Former LA firefighters fired over COVID vaccine fighting to get their jobs back

Former Los Angeles firefighters fired for not getting the Covic vaccine or battling to get their jobs back. Now, the city instituted the vaccine mandate in October 2021. Then in March of last year, the city finally ended the COVID health emergency, but it wasn't until this month the city ended the worker vaccine mandate. Our next guest, one of those former firefighters, John Knox. And John joins me now. John, to be clear, you weren't fired until November of 2023. And to add this, that is 6 months after the White House declared the pandemic over. That makes no sense. What explanation were you given? I That's a great question. Good morning. I was given no explanation. We've had plenty of conversations, made multitude of attempts over the past 2 1/2 years to get an answer as why the mandate is still in place and why we were terminated over a condition of employment that no one can produce. Yeah. To be clear, you did not bargain for this in your collective bargaining agreement. This was not one of the terms of your employment as set forth in the CBA, correct? Absolutely, yes. We've had multiple conversations with our union, which is our bargaining unit, and they have stated that at no time have they ever signed a letter of agreement or signed off on this as a condition of employment. Let's look at some numbers. 86 city workers like yourself are experiencing this, looking for your jobs back despite, you know, the COVID pandemic being over. That's an issue. So what happened when you responded to the overall mandate with, you know, my body, my choice, the left's favorite slogan that has been the gold standard coming from most, most individuals, especially here in California, You know, and, and anytime I've ever used that slogan, I mean, I was told at one point, do not use that. That upsets the City Council, you know, being terminated from my job, being put off leave without pay for two years, violating all of my due process firefighter Bill of Rights and A and a list of other things upsets me. Yeah. We reached out to Los Angeles Fire Department for a statement. They did not get back to us. Before we let you go, John, these are tough times for everybody. How are you making ends meet, not having your job that you were great at for so many years? You know, it was a it's, it's been a really big adjustment throughout this this time. You know, I've relied on God, my family and savings. And, you know, it's been a long haul. And I mean, I was terminated in November of last year, just at Thanksgiving. And it's been what, seven months now? And I still don't have my final paycheck from the city of Los Angeles. I mean, they put on a great face in, in, you know, stating that they removed this mandate and there's a pathway back. But at this point, you know, there's, there's nothing that they've said or proven that has been true. And it's, it's a travesty. And again, I think we do need to take a step back and realize what we're talking about. COVID vaccine mandates feels like this segment should have been three years ago, not now. We're so far past this. It's so upsetting, John, that you're still experiencing it. Keep us posted. We're praying for you. Hope you get back on the team because LA needs you.