and why is that important? It's important because the people that work in these industries also go to those churches, participate in those clubs, coach soccer teams. And so if they don't have the time or the respect from their employer to get that time to go and help and be in those communities, then it becomes a problem. And people are understanding that they are worth more. And I know we talk about wages and working conditions, but the most important thing to

me is safety. And when we hear about these organizing campaigns because they call my office all the time asking for a union, we don't call them as they said, Richie said, we don't go hunt them out, they hunt us out. And once they call, their biggest thing is that I'm not being treated fairly on the job, it's not safe here that, you know, I'm dealing with electricity, but there's water coming in. You know, common sense things, but if you don't have a voice, then you're afraid. So I think people are getting their voice. They're sick and tired of being sick and tired, and they're understanding their power because they have power.

These Delta workers have power because they have come together. And they have not. I've been in this position or a position similar to this for the last 13 or 14 years. And these Delta workers have not stopped. They continue to go on. If a card expires today, they go back out and get it today. If it expires tomorrow, they go get another one. But they're up against a big company, and it takes away their power. And it's the same thing that those sanitation workers were up against in Memphis. And Dr. Martin Luther King stood up for them

and said, these are our community, so we have to stand up with them. And it's the same theory, and we continue to work. And it's not just about unions, this is about workers and community. Richie. Six years ago on June 27th, Supreme Court Janus decision came down. That was Janus versus Absentee.

And what that said is it allowed non-union government workers, they wouldn't be required to pay union fees as a condition for working, even though when they still negotiated contracts, those folks were a part of that. And I remember having Lee Summers on, and a lot of unions thought that this was going to be a union killer. One of the things that he said was, he said that what it did was it forced unions to have to stop being lazy and tell their story. It forced them to be more aggressive in being able to explain to people, to hit the ground. And that's one of the reasons he said we've seen the resurgence. Control room, pull a graphic up if you already have it.

I want to show this here to the folks at home so they can understand the change that is actually going on. And that is the high point of Americans approving unions was in the 70s, excuse me, in the 50s. It was at 75%. Reagan comes in 1980, it drops to 55%. It goes below majority for the first time around 2010. Then all of a sudden, it begins to go up. So now you have anywhere from 67% to 71%, almost at the highest point ever where Americans are approving of unions.

I absolutely believe that wage disparity is playing a part of that. And what you're also seeing is a younger generation that has heard all of this stuff for 20, 30 years, how bad they are, they're now going to the workplace going, hey, what the hell? This ain't bad.

Just your thoughts on how you've seen, again, this massive shift, and now we're seeing more places begin to really focus on how do you have collective bargaining. Yeah, I mean, I think that, look, messaging is a big part of it, and you hit on the fact that unions had to take a more proactive approach. Look, it's not inherent in what we do. And I think that it's gone by for a long time where there's so many fires to put out that you put this fire out and you don't worry about saying, hey, look at what I just did. Look what we do as a union. You go, I got these other 20 fires I got to go deal with. And so traditionally, we haven't

pounded our chest and sung our song and sang praise to us and other labor groups about the job they're doing. And you're right, it's forced us to have to do that to some degree so that people know the value. But I also think that, look, I said it earlier that when you have somebody at the top that's saying join a union and praising unions, it gives other politicians some freedoms as well. And when you see the popularity or the approval rating of unions at 70 percent, well, suddenly, look, I'll give you this example. At Delta Airlines, we're doing things that we've never done before in this campaign, which is to ask politicians to come out and support us.

Well, we've asked in the past and gotten from some of our biggest supporters, you know, kind of the shoulder shrug. And it hasn't happened. And so, but this go around, it's different. Like, because of what's happening out there, because of that approval rating, because we have someone out at the top. You talk about Reagan. Reagan decimated. He was the top dog. He was the top dog. Now we have somebody that's there that's saying, hey, join a union. I'm going to help unions get stronger. I'm going to help them. And he's done that. Well, he was just the, I think it was the NEA just had a convention, and he was supposed to speak,

but because the staff at the NEA launched a picket, he wouldn't speak. Well, look, he also walked the picket line for the UAW. And by the way, when we had our issues with the railroads, and the world saw it, it was on a national stage, he said, what do you need from me? What do you need? He literally, I was at the AFL-SAO convention. He came to us. Not his people.

He came to us. Joe Biden came to us and he said, what does the machinist union need me to do to help with this rail situation? And we told him what we needed. And that night it was done. So when we asked Delta, we asked congressmen and women to support us in this drive, we weren't sure what we were going to get. But you know what we got? 150 congressmen and women that signed a letter of support asking for neutrality. That's a big deal.

And I mean, I could say, and I can say proudly too, that it was not just Democrats. There were five Republicans of the 150, 145 Democrats, just saying. But there were five Republicans, Republicans that have fought for us. And when they fight for us, we'll support them, too. And then we asked the Senate to do the same. And the senator out of California, LaFonja Butler, a senator from California, she spearheaded it. We now have 28 senators that have signed on to this, including the senators here in Georgia, Senator Warnock and Senator Horsthoff, that have stepped up and signed on to this stuff. So look, we have to do a better job of messaging. We have to

get out there and tell them what we're doing. I know from my organization, we talk about that all the time, and we've done that, and it's important to tell our story. Just like it's important to tell the story I told earlier about the role that unions have played in the airline industry, it's important for us to tell the story of what unions are doing for everyday workers every single day to make their lives better. So with that, I mean, obviously, I've got to get your thoughts on what's going on right now. Unions have stood strong with President Joe Biden. They reaffirmed their support for him. But based upon what's happening right now, he likely is going to pull up by this weekend.

