Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

INSIGHT-From Boeing to Mercedes, a U.S. worker rebellion swells over vaccine mandates
Reuters ^ | 2 November 2021 | Tina Bellon and Eric M. Johnson

Posted on 11/02/2021 8:59:45 AM PDT by george76

In Wichita, Kansas, nearly half of the roughly 10,000 employees at aircraft companies Textron Inc and Spirit AeroSystems 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 /BioNTech 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 vaccine, which is given in two doses four weeks apart. Workers could opt to get Johnson & Johnson's 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.

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 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' 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, United Parcel Service Inc 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 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.

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.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Front Page News; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: Kansas; US: Texas; US: Washington
KEYWORDS: anthonyfauci; covid19; covidstooges; employment; mandate; mandates; obamacare; rebellion; vaccination; vaccine; vaccinemandates; vaccines; worker; workerrebellion
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 61-8081-100101-120121-128 next last
To: Osage Orange
Dang! I preefrood every post and missed that example of the evil Otto Kor Wrecked's handiwork.

I didn't even see it when I went back to see what in the dickens you were talking about.

Then it hit me...

Awareness

101 posted on 11/02/2021 2:39:03 PM PDT by null and void (The SWAMP, Where Bottom Feeders Are Apex Predators!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 98 | View Replies]

To: null and void

Sheet happens...............


102 posted on 11/02/2021 2:50:59 PM PDT by Osage Orange (1961 VW Two Door Truck)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 101 | View Replies]

To: null and void; Eagles6

103 posted on 11/02/2021 3:04:02 PM PDT by Travis McGee (EnemiesForeignAndDomestic.com)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 51 | View Replies]

To: mbj

The point I was making is Alabama is majority non-vaccinated more than almost all other states.

I agree that anyone can be replaced (well, maybe not Rush Limbaugh) but finding someone willing to work in Alabama who also has been vaxxed is going to be hard.

I don’t think they can fire all the non-vaxxed this month and still keep the line going. It will cost them. Government needs to F off.


104 posted on 11/02/2021 3:24:59 PM PDT by Alas Babylon! (Rush, we're missing your take on all of this!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 84 | View Replies]

To: goodnesswins

Thank you. Catherine Austin Fitts is absolutely brilliant. Her video Planet Lockdown from last year put together so many pieces about all of this, vaccines, mandates, passports. etc.


105 posted on 11/02/2021 3:42:34 PM PDT by boxlunch (10th Amendmt: nullification or Texit? PS We're in a hot war: globalists, CCP, media, Dems, RINOs)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: george76
This shows why it’s essential to ignore the establishment RINOs, boot them from the party at the first opportunity, and continue expanding the MAGA revolution. As quoted in the article, many of these “flyover country” workers are long-time Democrats who have finally had enough of the insanity. They voted dem because of family tradition, loyalty to unions, etc. None of those folks were EVER onboard, however, with the leftist social agenda of racial division and sexual deviancy. When those things were just fringe topics discussed in universities, they didn’t really affect them. But now that the demented lunatic fringe has become the core of the dem agenda, there are huge numbers of “working” dems who have no real political home, all the more so when their dem “representatives” are fixated upon taking away their jobs and banishing them to the outer reaches of society.

This is an unprecedented political climate in which conservative, MAGA Republicans cannot lose. The only thing that can screw it up is making the mistake of listening to the Karl Roves and Mitch McConnells of the world.

106 posted on 11/02/2021 5:23:31 PM PDT by noiseman (The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: goodnesswins

YES!! Thank you!


107 posted on 11/03/2021 12:01:22 AM PDT by PistolPaknMama
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 99 | View Replies]

To: mbj

“Fetal cells (dead kids) were used in the testing process for all three Western vaccines, to the best of my knowledge.”

Not only are the babies delivered alive, horrifically, their organs are often removed when they are still alive.[18] This is how they got the HEK293 kidney cells used in the manufacture of the vaccines and why Pfizer wanted it to remain a secret:

The details of HEK293’s brutal – and from all appearances, until very recently, largely undisclosed – origins explain the company’s deep discomfort. Contrary to nearly a half-century of misrepresentation and obfuscation, HEK293’s creation did NOT arise from an “abortion” as everyday people understand it.

