United States: large firms introduce vaccine requirements for staff

In September, US President Joe Biden demanded that companies employing more than 100 people introduce coronavirus vaccine requirements for their staff. Though details of the plan are yet to be published by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the management at General Electric has already taken action, requiring its 56,000 US employees to get vaccinated by 8 December. Employees may only refuse to get vaccinated on religious or medical grounds. GE has cited a separate executive order from President Biden, which obliges federal contractors to be vaccinated against Covid-19 by 8 December. GE is not the only company to have moved before the rule is published by the OSHA. In the food industry, employees at Tyson Foods’ headquarters and slaughterhouses have all been asked to get vaccinated. The same is true of the major airlines, including American Airlines and Southwest Airlines. Despite Greg Abbott, the Republican governor of Texas, banning mandatory vaccination in public and private companies, the two Texas-based airlines have indicated that they will not follow his lead. In the tech sector, meanwhile, Google, Facebook, Twitter and Microsoft have limited office access to those who are vaccinated. The railway company Union Pacific Corp has decided that its 31,000 employees should be vaccinated, despite opposition from three unions.