Massive pressure against him. Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Washington Post has a story saying that essentially Obama thinks he can't win. Reverend Al Sharpton gave an interview with the New York Times today, said they talked on Monday, and he said the president should be thinking about his legacy. And so what do you make of literally the most pro-union president in decades, somebody who has done amazing things. If you talk about the team suspension, if you talk about with railroad workers, all of those different things, you have a battle,

a war going on right now, and it's not just a war for a lot of Democrats, donors trying to get him out. I've been saying this here, they also wanna get Kamala Harris out, so've been saying this year, they also want to get Kamala Harris out. So I'll start with you. What do you make of what's literally in front of us where they could make it a lot easier and hand this nation over to Donald Trump and MAGA? Well let me first start by saying I am nonpartisan.

Georgia stand-up is nonpartisan, right? Which means you can endorse, but you can analyze. Yes, I'm going there. So what I would say is the value proposition is really the voters and the people. It's really about the people and the power that they have. They have the power to elect whoever they want to, whoever they want to, in any manner. So we want to make sure that people get registered to vote and actually go and vote and vote early. You know, we're under attack, right? We know we're under attack. And, you know, the value proposition, we're here in the South, we're here in Georgia,

and we can't talk about Georgia without talking about race and class and slavery. Worker power is really about giving them a voice on the job. It's really about their value proposition for their families. This is a generational thing. It's not just about the workers that are on the line now. They have improved their lot in life for their entire families, and they deserve this and more. So part of what we're, the value proposition is getting out and knocking on doors, talking to people about is your life better now than it was before? Will it be better now or in 2025? What does Project 2025 have to do with your life? It's about that real conversation at the door, that real conversation on the picket line.

And we've been out there with the stewardess of flight attendants. And we've been out there with all of these workers. Because you can't do it alone. The workers can't do it alone. But also, community needs union jobs to exist so that we can on-ramp to a better life. So really, we have to do it together. We're all in this together. So it's a value proposition of all of us getting out,

telling our families that our lives are under attack and we're going to make sure we vote and we're going to vote our values. That's what it's about. We got to vote our values. So will you vote your values? Yeah. Because your union's on the table. Your medical decisions are on the table. Your health care is on the table. Women, we're on the table. We're on the ballot. So as you go down your grocery list, right, your values tell you where you're spending your money. What we would tell people is vote your values. If you believe in worker power, if...

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You're going to make me go after Deborah. Yes. Really? Okay. No, but first I want to say that in the labor movement, I had some new people come in and I said, I can teach you how to do this work, but I can't teach you how to be loyal. So there are people in this room that are loyal to us who are legislators. We, unless they don't vote in our interest, we stick with them. So at this point, I am partisan.

I am sticking with, I'm riding with Biden until the wheels come off. Or until my leadership decides to make another decision. Because there is a loyalty among us that we should remain. And it's kind of disheartening to me that there's a loyalty on the other side where it shouldn't be, and we're not having a whole lot of loyalty here. The other part of that, let me, let me, and I just want to get this piece out. Georgia is number one place to do business. It's number 48 for workers. Wow.

Okay, so this is why these young men and women are sitting here fighting for their rights. The money, it's not that the money is not being made, it's who it's going to. I come from a union family. I come from the Midwest, and I come from a mid-family. We had healthcare. My mother drug all ten of us to the clinic that was provided by the Teamsters Union. We went to the dentist. We had health care. We ate well. You know, all 10 of us.

And we went to good schools, public schools, because my parents' taxes paid for that. But if we don't, if we are not loyal to the ones that are loyal to us, and I made a call yesterday, and it's about 10 of them, the legislators who vote for us. It's not Republican. It's not Democrat. It is who votes in our best interest, who votes for our livelihood. And right now, we are under attack because this, our governor, along with some other southern governors, declared a war on unions. But guess what? What don't kill you make you stronger. We built capacity around the stinking bill that he put up at the Capitol.

We built capacity. Our members are more engaged and understand what's at stake now. So thank you. Richie, we saw a lot of unions being ticked off this week with the Teamsters president spoke at the Republican National Convention. How did I get that one? I'm glad you got it. Bring it, Roland.

Glad you got it. Sure. And there were folks who were saying that wasn't a sign of loyalty, especially when it was Democrats that saved the Teamsters' pension. The reality is, if you're a union, look, you want votes from both sides. What message did that send? And you still have to deal with the reality that that's a party that is absolutely opposing nearly every union effort in America. Yeah, I mean, first of all, can I just quickly answer the question before? Go ahead. Because my membership deserves to hear the answer to this before go ahead because because my membership deserves to hear

the answer to this go ahead um we are the only union in the country that let our membership vote and tell us who we were going to endorse and my membership endorsed joe biden now now until joe biden tells otherwise, we're riding with Biden. All right? That's just, hey, I got to tell it like my members have directed me to do so. Right. As far as Joe, I mean, Sean. Sean.

O'Brien. O'Brien. Sean O'Brien. I know him well, actually. And I'm not sure where the where the idea or who advised him or why he thought that was a good idea. I can say personally that there's no way on on Earth that I would do that for a wide range of reasons. And look, I have a significant portion of my membership that are Republicans. They have an opportunity to vote too, right? And so maybe he was thinking I've got members that are Republicans, I've got members that are Democrats.

I don't know what his mindset was or why he did what he did. But the problem with that is that he compared Democrats and Republicans when it comes to labor, and there is no comparison. There just isn't. I mean, we don't—again, it's not my opinion. These are just facts. As you see it, 145-5. Well, not just that.

Let's talk the PRO Act, all right? The PRO Act is the most pro-union legislation. Okay. Somebody watching, listening, they don't know what the PRO Act is. What is it? It's about making organizing, just to simplify this, making organizing more realistic and easier to do. Got it. And, you know, it's not like a huge advantage, but it changes the dynamic so that it makes it more of a possibility. It's the most progressive language

in that regard for the labor movement in my lifetime. Okay. And there are 48 senators that have signed on to the pro act and they're all Democrats. Every single one of them, Republicans, by the way, out there listening, if you're listening, by all means sign on, we'd love to see it. We want you on that, on that sheet sheet just like those congressmen that signed on to uh to our letter with delta you support us we'll support you but that doesn't happen that's just not a reality i mean look whatever your personal views are if you're talking about from a labor point of view that there's only one party that supports us, but not completely. There are those random folks out there.

There are a couple of them that have been supportive, but it's very rare. And, you know, you can don't take do not take my word for it. Whatever you're doing, I'm looking at you. Don't don't trust what I'm saying. Go look up their voting records. It's very public. You can see what people's voting records are on labor issues. Like I saw when Trump picked J.D. Vance, I saw something in this. This person was like, oh, my God, he's great for workers.

Then the AFL-CIO put out a graphic and was like, zero, zero. So it's kind of hard to say you're great for workers. The AFL-CIO goes, you get a zero and a zero. Well, look, photo ops are nice. Great. Thank you. You showed up at a picket line or you showed up at something. That's great.

How did you vote? Right. How did you vote? Because the rest of it's all nonsense. I think there's a video. It may have been a UAW event. I can't remember. So he shows up.

J.D. Vance shows up. And he wants to shake the hand. I don't know who the woman was, the union leader. She's kind of like, uh-huh, okay, fist bump, yeah, okay, glad to see you. And then somebody asked him, and it was his first time ever. To your point, that was her attitude. Now, I'm not about to show you lots of love because you came for a photo op. Look, talk is cheap, all right?

And, you know, don't smile and nod at me and then vote against what's in the best interest of the people I represent because it's absolute garbage. The, again, what we're now seeing, because we're in uncharted territory. You haven't seen in a generation of a changing midstream. President Lyndon Baines Johnson chose not to run in 1968. And so everything is in disarray. But I will say this here. I think, because you talked about loyalty, I think you've got to be stupid to attack your own for 21 days and not think it's not going to show up in the polls. To me, it's the dumbest thing in the world. Trump lied 30 times in debate.

Not one Republican said, let's talk about his lies. They totally ignored it. And so what I'm seeing is I'm seeing a lot of arrows being pointed internally, which to me is still the dumbest thing in the world. But what have you seen in terms of being on the ground when you're knocking on doors, talking to people, what are you seeing and hearing based upon the crap that we've seen over the last 21 days since this debate took place in this city three weeks ago? Well, first of all, voters have been holding it down and black women in particular have been holding it down. And so we want, so shout out to black

women holding it down. And so when we're having these conversations, we're talking to Mrs. Johnson and Mrs. Jackson and asking them about their kitchen table issues. What are the things that are affecting you? What is happening with your family? What is happening with your young folks? And what they're saying is that they feel scared about what's happening in this election. But what they're going to do is to make sure their families come out and vote. So they're going to get mobilized and organized.

What we're hearing is that it's about the workers, it's about the economy, it's about how our lives can be better, but we're in control. So I don't think that everyone is as focused on the leadership of these parties as much as the values of these parties. And that's what we're holding in on. Where are your values? And make sure you vote your values. So I'm from a union family, born into a union family, married into a union family.

So we're union all day long. But we're first community. We're first black, right? We're black and we're community and then we're union, right? So we also have to serve the community that is also supporting you. So I invite you to continue to serve and support the community that has allowed you to live the lives that you're living now. So black folks have helped with this economy in the south. Black folks are on this ramp in the South. Black folks are on this ramp in the South. We need black folks to recognize

that they have power and they have more power if they work together. So we're talking about organizing together around issues. So when we're knocking on doors, we're knocking sometimes with labor and community together, maybe talking about different issues, but the issues all boil down to rights, respect, and dignity. And that's what we're talking about with this campaign. Dignity on the jobs, making sure that you have a decent wage, making sure you have your breaks, making sure that you're not out there in the heat all day long. One of my friends said that she was hired at $16 an hour at Delta, and now it's at $19 an hour, and it's hard for her

to get a break, right? And then she has to have two other jobs in order to make ends meet. If she had a union, she would not be in that situation. But also, the company has told them, well, if you sign those cards, you may not get your bonus in February. Right? Do y'all get bonuses in February? So, yeah. So, your chair, that's a fear tactic. Don't fall for it. So, if you're listening, if you're a worker on the line and you're scared to sign a card, what we say is we don't, we're not scared. We're not scared.

Don't be scared. Sign the card. Organize, organize, organize, organize. When our rights are under attack, what are you going to do? Sign the card and organize. Organize, organize, organize. So when your rights are under attack, what will you do? Stand up and fight back.

Yvonne, there are, I've been having a lot of conversations with people over the last several days and what I've said is you've got rich donors who have said to Joe Biden we're holding our money, we're pulling our money one guy's on the record is telling Adam Schiff if you do not come out against him

and if the other senators do not publicly come out against him I'm not giving other senators do not publicly come out against him, I'm not giving you all your money. And what I've said is donors may have lots of money, but they only got one vote. And the reality is you cannot win an election without the votes of the people. And what I've been saying to people on my social media on this show is you are the ones who decide

the leadership. So these donors can get in these rooms and these fat cats can decide if they control the party. But the reality is, folk gotta speak up. And I've said, listen, if President Joe Biden opts not to run, there's gonna be a civil war if they don't pick

Kamala Harris. And I've said to people, let them know. F around if you want to, but it's about to be a problem. You're about to find out what's going on. Because to your point, if you don't have the people, you have nothing. You kind of need them. And that can't be lost, I think, on a lot of these, you know, elite dem operatives that regular ordinary folk chose Biden Harris. And if you're going to beat Trump, that's the only way you're going to beat him.

It's not going to happen with some rich donors in California. I agree, and that is why all of our efforts, Deborah's, ours, you know, Stand Up, the Georgia AFL, and all of our affiliates are out there educating. We have to educate. I say this all the time to my staff. We've got to get people to connect the dots. I know they hate when I say that because I say it all the time. I say it all the time, too. Okay, see?

