Last month, the subject of vaccination (against a labor backdrop) sparked so much back-and-forth that it didn’t seem possible for the issue to fuel greater contention, but lo and behold, that’s precisely what happened. President Biden’s sweeping new federal mandate (requiring that companies with 100+ employees must require vaccination or test weekly) affects up to 100 million American workers, and of course, the mandate is under fire.
The new guidelines appear to be constitutional (as framed through a rare exception via the Occupational Safety and Health Administration of the Labor Department), although court challenges should be expected. It must be noted that mandates by individual employers had already rocketed following the Pfizer jab’s FDA approval; yet the federal nature of Biden’s mandate leaves some employees (particularly those in short-staffed industries) feeling emboldened to resist the requirements.
Amid unions, the general subject of vaccine mandates proves to be scattered:
- New UAW President Ray Curry declared that mandates must be negotiated at the employer level (including the Detroit Big Three automakers) while making room for religious and health exceptions;
- The UFCW and SEIU aren’t warding off mandates and will push for union input;
- Municipal unions in NYC are already whipping out the lawsuits over mandates; and
- Newly installed AFL-CIO president LIz Schuler made her perspective clear: “Everyone should be vaccinated.”
Here’s how the topic previously rolled out with several prominent employers, independent of Biden’s aggressive mandate:
- Delta Air Lines stepped up as the first major U.S. employer to penalize workers who won’t get vaccinated with a $200 monthly surcharge, and the plan has so far seen increased compliance;
- United Airlines drew a line in the sand over religious mandates, declaring that those employees with a successful claim would nonetheless be placed on unpaid leave;
- Disney World negotiated a company-wide mandate after forging a deal with six unions;
- The Pentagon declared that service members (including active duty and reserves) face compulsory vaccination;
- Automakers maintain a divided stance with strong recommendations from the Big Three, which stop short of mandates thus far, yet GM did survey white-collar workers on whether they’d received the jab and is requiring disclosures from salaried employees.
In the face of vaccine mandates, mounting claims of religious exemptions throughout the public and private sectors leave employers in an unenviable position. However, leaders of several faiths (including Catholicism) have announced that they won’t endorse exemptions, with dioceses in multiple faiths taking steps to mandate the jab among their own employees.
