Insight: From Boeing to Mercedes, a U.S. worker rebellion swells over vaccine mandates

US Aerospace

02/11/2021 11:00

By Tina Bellon and Eric M. Johnson
    AUSTIN/SEATTLE, Nov 2 (Reuters) - In Wichita, Kansas, nearly
half of the roughly 10,000 employees at aircraft companies
Textron Inc  TXT.N  and Spirit AeroSystems  SPR.N  remain
unvaccinated against COVID-19, risking their jobs in defiance of
a federal mandate, according to a union official.
    "We're going to lose a lot of employees over this," said
Cornell Adams, head of the local Machinists union district. Many
workers did not object to the vaccines as such, he said, but
were staunchly opposed to what they see as government meddling
in personal health decisions.
    The union district has hired a Texas-based lawyer to assist 
employees and prepare potential lawsuits against the companies
should requests for medical or religious exemptions to
vaccination be denied. 
    A life-long Democrat, Adams said he would no longer vote for
the party. "They'll never get another vote from me and I'm
telling the workers here the same thing." 
    The clock is ticking for companies that want to continue
gaining federal contracts under an executive order by Democratic
President Joe Biden, which requires all contractor employees be
fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by Dec. 8.
    That means federal contract workers need to have received
their last COVID-19 shot at least two weeks before the deadline
to gain maximum protection, according to U.S. government
guidance. 
    With a three-week gap between shots of the Pfizer
 PFE.N /BioNTech  BNTX.O  vaccine, workers must get the first
jab by Wednesday. If the government holds fast to its deadline,
it is already too late to choose Moderna's  MRNA.O  vaccine,
which is given in two doses four weeks apart. Workers could opt
to get Johnson & Johnson's  JNJ.N  single-shot vaccine until
Nov. 24 to meet the deadline.
    The mandate has stirred protests from workers in industries
across the country, as well as from Republican state officials.
    Opposition to the mandate could potentially lead to
thousands of U.S. workers losing their jobs and imperil an
already sluggish economic recovery, union leaders, workers and
company executives said.
    More legal clashes are likely over how companies decide
requests for vaccination exemptions. 
    For the companies, time is getting tight, though the Biden
administration has signaled federal contractors will not have to
immediately lay off unvaccinated workers who miss the Dec. 8
deadline. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2RN38Y
    Under government guidance https://www.saferfederalworkforce.gov/faq/contractors
 published on Monday, companies will have flexibility over how
to implement the mandate, which may allow them to avoid mass
firings. 
    "A covered contractor should determine the appropriate means
of enforcement with respect to its employee," the guidance said.
 
    For Boeing Co  BA.N  in the United States, more than 7,000
workers have applied for religious exemptions and around 1,000
are seeking medical exemptions, people familiar with the matter
told Reuters. That amounts to some 6% of the planemaker's
roughly 125,000 U.S employees.
    
    'ILLEGAL, IMMORAL AND IMPRACTICAL'
    At a rally last week outside Boeing property in Auburn,
south of Seattle, many of the three dozen workers gathered in
driving rain said they would rather be escorted off Boeing
property on Dec. 8 than take a vaccine. Others said they would
pursue early retirement. 
    "The mandate is illegal, immoral and impractical," said one
veteran Boeing program analyst who attended the rally. "We are
standing together against a company and government trampling on
our rights."
    Many legal experts have said vaccine mandates in the
interest of public health are legal.
    The rebellion has put Boeing executives in a bind. The
company could lose skilled staff, but must comply with a
presidential order.
    A Boeing spokesperson said the company was committed to
maintaining a safe working environment for its employees.
    The order's provision for religious and medical exemptions
is causing more tension.
    Two Textron workers who requested religious exemptions told
Reuters the company's human resources representatives quizzed
them on the name of their church leaders and asked detailed
questions about their faith.
    Textron declined to respond to questions, but in a statement
said it was obligated to comply with Biden's order and was
taking steps to do so.
    "Employees who are unable to receive the COVID-19
vaccination due to a medical condition or sincerely held
religious belief are being provided an opportunity to request an
accommodation from this requirement," Textron said.
    Spirit AeroSystems did not respond to a request for comment.
    Raytheon Technologies'  RTX.N  CEO Greg Hayes last week
warned the U.S. defense firm will lose "several thousand"
employees because of the mandate.
    A group representing FedEx Corp  FDX.N , United Parcel
Service Inc  UPS.N  and other cargo carriers said it would be
virtually impossible to have all their workforces vaccinated by
the deadline.
    Some companies have imposed vaccine mandates even absent
immediate government regulation. 
    Mercedes-Benz USA, the U.S. unit of German carmaker Daimler
AG  DAIGn.DE  which is not a U.S. government contractor, told
employees in an October email seen by Reuters that proof of
vaccination against COVID-19 would become a condition of
employment beginning Jan. 4.
    The carmaker said it implemented the move in anticipation of
a separate U.S. government vaccine mandate that would apply to
businesses with at least 100 employees, affecting some 80
million workers nationwide.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2RF25I
    Less than half of the company's workers at U.S. import
processing centers are vaccinated and many refuse to get a shot,
according to a source familiar with the matter.
    Mercedes USA in a statement said it had given employees
90-day notice to fulfill the requirement, adding that two thirds
of its U.S. employees - not including factory workers in Alabama
- have provided proof of vaccination to date.
    "We expect that the vast majority of our employees will
provide proof of vaccination before the deadline," the company
said.
 

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U.S. to publish rules on private-sector COVID-19 vaccinations,
testing in days      urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2RS198
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 (Reporting by Tina Bellon in Austin, Texas and Eric M. Johnson
in Seattle, Washington; Editing by Joe White and Bill Berkrot)
 ((Tina.Bellon@thomsonreuters.com; +1 646 573 5029; Reuters
Messaging: tina.bellon.thomsonreuters@reuters.net; Twitter
@TinaBellon))