And it is over the last election cycle when Warnock was in the runoff, the number of folks in the union that voted right rose because we went on a serious education. Why do you need to vote for whoever? You have to, you know, the PRO Act was part of it. You know, we have not supported people who have gone against us. We have people in our state legislature. And the other piece to this, it's not just who's in that White House. We are doing,

we have a full slate of folks that have to get elected this year. And we are ready to fight, to educate, to mobilize, energize, all of those good words that we use. But it's not words. It is actions that we are in process. We started doing our campaign last year. We didn't wait till August or September as we usually do because we know we're in a fight for our life. We're in a fight for our lives, for our members' lives, for our families' lives. I have grandchildren that I don't like them to see how this world is right now. So we have to really fight and educate, educate, educate, educate. Connect those dots with people that you work with, people you go to church with, people you sit on the usher board with, on the deacon board, and even get our ministers in our churches to understand why you have to connect the dots.

Now, I came out of a public service union, and many of our members used to say, well, why do I need to vote? I don't need to vote because you're voting in your bosses. That's the power that you have. And your bosses, those bosses are making a whole lot more money than you are. In reality, the bosses were happy because we would go in and negotiate more money. They would get the same benefits that we would. But we got to get our members to understand that it's okay to speak your voice and to want more for you and your family

and not to have to go work four jobs and never see your family because you don't have a family then. You have jobs. That's it. That's not enough. That's not enough for me. I've been a single mom, not a single parent, but working more than one job to make sure that my kids have what they want and sitting at football games like this because I'm so tired. That's not a quality of life. You want a quality of life. Rich, I traveled this country a lot and it's interesting. I have so many conversations with people and they come up to me and they want to talk about all sorts of stuff and we'll talk about how can we get these things change in our neighborhoods and our communities and we want

to do this initiative and it's amazing to me how and they kind of get mad because I always go back to you got to organize and mobilize and they look at me like I'm crazy and I try to explain to them I have parents didn't go to college but cared about our community they were co-founders of a civic club

and that's all that was just regular ordinary people who said they wanted to change stuff and they sort of pinpointed this issue, this issue, this issue and that's all that was just regular ordinary people who said they wanted to change stuff and they sort of pinpointed this issue this issue this issue and to your point connect to the dots is that the city is at the county that the state the federal who's that person who's that commissioner uh if it's law and order who's the police commander all this sort of stuff so i i saw that at five six seven so that's my entire life. And I think part of this, and it's sort of what you alluded to, what some of the workers alluded to, is that people believe they don't have any power.

But I keep saying you do if you use it. So, so just for a person who's watching or listening, just speak to that. The person who just walks around thinking that they are powerless and they can't do anything. Well, to that person,

I think you're not paying attention because everything that we've seen change in this country, everything has come from the people. It doesn't come from politicians. Politicians react to what they're being told by the people. Okay. We can do as recent as the guy that's running for president Trump. He suddenly changes his position on abortion. He wanted a national ban on abortion. But the public didn't want that. He actually still wants it.

Even in his debate, he's like, but I got to get elected. Guess what? That's the power of the people. And that's not just Trump. And it's not just Republican or Democrat. It doesn't matter. When the people stand up, when they rise up together, whether it was gay marriage, Darren, Barack Obama, his position changed. His position changed because the people's position changed. I don't think he woke up one day and went,

you know, Michelle, I think I'm okay with gays getting married. I don't think that happened. I think what happened is... Well, actually, he was for gay marriage, but he came out against it because the people were not going to vote for him so then he against it then he came out forward so he actually evolved evolved evolved that's right yeah but you're making my point right is that look whatever the issue is whether his white house wasn't happy when i said that on cnn but i'm

like y'all get the hell over it it's true but it it is true. And it's true over and over and over again. And the problem I think that we're having to some degree is our attention. You know, we live in the United States of amnesia. And our attention span can be pretty short these days. And we get on something, something that we could probably have an impact on. And then within a week, we've changed it. And we're like, we're talking about something else. That has a lot to do with what you see on the news outlets and the change in the news cycles and 24-hour news cycles.

And I could talk about a lot of different things all day. But listen, when we stick together, when we band together as a community, as a society, whatever it is, when we come together and we say this is the change that's going to happen or else you're not going to be around politicians do what we need them to do and i talked about earlier with the approval of unions they didn't just all of a sudden start signing on to letters they're doing it because the public sees us in a favorable way but that's another example but also what again and it's real basic what happened was that was all that was one person at a place who said this shit ain't right. And then they started talking to somebody else.

You're right. This shit ain't right. And so two people then talked to two other people and the four talked to others and now it's eight. Now it's now it's 32 now it's 64 and now you go from a singular idea to movement so what i keep saying to people is as long as you as an individual are frustrated and you don't make an effort to talk to somebody else and then y'all go man what can we do together then you're just going to be walking around being frustrated. And I think what's happening, and we're actually seeing it in the data, people are realizing, wait a minute,

if somebody else is negotiating for all of us, that changes than me trying to just get what I can by myself. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops call this taser the revolution.

But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that Taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multibillion-dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st, and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Ad-free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way.

In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. way real people real perspectives this is kind of star-studded a little bit man we got uh ricky williams nfl player hasman trophy winner it's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves music stars marcus king john osborne from brothers osborne we have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug man. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill.

NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz Karamush. What we're doing now isn't working, and we need to change things. Stories matter, and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real.

Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeart radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And to hear episodes one week early and ad free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple podcast. You say you'd never give in to a meltdown.

Never let kids' toys take over the house. And never fill your feed with kid photos. You'd never plan your life around their schedule. Never lick your thumb to clean their face. And you'd never let them leave the house looking like less than their best. You say you'd never put a pacifier in your mouth to clean it. Never let them stay up too late. And never let them run wild through the grocery store.

So when you say you'd never let them get into a car without you there, no, it can happen. One in four hot car deaths happen when a kid gets into an unlocked car and can't get out. Never happens before you leave the car. Always stop. Look,

lock brought to you by NHTSA and the ad council. Because it's harder to get something by yourself. Well, you just described the Delta organizing campaign. Now, we're talking on a grand scale, a national scale, but what you described is exactly what we need to be doing and what's happening at Delta Airlines. It started small, it's growing, and it will see the finish line, and it will see it very soon because the people stood up and said we want this and we're going to make it happen. That's right.

