Biden hits resistance from unions on vaccine requirement

[Elderberry]

The Hill by Karl Evers-Hillstrom - 07/31/21

Influential public sector unions are pushing back on a new vaccination requirement for federal workers in a rare split with the Biden administration.

President Biden’s latest vaccine push, announced Thursday, requires federal employees to attest that they have been vaccinated against COVID-19 or be subject to masking, social distancing and weekly testing.

While labor groups representing government employees have urged their members to get vaccinated, most of the leading public sector unions either oppose the vaccine requirement or say it must first be negotiated.
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Groups representing educators, postal workers, law enforcement officers, Treasury Department personnel and other government employees expressed unease about the vaccine requirement this week. Only a few public sector unions outright endorsed the measure.

“We expect that the particulars of any changes to working conditions, including those related to COVID-19 vaccines and associated protocols, be properly negotiated with our bargaining units prior to implementation,” Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents nearly 700,000 workers, said in a statement.

Larry Cosme, president of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, said requiring vaccinations “is not the American way and is a clear civil rights violation no matter how proponents may seek to justify it.”

More: https://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/565744-biden-hits-resistance-from-unions-on-vaccine-requirement

[mountaineer]

My sister, a professional musician and (required to be) member of the musicians' union, just received an email asking whether anyone was interested in playing a particular classical concert in a few months' time. The message expressly stated that the director requires performers to show proof of Covid vax. She wrote back, asking how that requirement would be legal, pointing out that the vaccine is not FDA-approved. She hasn't heard back, but she's pondering any legal actions she might take.

As I'd read these public sector unions were objecting, I suggested she check with her union rep, to see whether that union will stand for such conditions. If those who hire musicians can demand proof of vax, then the unvaccinated will be denied their livelihood. She already has been unemployed for a year and a half because of shutdowns and the cancellation of all public concert performances, and she fears that one of her steady gigs (orchestra for a major opera company) will go away if they also demand vaccination.

I mentioned on another thread that a pharmacist of my acquaintance has experienced tinnitus from the moment he received the Covid vaccination. That's really not something a professional musician wants to have!