CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Congress is still locked in a battle over a COVID relief package.
While both sides of the aisle say they’re making progress on a deal, hope is dwindling that help will come before election day. But many Americans say they can’t afford to wait any longer.
On a Wednesday afternoon zoom call, North Carolina workers called on Congress to pass a relief bill now.
“The same elected officials that months ago are calling us essential, I think I can speak for airline employees when I say that if our elected officials were to be more honest about how they really feel about us, a better word would have been expendable," said Uschi Woronin, a furloughed American Airlines flight attendant with five years of experience based in Huntersville, North Carolina.
Many Americans like Woronin have out of work, out of money, and out of options for months.
“My last paycheck was March 7," said John Motsinger, an unemployed stagehand based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. "We have been forgotten. My entire industry is without insurance right now and we are getting nothing. We need help”
Senate Republicans hoped to advance a $500 billion stimulus package Wednesday, which was a far cry from the more than $2 trillion package Democrats wanted.
The size of that disparity leading to gridlocked negotiations, and increasingly frustrated Americans.
“Congress is not facing this," said President of CWA Local 3641 Zattier Marvin, an airline passenger service agent who has worked for American Airlines for 22 years. "They know they have a place to go home to lay their head, they have food on the table, they have clothes on their back, they have doctor's care, we're facing where we don't we don't know what's going to happen tomorrow. And it’s scary.”