That's right. Yeah. And they're holding their elected officials accountable. So the power dynamic that your union is using is holding those elected officials accountable and then asking for their support because you know what you did for them. And so the same thing goes for these Delta workers. Thank you for your service. First of all, thank you.

You all don't get thanked enough. Thank you for making sure our bags get here, right? But see, I've always said I appreciate when somebody said, Roli, you did a great job. I can't deposit that. That's right. Well, that's right. Put it on the check, right? That's what you want. I do. I do. I tell people.

I can tell myself, Roland, you were great. You want to show me how great? Put it on the check. Big deposit. Put it on the check. So for Delta to be such a wonderful company and such a brand for the city of Atlanta, and this message

is really for the city of Atlanta because we do a lot for the city of Atlanta. And this message is really for the city of Atlanta because we do a lot for the city of Atlanta, Georgia, stand up in our affiliates and all of the community organizations that are in coalition with us. If you want to be a good neighbor, if you want us to keep coming for your family reunions here in Atlanta

and the conventions here in Atlanta, what the people of Atlanta are saying is respect the union. I am a man, I am a woman, and they need a union. And they ask for it and they want it and don't stand in their way because they helped to move this city, move people here to this city. They helped to get our luggage here. We need to help them. So this is a clarion call for all of us to get involved with this election.

So before I go to break, before I go to break, I'm going to say this here because you somewhat alluded to it earlier, Richie, and actually all three of you. And this is where I think people don't really understand how these games work with corporations. So prior to COVID, prior to COVID, from 2014 to 2019, the airline industry spent almost $40 billion on stock buybacks. Now for the person sitting at home, what they're not understanding is that the stock buybacks are meant to boost the stock price and to return shareholder value. Now, what happens with these publicly traded companies, who do they care about the most? Their shareholders. But as one of the workers said, if we ain't number one in these categories, you don't get there without workers.

But what has happened is, you have so many of these companies, not just airlines, so many of these companies are so focused on their stock price, on their shareholders, on their investors, without realizing you don't have high performance without the

production of your workers. The two go together. I could sit here and say, oh my God, we had a great broadcast, but I kind of need the lights, the cameras, the switching, the audio. If you want to see a bad show, you can look great, but if your audio is jacked up, it all sucks. If your lighting is jacked up, it doesn't matter how great the content was. And so what we're seeing, we're seeing these companies, I mean, when the United CEO was being grilled by Congress, they said, why have you spent money on stock buybacks, but not into safety? And that's part,

that's part of the thing. So I think also what we're seeing is workers in different areas are ticked off at these companies that are taking their free cash flow, giving it back to stockholders and saying, oh, we don't have anything for the workers. When the Trump's tax cut, and the thing is they were public. He was running around saying, oh, they're going to put the money back into the companies for the workers. The CEOs were like, no, we're not. They were were like, no, we're not. They were literally like, no, we're not. We're doing stock buybacks. And that's exactly what happened. And so what we're now seeing, I think, we're seeing a worker revolt saying,

you keep giving stock buybacks and screwing the workers. That's why they're responding, I think, the way they're responding. Go ahead. Can I just say one thing? The other piece is that workers are being informed of how much these CEOs are making. And they're making... What's it, $39 million? $39, yeah.

This is the largest gap in American history between what a CEO makes and the workers make. We've never had a gap. I think it's upwards of 45 to 50 to 1. Yes. Yes. That's how wide this gap is. And folks are realizing that and saying, well, my CEO makes all this money, and I'm making $5.95 an hour, you know, or $8.50 an hour. And it's just, it's that big,

like I said, number one to do business, but number 47, 48 for workers. My bad. In 2022, the CEO to worker compensation ratio was 344.3. So the CEO made three hundred and forty four times more than the average worker when I say it was 50 that was a number in the early 70s that's how that's how it was then now it's three hundred and forty four to one and that's a reality that's not that's not right it's not right not right that ain't right it was funny it right. It was funny. It was funny. I know one CEO in the media business. They own multiple different companies.

But they told one of their divisions there will be no bonuses for the workers. But the CEO got a bonus for their performance. It was like, why in hell you get a bonus for our work but we didn't get a bonus for our work. That's what we're seeing a lot. That part.

Yeah, that part. Got to go to a break. We come back. We're going to take some questions from folks here. Folks, you're watching Roller Mark Unfiltered on the Black Star Network.

Hi, I'm Danny Glover. Sign your IAM card today. Why? Because unionization means representation. Fanbase is pioneering a new era of social media for the creator economy. This next generation social media app with over 600,000 users is raising $17 million and now is your chance to invest. For details on how to invest, visit startengine.com slash fanbase or scan the QR code. Another way we're giving you the freedom to be you without limits. Good job, good pay, good life. Would you be willing to walk away from it to achieve real wealth? Well, that's exactly what this woman did.

And boy, did it pay off. Once you make the decision that this is the direction that you're going to go in, I do believe that there's power in having a decided heart. Hear her story on the next Get Wealthy with me, Deborah Owens, America's Wealth Coach, on Black Star Network. Hatred on the streets, a horrific scene, a white nationalist rally that descended into deadly violence. You will not replace Donald Trump. White people are losing their damn lives. There's an angry pro-Trump mob storm to the U.S. Capitol.

We're about to see the rise of what I call white minority resistance. We have seen white folks in this country who simply cannot tolerate black folks voting. I think what we're seeing is the inevitable result of violent denial. This is part of American history. Every time that people of color have made progress, whether real or symbolic, there has been what Carol Anderson at every university calls white rage as a backlash. This is the wrath of the Proud Boys and the Boogaloo Boys.