To harvest a viable embryonic kidney … sufficiently healthy children old enough to have adequately-developed kidneys must be removed from the womb, alive, typically by cesarean section, and have their kidneys cut out. This must take place without anesthesia for the child, which would lessen the viability of the organs.

REF: https://americasfrontlinedoctors.org/2/frontlinenews/aborted-fetal-cells-and-vaccines-a-scandal-much-bigger-than-pfizers-whistleblower-ever-imagined/


108 posted on 11/03/2021 12:35:27 AM PDT by HKMk23 (The right of freedom of religion shall not be derogated even if the life of the nation is at stake.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 91 | View Replies]

To: mbj

I make every attempt to be germane.

So. On topic...

“...if religious scruples afford immunity from civic obedience to laws, they may be invoked by the religious beliefs of any individual even though he holds no membership in any sect or organized denomination. Certainly this Court cannot be called upon to determine what claims of conscience should be recognized and what should be rejected as satisfying the ‘religion’ which the Constitution protects. That would indeed resurrect the very discriminatory treatment of religion which the Constitution sought forever to forbid.”
— 319 U.S. 624, WEST VIRGINIA STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION et al. v. BARNETTE et al.,
Mr. Justice Frankfurter, Dissenting

https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/319/624


109 posted on 11/03/2021 1:01:47 AM PDT by HKMk23 (The right of freedom of religion shall not be derogated even if the life of the nation is at stake.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 94 | View Replies]

To: corkoman

You qualify.

My ‘ignorance’ is cured by more info - which you have supplied.

Thanks for continuing my education.

I have farmers on all four sides of me. They don’t water, but they sure do a lot of other things; both before and after they plant that seed.

I’m impressed by the size of the machines they use! None of which is going to be offered in an electric model any time soon.


110 posted on 11/03/2021 3:44:31 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 72 | View Replies]

To: Brian Griffin
...under the United States”

Does this apply to state or local level as well?

111 posted on 11/03/2021 3:46:23 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 73 | View Replies]

To: HKMk23
Since they nicely say, "Please', I will politely reply, "No. Thank you."



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyMggFe9WRQ

112 posted on 11/03/2021 3:53:50 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 75 | View Replies]

To: steve86

Speaking of med school.

Perhaps we’d not have health problems in this country if 50% of our doctors and nurses did not come from the lower half of their graduating classes.


113 posted on 11/03/2021 3:57:06 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 79 | View Replies]

To: corkoman

Snags I can understand.

It almost seems like magic to me that software can take the CAD design and produce a toolpath instruction list for the NC machines!

When these snags appear, and the machinist figures out a way to get from point A to point B, do they then add those instructions manually so that the next time the part is created it no longer hits a snag at that location?


114 posted on 11/03/2021 4:04:25 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 81 | View Replies]

To: webstersII; canuck_conservative; corkoman
You sound like Brandon.

Gosh; I sure did!! Sorry fellas.

I see my mistake.

When I typed 'punching up' I failed to realize it could be taken as actually creating the code. I merely meant to load the already created program into memory from an existing file.

115 posted on 11/03/2021 4:15:03 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 85 | View Replies]

To: mund1011

Amen!

I’ve encountered bad designs both pre and post NC stuff.

I have always said that ‘designers’ should work a couple of years in the manufacturing end to see how things can be created that are a LOT easier to build!


116 posted on 11/03/2021 4:17:43 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 86 | View Replies]

To: mund1011

But, once the bad designs are corrected, NC makes things go a HECK of a lot faster, a lot more standardized and a higher quality over all.

Cheaper; too!


117 posted on 11/03/2021 4:19:58 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 86 | View Replies]

To: Flick Lives

Foundations.

Make sure that yours is built on Rock: not sand.


118 posted on 11/03/2021 4:21:31 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 90 | View Replies]

To: canuck_conservative
Well, I can fix my own toilet, but the car thing? You got me there!

Heck; I can't even find sparkplug wires in my 2020 Grand Cherokee!

119 posted on 11/03/2021 4:23:39 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 92 | View Replies]

To: Elsie
I can't even find sparkplug wires in my 2020 Grand Cherokee!

The got rid of those. Each plug has its own dedicated coil sitting on top of it.

120 posted on 11/03/2021 4:25:16 AM PDT by central_va (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 119 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 61-8081-100101-120121-128 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson