Hundreds of Southwest Airlines employees protested against COVID-19 vaccination mandates outside of company headquarters in Dallas, Texas, Monday morning.
Southwest announced on October 4 that all 56,000 employees needed to get vaccinated against COVID-19 by November 24, or face termination. Most of the other airlines have issued similar vaccine mandates.
Attendees of the “Freedom Not Force” rally brandished signs reading “I call my own shots,” “No jabs for jobs,” and the popular new catch phrase “Let’s go Brandon.”
WATCH: Many #Southwest Airlines employees gather in front of the company’s headquarters in Dallas to protest the company’s vaccine mandate.
— Election Wizard (@ElectionWiz) October 18, 2021
Airline employees chanted a variety of slogans such as “Freedom Not Force,” “My Body, My choice,” and, of course, “Let’s Go Brandon.”
https://twitter.com/RapidFire_Pod/status/1450103297696800769?s=20
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who spoke during a presentation during the rally, told Right Side Broadcasting Network that it was important for Americans to stand up against government tyranny.
“I think it’s important for people to stand up now or the federal government is going to be dictating these types of things beyond what they’re doing now,” Paxton said. The Texas AG pointed out that Americans are losing jobs over mandates while the Biden regime allows unvaccinated illegal immigrants to pour across the border.
“They’re spreading them all over the country with COVID, and yet they’re willing to push employers like Southwest Airlines to fire their employees,” he said, adding: “something isn’t adding up.”
WATCH: @brianglenntv interviewed Texas AG @KenPaxtonTX at the vaccine mandate protest outside of Southwest Airlines HQ!
General Paxton is an incredible fighter for Texas and our country! We always love having him join us!https://t.co/R0N8gfhREf
— RSBN 🇺🇸 (@RSBNetwork) October 18, 2021
Southwest employee Denny Vigiano stressed that the rally was not an “anti-vaccine protest.”
“We are here to encourage Southwest top fight for employees’ medical freedoms, and the right to choose without losing your jobs,” she said. “And hopefully, we’ll inspire other Americans to stand up and fight for their freedoms.”
Vigiano said her father, grandmother, aunt, and three uncles had all worked for the airline “with over 120 years of life service,” and that she was willing to risk her own job to speak out against the tyrannical mandate.
“We love this company, and it’s extended family,” she said.
LIVE: Southwest Airlines Employees Hold The Line: Freedom Not Force in Dallas, TX 10/18/21 https://t.co/D6HvPVkABb
— RSBN 🇺🇸 (@RSBNetwork) October 18, 2021
Over Columbus Day weekend, more than 2,000 Southwest flights were cancelled, leaving tens of thousands of passengers stranded.
A Southwest pilot told American Greatness that the staff shortages were an “organic and decentralized” reaction to the carrier’s vaccine mandate.
The mandate, he explained, erased all of the good will pilots and other conservative employees had felt toward their company, resulting in many of them calling in sick, and not signing up for overtime to help the airline fulfill the increase in flights typically seen during a holiday weekend.
Southwest CEO Gary Kelly told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos in an interview last Tuesday that there was “no evidence” that any type of demonstration against the mandate had contributed to the massive service disruptions over the holiday weekend.
“There’s just no evidence of that,” Kelly said. “Our people are working very hard, they’re doing a great job, I’m very proud of them.”
Kelly also stated that Southwest would not be terminating any employees who refuse the injections.
“We’re not going to fire any employees over this. We’re urging all of our employees to get vaccinated. If they can’t get vaccinated, we’re urging them to seek an accommodation, so we’ll do everything we can to support our people here,” he said.
However, Kelly reportedly told employees in a communication earlier this month, that the provisions for medical and religious exemptions were “very limited.”
Looks Like More 'Bad Weather' At South West Airlines HQ… pic.twitter.com/BqwYdtFdXR
— Spiro (@Spiro_Ghost) October 18, 2021