America, there's going to be more of this. There wrath of the Proud Boys and the Boogaloo Boys. America, there's going to be more of this. This country is getting increasingly racist in its behaviors and its attitudes because of the fear of white people. The fear that they're taking our jobs, they're taking our resources,

they're taking our women. This is white people. Coming up on the next Black Table, a conversation with Professor Howard W. French on his new book, Born in Blackness, covering 600 years of global African history and helping us understand how the world we know today is a gift from Black people. There could have been no West without Africa and Africa. That's on the next Black Table with me, Greg Carr, only on the Black Star Network.

On a next A Balanced Life with me, Dr. Jackie, how are you being of service to others? Doing for someone beside yourself is such a big part of living a balanced life. We'll talk about what that means, the generation that missed that message, and the price that we're all paying as a result. Now all I see is mama getting up in the morning, going to work, maybe dropping me off at school, then coming back home at night. And then I really didn't have any type of time with the person that really was there to nurture me and prepare me

and to show me what a life looked like and what service looked like. That's all on the next A Balanced Life with me, Dr. Jackie, here at Blackstar Network. Coming up on the next Black Table, a conversation with Professor Howard W. French on his new book, Born in Blackness, covering 600 years of global African history and helping us understand how the world we know today is a gift from black people. There could have been no West without Africa and Africa. That's on the next Black Table with me, Greg Carr, only on the Black Star Network. Hello, I'm Paula J. Parker.

Trudy Proud on The Proud Family. Louder and Prouder on Disney+. And you're watching Roland Mars Unfiltered. All right. We're back at the IBEW Hall here in Atlanta. Now it's time for our question portion of our conversation. And we've been talking about the Delta Ramp Workers trying to unionize, but so have the flight attendants, right? Yes. What's your name?

My name is Shemeika Brown. Shemeika, how long have you been a flight attendant? 13 years. Gotcha. So how's your effort going? It's going, I say that only because it's a struggle to be. I got it, I got it. It's a struggle for us just like it is for you guys.

And I want to say that we stand here in solidarity with you. We know the uphill battle. We know what we're fighting against when it comes against the big D. We know that we get shunned, ridiculed, and bullied for standing up for something we believe in. So I just want to give you guys thanks. The solidarity

here gives me goosebumps to see everybody here standing in this fight together. Before I ask my question to Mr. Martin really quick, I want to say that we have to stand for something I was brought up from the Midwest raised by my grandmother and I was always told you stand for something or you fall for anything

so when you go home and you're tired you're frustrated you're angry you're pissed the fuck off. Yeah, it's my show. You can cuss. Don't worry about it. The show is called Unfiltered. That's good to know.

It's called Unfiltered and I own it. I've been holding back all day. When you're pissed off, just know that you're not in this fight alone. You got support systems. When you need someone to vent to, I'm in Atlanta. Just know that. And we love you guys for getting in this campaign and fighting for what you finally, or fighting for what you deserve, or fighting for what you deserve

and finally getting it. So my question, Roland, Mr. Barton, is from your opinion, with Delta being Mecca in the South, what struggles outside of the ones that we've mentioned already do you see us approaching when it comes getting closer to the finish line? Well, I'll answer this way. I appreciate your question. Thanks a lot and good luck in the fight. It's sort of what you alluded to earlier when you talk about when major companies provide community support. And so what I try to explain to people is follow the money so even in my business you'll have companies that will buy

tables at events but they won't advertise a black-owned media but what they'll do is they'll say oh we, we support the NAACP, we support the Urban League, we support the UNCF, but then I try to explain to people, I want you to calculate how much they are giving and then how much we're giving up.

And a lot of people don't understand that. I'll give you an example. We've been highly critical of PepsiCo. PepsiCo, significant market share, African American. Their numbers that they spend with black organizations and black-owned media is abysmal. So PepsiCo had an initiative with the Urban League where they, five years, $10 million to help black restaurants. Support it, that's great. Then they had an initiative

where they wanted to drive $100 million in receipts to black owned restaurants over five years. Great idea, they can't track it. PepsiCo spends $3 billion a year on marketing. If PepsiCo spent 5% of their marketing budget with black

owned media, that's $150 million a year, that's $750 if PepsiCo spent 5% of their marketing budget with black-owned media as $150 million a year, that's $750 million over five years. So when I'm explaining that, I say to black America, which one has a greater impact? Five-year $10 million? $100 million over five? $750 million over five? So we have to learn

to stop getting excited when companies sponsor events and say, oh, you gave 25 grand to this, but you generated 10, 20 billion

in profits. You gave this percentage to these events in the city, but this is what your stock buyback was. So, part of the problem for us, and I'll say this specifically for African Americans,

we get excited with big check presentations that are small amounts. So, check presentations that are small amounts. So to answer your question, we have to literally educate people. Don't get excited when you see platinum sponsor without asking, okay, but how much are you taking care of workers? And I think that's the part of the problem.

I see this all the time. People are like, yeah, but so-and-so, they're a great community partner. How much was that budget compared to this over here? It happens all the time. It definitely does. But one of the things, this is the legacy of Atlanta is Maynard Jackson. As you come into the airport, of course, is Maynard Jackson,

Hartsville Airport, but he said that if we're going to have an airport, a new airport, that it was going to also include minority businesses. And he says it won't happen without minority businesses. No, no, no. He said tumbleweeds

will roll down the runways until this happens. So that's 50 years ago he was the mayor of Atlanta. Before he became mayor, before he became mayor, African Americans are receiving

.0012% of all city contracts. Not 1%, not half a percent, not 0.25, 0.0012%. You ain't got to be a math major. That basically is nothing. Right. The math ain't mathing, right? So we have to make sure that we also understand the value proposition of Delta. If Delta is this is the company town, the town says no.

The town says pay the people. The town says we want a union. We want to make sure that the company knows that we understand the value proposition, that we understand here in Atlanta that Delta moves Atlanta, but we also move Delta. And so we're going to stand with you all because that's the value proposition, right? I just, I just want to say to the sister and brother from AFA over there, I know the struggle you're going through and I know how difficult this is. I, I tried to organize the flight attendants, uh, in 2014 and we came, we actually filed for an election,

and it is a difficult struggle. But I want you to know that we committed to this together, and we will be there to the end. Whether we win, lose, or draw, we will be standing side-by-side with AFA because they've stood side-by-side with us. So thank you. All right. I just want to—I want to— Go ahead. Go ahead. I wanted want to, I want to. Go ahead, go ahead.

I wanted to add one more thing. Be prepared for anything that Delta does. Because when we're not prepared is when we are caught off guard. Always be, Girl Scout, always be prepared. And they're going to spend billions of dollars to discourage you. Instead of giving you that money in your pocket, they're going to spend it on some high-powered attorneys, high-powered union-busting firms. And the best way to combat that is to be ready and know that what they're saying is not the truth.

Sister, thank you for saying that, because after this show, and I guarantee you Delta's watching it, I guarantee you they're watching it. After this show, when they hear how close we are and how close to the finish line, they are going to ramp it up like we are. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops call this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them.

From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1.

Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th.

Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way.

In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves.

Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug ban. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz Karamush. We'll be right back. season 2 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to

Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. You say you'd never give in to a meltdown. Never let kids' toys take over the house. And never fill your feed with kid photos. You'd never plan your life around their schedule. Never lick your thumb to clean their face.

And you'd never let them leave the house looking like less than their best. You'd say you'd never put a pacifier in your mouth to clean it. Never let them stay up too late. And never let them run wild through the grocery store. So when you say you'd never let them get into a car without you there, know it can happen. One in four hot car deaths happen when a kid gets into an unlocked car and can't get out.

Never happens. Before you leave the car, always stop, look, lock. Brought to you by NHTSA and the Ad Council. You have not ever seen. So she is 100% right. Get ready for the fight. Well, they ain't never spent no advertising money with me. So I'm like, okay.

What's your name? What's your question? Tim Henderson, Delta Airlines, 25 and a half years. My question is for everything that's been said, the question becomes, does people understand why Delta workers think the way they think? Because if you don't know our history, then you can't understand why they think the way they think. We never had a union because we had everything the unions had. We had pensions. We had sick days. We had everything. But all of that through bankruptcy was taken away. We didn't even pay money out of our paycheck for our benefits. Now we're paying for benefits that are garbage. I put

it to a director. Would you go to the sundown restaurant, spend $250 for a glass of dirty water and food that was uncooked? Then why would I pay that for health insurance where we're going to the doctor and paying $100 out of our pocket and still being told you got a bill in the mail? So the question becomes, when do people find out what really Delta is and was compared to what it is now? Who wants to take that? Have you signed a union card?

You have signed a union card. All right, we just want to make sure. Now, you know, he wouldn't have got his ass up and asked this question. I want to know. Without signing that card. Because somebody would have jumped up like, you ain't signed that card. But you answered the question. I appreciate it.

Has everyone signed a card that can? Who wants to answer? Okay. Go ahead. Yeah, I mean, look, we continue to put that information out. We just got to find ways to make people read it, right? And communications is tough because we're exercising everything we can, including being here today. Whether it's, you know, news lines or Twitter or Instagram or Facebook or you name it, we're doing at-home mailings.

And I do this with all my members, by the way. And I go to break rooms where I represent people and all my members by the way and i go to break rooms where i represent people and i say by the way who's seeing this stuff and it's like crickets like but we'll keep we're gonna keep banging away we're gonna keep trying to get that message out um and we need you we need the inside people that that's the way we get it to them because uh and it gets to them in a break room well listen um when we met in houston um for the convention as i met delano and he said hey you know could we do this because in our meeting i was talking about mass media uh and so what happens is uh people don't understand

that's why it's called mass media you reach reach masses. And I can tell you, I experience it all the time, the number of people who walk up to me all around the country, going through airports, bailment. I mean, I don't care what it is. And people say, man, I had no idea about any of this stuff until I saw your show. I had no idea about these things. And so when you talk about what you're up against, it was the same thing. And I'll go ahead and say it. We, for seven months, we've been trying to get Sean Fain from UAW on the show. He won't come on the show. And Reverend Barber told him, how are you trying to organize black people in Alabama and you ain't talking to Roland Martin. He said, I guarantee more black people know him than know you. And the reason that's critically important because

part of this is also when you talk about how do you change people, get their trusted messengers. Because folks say, I don't know you, but if they know your history, then they'll listen to you. So it's the communication piece I think that's one of the greatest mistakes that people make they don't tap into a communication mechanism how to maximize social media I mean look when this show is over we've got more than 4 million followers so there'll be more people who will watch segments of this conversation than the whole two-hour conversation. So it's understanding how to use all the tools, whether it's YouTube, whether it's TikTok,

Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, Twitter, I mean, you name it, fan base. You have to use modern tools to reach folks. And I'm going to say the best tool ever is you. When you talk to your co-workers, you are the best person. I could come in there and talk to them. They wouldn't know me from Adam. And they were like, okay, she's blowing a whole bunch of stuff up my butt. But the people here, though, have to also think even as a

collective so for instance um when we grab the clips when y'all do as well if you actually add up the every person's social media in this room you're now in the millions so you may say man i only got you know 500 people following me, or a couple of thousand. Yeah, but when you start multiplying that by 300, 400, 500. So understand, when these clips become available, when you start resharing and reposting, it's simply multiplying and more people are being educated about what the issue is. If you see two people on your timeline that share the same clip, then you're going to stop and look again. There you go. Listen, I'm sorry about Sean Fain,

but you can keep inviting me back. I got you. I'll keep coming. I got you. Who else has a question? Somebody else have a question? All right, come on. It's a good elected official.

A good elected official. A good elected official. We'll see. Let's see. Name? Elma D. Holly. I'm a six-year Georgia State representative, and I'm glad to be here because I just got reconnected with my former fellow ramp agent with Delta Airlines when I served 18 years ago. And actually, I want to say that it's tough being here because it was a time when I wanted the union to be there to help us as ramp workers on that ramp.

I worked Zone 4 in Seacon Course in Atlanta, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, bringing those planes out, bringing them in, making sure we could get those bags off the planes. And, you know, it's tough because we know that Delta, it served over 190 million customers just last year. The CEO, Ed Bastian, he gets over $34 million annual salary. And if you have that type of stake in this company, then it needs to make sure that it's prioritizing the concerns of its ramp agents who are making sure that the planes get out. Briefly, I know that my colleagues who are here in this room, we've seen how in this state, how the governor has signed Senate Bill 362, which tries its best to make sure that when companies are trying to relocate to Georgia, that it strips away their tax incentives if they voluntarily recognize unions.

And to have an environment where we always hear about the number one state in the country, that Georgia is the number one state, but how can you be the number one state in the country for business, but be the number one state to give the workers a business? That's not right. The question I have, because I know we have Deborah Scott here, we have Yvonne Brooks, who have been so revolutionary, not with just workers, but I want to know, what advice do you have for the families who are at home, who have to wait there for their loved ones to come off of work, even knowing that in their workplace, they see a hostile work environment where there's flyers. I remember the flyers myself where, you know, they'll tell you don't spend any money on union dues

because you can get a two-piece wing and chicken or you can get Air Jordans or, at the very best, get a timeshare. And when you devalue a worker, you know, they can come home and actually decide not to fight anymore. So speaking as women and as mothers, what advice do you have for those who are at home to help them, encourage them to stay in the fight? All right. Final comment. Appreciate it. Thanks a lot.

Well, first of all, Al, thank you for standing up because you're one of the few elected officials that stand on these picket lines with us. So thank you for standing up. But we have to remember that it's not just organizing and mobilizing. We have to strategize. So during this period, we have four or five months to change the dynamic in this country, right? That means we have to get every single family member that is sitting at home registered to vote, and the grandkids and Bebe and them, all of us, all of us, we have to get registered to vote and make sure you're on the rolls because, you know, doing a lot of funny business about the vote here. And as your family is documenting what's happening,

we want to make sure that you're actually documenting those stories. Write it down in your notebook. I know you give them good notebooks, right? Write down the grievances and the things that are happening on your job. Teach your children about what it means to be in a union and what this company and these companies are doing to you so that we can continue to keep organizing and strategizing. I'm from a union family, but we have to keep going, right?

We have to keep rinsing and repeating and working together. So we have to strategize. So during this strategic period, we've got to get out and hit these streets, y'all. So we've got to ask for those cards to be signed and ask to make sure people are registered to vote and come out and vote. And I just want to add that my kids learned about unions through osmosis. Take your family with you. When I have members and they say, I've got little kids, bring them with you, because that's how I learned. I never knew that my mother was

part of the union struggle that set in at Woolworths in St. Louis until she got older and told me those stories because I was too young. I was number nine of ten. But teach those kids by example. If they go on those picket lines, they'll learn it. If they go with you when you go to union meetings, they'll learn it. They'll start running union meetings. My children have learned to learn it, run it. If they go with you when you go to union meetings, they'll learn it. They'll start running union meetings. My children have learned to learn it. Run it, you know? And so that they are part of the experience.

Richie, final comment. Yeah, and to that question, I would say if you're at home right now and you're watching this and your loved one works for Delta Airlines, tell them what you saw today, tell them what you heard today, and tell them to sign a card. So I'm trying to keep my voice as much as I can, trying to get it back, so here are my final comments here. And folks who watch this show, who listen to this show, you heard me say this all the time. That is, we can whine, we can complain, we can say what we want, but the reality is, unless we actually put in the work, nothing ever changes. What we are seeing right now in this country is a vast disparity between those with wealth and those who don't. When you have three billionaires who own more money than the bottom 50%,

that's a problem in this country. When you see reports showing that the wealth of an average black family in 20 years will be zero, that is a problem. When you're seeing right now where the Biden-Harris administration is tackling the issue of medical debt, when you look at the impact of that, when you have people, I got before we came here, there was a Republican attorney general who celebrated a federal judge stopping President Biden's student loan debt relief plan. What we have to recognize is there are forces in this country right now who do not want to see regular and ordinary people get a break.

What they want is they want folk doing all the work and not getting paid, not having health care, not having benefits. And look, here's the reality. You can have a small business and you may not be able to provide those benefits because your profit margin is almost non-existent. But when you have companies in this country that are generating 5, 10, 20, 30, 50, 100, billions of dollars, billions of dollars of profit, and they're paying CEOs 20, 30, 40, 50, 100 million dollars, stock options, providing them free Gulfstream rides, paying for their nointerest home loans, buying off their homes, then you tell me what system is fair. The only way these things change is when regular, ordinary people

do extraordinary things. You cannot... I have to remind people, the March on Washington was called the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. That was an economic conversation. And what you're seeing right now in America, you are seeing people, the reason all these billionaires are lining up behind Donald Trump, because the tax breaks expire in January. They want to make those two trillion in tax breaks permanent. When you had folks fighting for PPP loans, you literally had them pass laws that gave breaks to folks for their private jets and yachts. So what we have to understand is that regular ordinary people can literally change America,

can change states, can change cities, can change neighborhoods, can change countries, but no change has ever taken place if you sit at home and you do nothing. But when you join with one other person and another person, another person, and when you organize and when you mobilize, I can guarantee you, you will see a change. Shout out to IM. Thank you to our panelists, all of you involved, to IBEW. We appreciate using this facility.

Thank you for the conversation. We'll be restreaming this multiple times. Share this information on social media because we can have an impact. Thanks for all of y'all for supporting Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. I'll see y'all tomorrow in D.C.

Thank you. We'll be right back. You can't be black on media and be scared. It's time to be smart. Bring your eyeballs home. You dig? You say you'd never give in to a meltdown. Never let kids' toys take over the house. And never fill your feed with kid photos. You'd never plan your life around their schedule. Never lick your thumb to clean their face. And you'd never let them leave the house looking like less than their best.

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